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Stream Data

If you want to stream data that can be structured as JSON, you should Stream JSON Lines.

But if you want to stream pure binary data or strings, here's how you can do it.

You could use this if you want to stream pure strings, for example directly from the output of an AI LLM service.

You could also use it to stream large binary files, where you stream each chunk of data as you read it, without having to read it all into memory at once.

You could also stream video or audio this way, it could even be generated as you process and send it.

If you declare a response_class=StreamingResponse in your path operation function, you can use yield to send each chunk of data in turn.

Python
from collections.abc import AsyncIterable, Iterable

from fastapi import FastAPI
from fastapi.responses import StreamingResponse

app = FastAPI()


message = """
Rick: (stumbles in drunkenly, and turns on the lights) Morty! You gotta come on. You got--... you gotta come with me.
Morty: (rubs his eyes) What, Rick? What's going on?
Rick: I got a surprise for you, Morty.
Morty: It's the middle of the night. What are you talking about?
Rick: (spills alcohol on Morty's bed) Come on, I got a surprise for you. (drags Morty by the ankle) Come on, hurry up. (pulls Morty out of his bed and into the hall)
Morty: Ow! Ow! You're tugging me too hard!
Rick: We gotta go, gotta get outta here, come on. Got a surprise for you Morty.
"""


@app.get("/story/stream", response_class=StreamingResponse)
async def stream_story() -> AsyncIterable[str]:
    for line in message.splitlines():
        yield line


@app.get("/story/stream-no-async", response_class=StreamingResponse)
def stream_story_no_async() -> Iterable[str]:
    for line in message.splitlines():
        yield line


@app.get("/story/stream-no-annotation", response_class=StreamingResponse)
async def stream_story_no_annotation():
    for line in message.splitlines():
        yield line


@app.get("/story/stream-no-async-no-annotation", response_class=StreamingResponse)
def stream_story_no_async_no_annotation():
    for line in message.splitlines():
        yield line


@app.get("/story/stream-bytes", response_class=StreamingResponse)
async def stream_story_bytes() -> AsyncIterable[bytes]:
    for line in message.splitlines():
        yield line.encode("utf-8")


@app.get("/story/stream-no-async-bytes", response_class=StreamingResponse)
def stream_story_no_async_bytes() -> Iterable[bytes]:
    for line in message.splitlines():
        yield line.encode("utf-8")


@app.get("/story/stream-no-annotation-bytes", response_class=StreamingResponse)
async def stream_story_no_annotation_bytes():
    for line in message.splitlines():
        yield line.encode("utf-8")


@app.get("/story/stream-no-async-no-annotation-bytes", response_class=StreamingResponse)
def stream_story_no_async_no_annotation_bytes():
    for line in message.splitlines():
        yield line.encode("utf-8")

FastAPI will give each chunk of data to the StreamingResponse as is, it won't try to convert it to JSON or anything similar.

You can also use regular def functions (without async), and use yield the same way.

Python
from collections.abc import AsyncIterable, Iterable

from fastapi import FastAPI
from fastapi.responses import StreamingResponse

app = FastAPI()


message = """
Rick: (stumbles in drunkenly, and turns on the lights) Morty! You gotta come on. You got--... you gotta come with me.
Morty: (rubs his eyes) What, Rick? What's going on?
Rick: I got a surprise for you, Morty.
Morty: It's the middle of the night. What are you talking about?
Rick: (spills alcohol on Morty's bed) Come on, I got a surprise for you. (drags Morty by the ankle) Come on, hurry up. (pulls Morty out of his bed and into the hall)
Morty: Ow! Ow! You're tugging me too hard!
Rick: We gotta go, gotta get outta here, come on. Got a surprise for you Morty.
"""


@app.get("/story/stream", response_class=StreamingResponse)
async def stream_story() -> AsyncIterable[str]:
    for line in message.splitlines():
        yield line


@app.get("/story/stream-no-async", response_class=StreamingResponse)
def stream_story_no_async() -> Iterable[str]:
    for line in message.splitlines():
        yield line


@app.get("/story/stream-no-annotation", response_class=StreamingResponse)
async def stream_story_no_annotation():
    for line in message.splitlines():
        yield line


@app.get("/story/stream-no-async-no-annotation", response_class=StreamingResponse)
def stream_story_no_async_no_annotation():
    for line in message.splitlines():
        yield line


@app.get("/story/stream-bytes", response_class=StreamingResponse)
async def stream_story_bytes() -> AsyncIterable[bytes]:
    for line in message.splitlines():
        yield line.encode("utf-8")


@app.get("/story/stream-no-async-bytes", response_class=StreamingResponse)
def stream_story_no_async_bytes() -> Iterable[bytes]:
    for line in message.splitlines():
        yield line.encode("utf-8")


@app.get("/story/stream-no-annotation-bytes", response_class=StreamingResponse)
async def stream_story_no_annotation_bytes():
    for line in message.splitlines():
        yield line.encode("utf-8")


@app.get("/story/stream-no-async-no-annotation-bytes", response_class=StreamingResponse)
def stream_story_no_async_no_annotation_bytes():
    for line in message.splitlines():
        yield line.encode("utf-8")

You don't really need to declare the return type annotation for streaming binary data.

As FastAPI will not try to convert the data to JSON with Pydantic or serialize it in any way, in this case, the type annotation is only for your editor and tools to use, it won't be used by FastAPI.

Python
from collections.abc import AsyncIterable, Iterable

from fastapi import FastAPI
from fastapi.responses import StreamingResponse

app = FastAPI()


message = """
Rick: (stumbles in drunkenly, and turns on the lights) Morty! You gotta come on. You got--... you gotta come with me.
Morty: (rubs his eyes) What, Rick? What's going on?
Rick: I got a surprise for you, Morty.
Morty: It's the middle of the night. What are you talking about?
Rick: (spills alcohol on Morty's bed) Come on, I got a surprise for you. (drags Morty by the ankle) Come on, hurry up. (pulls Morty out of his bed and into the hall)
Morty: Ow! Ow! You're tugging me too hard!
Rick: We gotta go, gotta get outta here, come on. Got a surprise for you Morty.
"""


@app.get("/story/stream", response_class=StreamingResponse)
async def stream_story() -> AsyncIterable[str]:
    for line in message.splitlines():
        yield line


@app.get("/story/stream-no-async", response_class=StreamingResponse)
def stream_story_no_async() -> Iterable[str]:
    for line in message.splitlines():
        yield line


@app.get("/story/stream-no-annotation", response_class=StreamingResponse)
async def stream_story_no_annotation():
    for line in message.splitlines():
        yield line


@app.get("/story/stream-no-async-no-annotation", response_class=StreamingResponse)
def stream_story_no_async_no_annotation():
    for line in message.splitlines():
        yield line


@app.get("/story/stream-bytes", response_class=StreamingResponse)
async def stream_story_bytes() -> AsyncIterable[bytes]:
    for line in message.splitlines():
        yield line.encode("utf-8")


@app.get("/story/stream-no-async-bytes", response_class=StreamingResponse)
def stream_story_no_async_bytes() -> Iterable[bytes]:
    for line in message.splitlines():
        yield line.encode("utf-8")


@app.get("/story/stream-no-annotation-bytes", response_class=StreamingResponse)
async def stream_story_no_annotation_bytes():
    for line in message.splitlines():
        yield line.encode("utf-8")


@app.get("/story/stream-no-async-no-annotation-bytes", response_class=StreamingResponse)
def stream_story_no_async_no_annotation_bytes():
    for line in message.splitlines():
        yield line.encode("utf-8")

This also means that with StreamingResponse you have the freedom and responsibility to produce and encode the data bytes exactly as you need them to be sent, independent of the type annotations. 🤓

One of the main use cases would be to stream bytes instead of strings, you can of course do it.

Python
from collections.abc import AsyncIterable, Iterable

from fastapi import FastAPI
from fastapi.responses import StreamingResponse

app = FastAPI()


message = """
Rick: (stumbles in drunkenly, and turns on the lights) Morty! You gotta come on. You got--... you gotta come with me.
Morty: (rubs his eyes) What, Rick? What's going on?
Rick: I got a surprise for you, Morty.
Morty: It's the middle of the night. What are you talking about?
Rick: (spills alcohol on Morty's bed) Come on, I got a surprise for you. (drags Morty by the ankle) Come on, hurry up. (pulls Morty out of his bed and into the hall)
Morty: Ow! Ow! You're tugging me too hard!
Rick: We gotta go, gotta get outta here, come on. Got a surprise for you Morty.
"""


@app.get("/story/stream", response_class=StreamingResponse)
async def stream_story() -> AsyncIterable[str]:
    for line in message.splitlines():
        yield line


@app.get("/story/stream-no-async", response_class=StreamingResponse)
def stream_story_no_async() -> Iterable[str]:
    for line in message.splitlines():
        yield line


@app.get("/story/stream-no-annotation", response_class=StreamingResponse)
async def stream_story_no_annotation():
    for line in message.splitlines():
        yield line


@app.get("/story/stream-no-async-no-annotation", response_class=StreamingResponse)
def stream_story_no_async_no_annotation():
    for line in message.splitlines():
        yield line


@app.get("/story/stream-bytes", response_class=StreamingResponse)
async def stream_story_bytes() -> AsyncIterable[bytes]:
    for line in message.splitlines():
        yield line.encode("utf-8")


@app.get("/story/stream-no-async-bytes", response_class=StreamingResponse)
def stream_story_no_async_bytes() -> Iterable[bytes]:
    for line in message.splitlines():
        yield line.encode("utf-8")


@app.get("/story/stream-no-annotation-bytes", response_class=StreamingResponse)
async def stream_story_no_annotation_bytes():
    for line in message.splitlines():
        yield line.encode("utf-8")


@app.get("/story/stream-no-async-no-annotation-bytes", response_class=StreamingResponse)
def stream_story_no_async_no_annotation_bytes():
    for line in message.splitlines():
        yield line.encode("utf-8")

In the examples above, the data bytes were streamed, but the response didn't have a Content-Type header, so the client didn't know what type of data it was receiving.

You can create a custom sub-class of StreamingResponse that sets the Content-Type header to the type of data you're streaming.

For example, you can create a PNGStreamingResponse that sets the Content-Type header to image/png using the media_type attribute:

Python
import base64
from collections.abc import AsyncIterable, Iterable
from io import BytesIO

from fastapi import FastAPI
from fastapi.responses import StreamingResponse

image_base64 = "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"
binary_image = base64.b64decode(image_base64)


def read_image() -> BytesIO:
    return BytesIO(binary_image)


app = FastAPI()


class PNGStreamingResponse(StreamingResponse):
    media_type = "image/png"


@app.get("/image/stream", response_class=PNGStreamingResponse)
async def stream_image() -> AsyncIterable[bytes]:
    with read_image() as image_file:
        for chunk in image_file:
            yield chunk


@app.get("/image/stream-no-async", response_class=PNGStreamingResponse)
def stream_image_no_async() -> Iterable[bytes]:
    with read_image() as image_file:
        for chunk in image_file:
            yield chunk


@app.get("/image/stream-no-async-yield-from", response_class=PNGStreamingResponse)
def stream_image_no_async_yield_from() -> Iterable[bytes]:
    with read_image() as image_file:
        yield from image_file


@app.get("/image/stream-no-annotation", response_class=PNGStreamingResponse)
async def stream_image_no_annotation():
    with read_image() as image_file:
        for chunk in image_file:
            yield chunk


@app.get("/image/stream-no-async-no-annotation", response_class=PNGStreamingResponse)
def stream_image_no_async_no_annotation():
    with read_image() as image_file:
        for chunk in image_file:
            yield chunk

Then you can use this new class in response_class=PNGStreamingResponse in your path operation function:

Python
import base64
from collections.abc import AsyncIterable, Iterable
from io import BytesIO

from fastapi import FastAPI
from fastapi.responses import StreamingResponse

image_base64 = "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"
binary_image = base64.b64decode(image_base64)


def read_image() -> BytesIO:
    return BytesIO(binary_image)


app = FastAPI()


class PNGStreamingResponse(StreamingResponse):
    media_type = "image/png"


@app.get("/image/stream", response_class=PNGStreamingResponse)
async def stream_image() -> AsyncIterable[bytes]:
    with read_image() as image_file:
        for chunk in image_file:
            yield chunk


@app.get("/image/stream-no-async", response_class=PNGStreamingResponse)
def stream_image_no_async() -> Iterable[bytes]:
    with read_image() as image_file:
        for chunk in image_file:
            yield chunk


@app.get("/image/stream-no-async-yield-from", response_class=PNGStreamingResponse)
def stream_image_no_async_yield_from() -> Iterable[bytes]:
    with read_image() as image_file:
        yield from image_file


@app.get("/image/stream-no-annotation", response_class=PNGStreamingResponse)
async def stream_image_no_annotation():
    with read_image() as image_file:
        for chunk in image_file:
            yield chunk


@app.get("/image/stream-no-async-no-annotation", response_class=PNGStreamingResponse)
def stream_image_no_async_no_annotation():
    with read_image() as image_file:
        for chunk in image_file:
            yield chunk

In this example, we are simulating a file with io.BytesIO, which is a file-like object that lives only in memory, but lets us use the same interface.

For example, we can iterate over it to consume its contents, as we could with a file.

Python
import base64
from collections.abc import AsyncIterable, Iterable
from io import BytesIO

from fastapi import FastAPI
from fastapi.responses import StreamingResponse

image_base64 = "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"
binary_image = base64.b64decode(image_base64)


def read_image() -> BytesIO:
    return BytesIO(binary_image)


app = FastAPI()


class PNGStreamingResponse(StreamingResponse):
    media_type = "image/png"


@app.get("/image/stream", response_class=PNGStreamingResponse)
async def stream_image() -> AsyncIterable[bytes]:
    with read_image() as image_file:
        for chunk in image_file:
            yield chunk


@app.get("/image/stream-no-async", response_class=PNGStreamingResponse)
def stream_image_no_async() -> Iterable[bytes]:
    with read_image() as image_file:
        for chunk in image_file:
            yield chunk


@app.get("/image/stream-no-async-yield-from", response_class=PNGStreamingResponse)
def stream_image_no_async_yield_from() -> Iterable[bytes]:
    with read_image() as image_file:
        yield from image_file


@app.get("/image/stream-no-annotation", response_class=PNGStreamingResponse)
async def stream_image_no_annotation():
    with read_image() as image_file:
        for chunk in image_file:
            yield chunk


@app.get("/image/stream-no-async-no-annotation", response_class=PNGStreamingResponse)
def stream_image_no_async_no_annotation():
    with read_image() as image_file:
        for chunk in image_file:
            yield chunk

By using a with block, we make sure that the file-like object is closed after the generator function (the function with yield) is done. So, after it finishes sending the response.

It wouldn't be that important in this specific example because it's a fake in-memory file (with io.BytesIO), but with a real file, it would be important to make sure the file is closed after the work with it is done.

In most cases, file-like objects are not compatible with async and await by default.

For example, they don't have an await file.read(), or async for chunk in file.

And in many cases, reading them would be a blocking operation (that could block the event loop), because they are read from disk or from the network.

To avoid blocking the event loop, you can simply declare the path operation function with regular def instead of async def, that way FastAPI will run it on a threadpool worker, to avoid blocking the main loop.

Python
import base64
from collections.abc import AsyncIterable, Iterable
from io import BytesIO

from fastapi import FastAPI
from fastapi.responses import StreamingResponse

image_base64 = "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"
binary_image = base64.b64decode(image_base64)


def read_image() -> BytesIO:
    return BytesIO(binary_image)


app = FastAPI()


class PNGStreamingResponse(StreamingResponse):
    media_type = "image/png"


@app.get("/image/stream", response_class=PNGStreamingResponse)
async def stream_image() -> AsyncIterable[bytes]:
    with read_image() as image_file:
        for chunk in image_file:
            yield chunk


@app.get("/image/stream-no-async", response_class=PNGStreamingResponse)
def stream_image_no_async() -> Iterable[bytes]:
    with read_image() as image_file:
        for chunk in image_file:
            yield chunk


@app.get("/image/stream-no-async-yield-from", response_class=PNGStreamingResponse)
def stream_image_no_async_yield_from() -> Iterable[bytes]:
    with read_image() as image_file:
        yield from image_file


@app.get("/image/stream-no-annotation", response_class=PNGStreamingResponse)
async def stream_image_no_annotation():
    with read_image() as image_file:
        for chunk in image_file:
            yield chunk


@app.get("/image/stream-no-async-no-annotation", response_class=PNGStreamingResponse)
def stream_image_no_async_no_annotation():
    with read_image() as image_file:
        for chunk in image_file:
            yield chunk

When you are iterating over something, like a file-like object, and then you are doing yield for each item, you could also use yield from to yield each item directly and skip the for loop.

This is not particular to FastAPI, it's just Python, but it's a nice trick to know. 😎

Python
import base64
from collections.abc import AsyncIterable, Iterable
from io import BytesIO

from fastapi import FastAPI
from fastapi.responses import StreamingResponse

image_base64 = "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"
binary_image = base64.b64decode(image_base64)


def read_image() -> BytesIO:
    return BytesIO(binary_image)


app = FastAPI()


class PNGStreamingResponse(StreamingResponse):
    media_type = "image/png"


@app.get("/image/stream", response_class=PNGStreamingResponse)
async def stream_image() -> AsyncIterable[bytes]:
    with read_image() as image_file:
        for chunk in image_file:
            yield chunk


@app.get("/image/stream-no-async", response_class=PNGStreamingResponse)
def stream_image_no_async() -> Iterable[bytes]:
    with read_image() as image_file:
        for chunk in image_file:
            yield chunk


@app.get("/image/stream-no-async-yield-from", response_class=PNGStreamingResponse)
def stream_image_no_async_yield_from() -> Iterable[bytes]:
    with read_image() as image_file:
        yield from image_file


@app.get("/image/stream-no-annotation", response_class=PNGStreamingResponse)
async def stream_image_no_annotation():
    with read_image() as image_file:
        for chunk in image_file:
            yield chunk


@app.get("/image/stream-no-async-no-annotation", response_class=PNGStreamingResponse)
def stream_image_no_async_no_annotation():
    with read_image() as image_file:
        for chunk in image_file:
            yield chunk
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