Azure Service Bus output binding for Azure Functions

The following example shows a C# function that sends a Service Bus queue message:

[FunctionName("ServiceBusOutput")]
[return: ServiceBus("myqueue", Connection = "ServiceBusConnection")]
public static string ServiceBusOutput([HttpTrigger] dynamic input, ILogger log)
{
    log.LogInformation($"C# function processed: {input.Text}");
    return input.Text;
}

The following example shows a Service Bus output binding in a function.json file and a C# script function that uses the binding. The function uses a timer trigger to send a queue message every 15 seconds.

Here's the binding data in the function.json file:

{
    "bindings": [
        {
            "schedule": "0/15 * * * * *",
            "name": "myTimer",
            "runsOnStartup": true,
            "type": "timerTrigger",
            "direction": "in"
        },
        {
            "name": "outputSbQueue",
            "type": "serviceBus",
            "queueName": "testqueue",
            "connection": "MyServiceBusConnection",
            "direction": "out"
        }
    ],
    "disabled": false
}

Here's C# script code that creates a single message:

public static void Run(TimerInfo myTimer, ILogger log, out string outputSbQueue)
{
    string message = $"Service Bus queue message created at: {DateTime.Now}";
    log.LogInformation(message); 
    outputSbQueue = message;
}

Here's C# script code that creates multiple messages:

public static async Task Run(TimerInfo myTimer, ILogger log, IAsyncCollector<string> outputSbQueue)
{
    string message = $"Service Bus queue messages created at: {DateTime.Now}";
    log.LogInformation(message); 
    await outputSbQueue.AddAsync("1 " + message);
    await outputSbQueue.AddAsync("2 " + message);
}

The following example shows a Java function that sends a message to a Service Bus queue myqueue when triggered by an HTTP request.

@FunctionName("httpToServiceBusQueue")
@ServiceBusQueueOutput(name = "message", queueName = "myqueue", connection = "AzureServiceBusConnection")
public String pushToQueue(
  @HttpTrigger(name = "request", methods = {HttpMethod.POST}, authLevel = AuthorizationLevel.ANONYMOUS)
  final String message,
  @HttpOutput(name = "response") final OutputBinding<T> result ) {
      result.setValue(message + " has been sent.");
      return message;
 }

In the Java functions runtime library, use the @QueueOutput annotation on function parameters whose value would be written to a Service Bus queue. The parameter type should be OutputBinding<T>, where T is any native Java type of a POJO.

Java functions can also write to a Service Bus topic. The following example uses the @ServiceBusTopicOutput annotation to describe the configuration for the output binding.

@FunctionName("sbtopicsend")
    public HttpResponseMessage run(
            @HttpTrigger(name = "req", methods = {HttpMethod.GET, HttpMethod.POST}, authLevel = AuthorizationLevel.ANONYMOUS) HttpRequestMessage<Optional<String>> request,
            @ServiceBusTopicOutput(name = "message", topicName = "mytopicname", subscriptionName = "mysubscription", connection = "ServiceBusConnection") OutputBinding<String> message,
            final ExecutionContext context) {
        
        String name = request.getBody().orElse("Azure Functions");

        message.setValue(name);
        return request.createResponseBuilder(HttpStatus.OK).body("Hello, " + name).build();
        
    }

The following example shows a Service Bus output binding in a function.json file and a JavaScript function that uses the binding. The function uses a timer trigger to send a queue message every 15 seconds.

Here's the binding data in the function.json file:

{
    "bindings": [
        {
            "schedule": "0/15 * * * * *",
            "name": "myTimer",
            "runsOnStartup": true,
            "type": "timerTrigger",
            "direction": "in"
        },
        {
            "name": "outputSbQueue",
            "type": "serviceBus",
            "queueName": "testqueue",
            "connection": "MyServiceBusConnection",
            "direction": "out"
        }
    ],
    "disabled": false
}

Here's JavaScript script code that creates a single message:

module.exports = function (context, myTimer) {
    var message = 'Service Bus queue message created at ' + timeStamp;
    context.log(message);   
    context.bindings.outputSbQueue = message;
    context.done();
};

Here's JavaScript script code that creates multiple messages:

module.exports = function (context, myTimer) {
    var message = 'Service Bus queue message created at ' + timeStamp;
    context.log(message);   
    context.bindings.outputSbQueue = [];
    context.bindings.outputSbQueue.push("1 " + message);
    context.bindings.outputSbQueue.push("2 " + message);
    context.done();
};

The following example shows a Service Bus output binding in a function.json file and a PowerShell function that uses the binding.

Here's the binding data in the function.json file:

{
  "bindings": [
    {
      "type": "serviceBus",
      "direction": "out",
      "connection": "AzureServiceBusConnectionString",
      "name": "outputSbMsg",
      "queueName": "outqueue",
      "topicName": "outtopic"
    }
  ]
}

Here's the PowerShell that creates a message as the function's output.

param($QueueItem, $TriggerMetadata) 

Push-OutputBinding -Name outputSbMsg -Value @{ 
    name = $QueueItem.name 
    employeeId = $QueueItem.employeeId 
    address = $QueueItem.address 
} 

The following example demonstrates how to write out to a Service Bus queue in Python.

A Service Bus binding definition is defined in function.json where type is set to serviceBus.

{
  "scriptFile": "__init__.py",
  "bindings": [
    {
      "authLevel": "function",
      "type": "httpTrigger",
      "direction": "in",
      "name": "req",
      "methods": [
        "get",
        "post"
      ]
    },
    {
      "type": "http",
      "direction": "out",
      "name": "$return"
    },
    {
      "type": "serviceBus",
      "direction": "out",
      "connection": "AzureServiceBusConnectionString",
      "name": "msg",
      "queueName": "outqueue"
    }
  ]
}

In _init_.py, you can write out a message to the queue by passing a value to the set method.

import azure.functions as func

def main(req: func.HttpRequest, msg: func.Out[str]) -> func.HttpResponse:

    input_msg = req.params.get('message')

    msg.set(input_msg)

    return 'OK'

In C# class libraries, use the ServiceBusAttribute.

The attribute's constructor takes the name of the queue or the topic and subscription. You can also specify the connection's access rights. How to choose the access rights setting is explained in the Output - configuration section. Here's an example that shows the attribute applied to the return value of the function:

[FunctionName("ServiceBusOutput")]
[return: ServiceBus("myqueue")]
public static string Run([HttpTrigger] dynamic input, ILogger log)
{
    ...
}

You can set the Connection property to specify the name of an app setting that contains the Service Bus connection string to use, as shown in the following example:

[FunctionName("ServiceBusOutput")]
[return: ServiceBus("myqueue", Connection = "ServiceBusConnection")]
public static string Run([HttpTrigger] dynamic input, ILogger log)
{
    ...
}

For a complete example, see Output - example.

You can use the ServiceBusAccount attribute to specify the Service Bus account to use at class, method, or parameter level. For more information, see Trigger - attributes.

Attributes are not supported by C# Script.

The ServiceBusQueueOutput and ServiceBusTopicOutput annotations are available to write a message as a function output. The parameter decorated with these annotations must be declared as an OutputBinding<T> where T is the type corresponding to the message's type.

Attributes are not supported by JavaScript.

Attributes are not supported by PowerShell.

Attributes are not supported by Python.

Use the following parameter types for the output binding:

• out T paramName - T can be any JSON-serializable type. If the parameter value is null when the function exits, Functions creates the message with a null object.
• out string - If the parameter value is null when the function exits, Functions does not create a message.
• out byte[] - If the parameter value is null when the function exits, Functions does not create a message.
• out BrokeredMessage - If the parameter value is null when the function exits, Functions does not create a message (for Functions 1.x)
• out Message - If the parameter value is null when the function exits, Functions does not create a message (for Functions 2.x and higher)
• ICollector<T> or IAsyncCollector<T> (for async methods) - For creating multiple messages. A message is created when you call the Add method.

When working with C# functions:

• Async functions need a return value or IAsyncCollector instead of an out parameter.

• To access the session ID, bind to a Message type and use the sessionId property.

Use the following parameter types for the output binding:

• out T paramName - T can be any JSON-serializable type. If the parameter value is null when the function exits, Functions creates the message with a null object.
• out string - If the parameter value is null when the function exits, Functions does not create a message.
• out byte[] - If the parameter value is null when the function exits, Functions does not create a message.
• out BrokeredMessage - If the parameter value is null when the function exits, Functions does not create a message (for Functions 1.x)
• out Message - If the parameter value is null when the function exits, Functions does not create a message (for Functions 2.x and higher)
• ICollector<T> or IAsyncCollector<T> - For creating multiple messages. A message is created when you call the Add method.

When working with C# functions:

• Async functions need a return value or IAsyncCollector instead of an out parameter.

• To access the session ID, bind to a Message type and use the sessionId property.

Use the Azure Service Bus SDK rather than the built-in output binding.

Access the queue or topic by using context.bindings.<name from function.json>. You can assign a string, a byte array, or a JavaScript object (deserialized into JSON) to context.binding.<name>.

Output to the Service Bus is available via the Push-OutputBinding cmdlet where you pass arguments that match the name designated by binding's name parameter in the function.json file.

Use the Azure Service Bus SDK rather than the built-in output binding.