Stomp

STOMP, the Simple/Streaming Text Oriented Messaging Protocol, is a lightweight, text-based protocol for client-to-broker messaging. It aims to be easy to implement and language-agnostic, providing a small, interoperable command set that covers common messaging patterns without the complexity of some enterprise protocols.

It runs over a reliable transport such as TCP and can also be used with WebSockets. A frame begins with a command line, followed by headers, a blank line, and an optional body terminated by a NUL character. The protocol is line-oriented and human-readable, and supports heart-beat negotiation to keep connections alive.

Core commands include CONNECT, DISCONNECT, SEND, SUBSCRIBE, UNSUBSCRIBE, and ACK/NACK, with BEGIN, COMMIT, and ABORT for transactions. Subscriptions specify a destination (for example /queue/a or /topic/b) and an identifier. The receipt header can request acknowledgments of frames.

Headers convey frame metadata; common headers include destination, id, ack, and receipt. Acknowledgement modes vary (auto, client, client-individual) and may depend on broker version. The destination header identifies where a message should be delivered.

Implementation and usage: STOMP is supported by several brokers, including Apache ActiveMQ and ActiveMQ Artemis, RabbitMQ (via plugins or bridges), and others. Client libraries exist for many languages, such as Java, JavaScript, Python, and .NET. STOMP can be used with WebSocket bindings to enable browser-based clients to publish and subscribe.

Versions 1.0, 1.1, and 1.2 define the frame syntax and semantics; modern brokers may extend with vendor-specific features. The protocol remains widely used for simple, interoperable messaging between diverse systems.