Go Client Library

The go-bztcp package provides a pure-Go implementation of the Benzinga TCP protocol for streaming financial data.

GitHub Repository

View source code and contribute

Features

• Tested with Go 1.13+
• High performance implementation
• No external dependencies
• Uses Go’s context library for cancellation

Installation

Install the library and example client:

go install github.com/Benzinga/go-bztcp/cmd/bztcp@latest

The bztcp binary will be installed to $GOPATH/bin.

Quick Start

Test the client using the included binary:

bztcp -v -user YOUR_USERNAME -key YOUR_API_KEY

Command Line Options

Option	Description
-user	Your Benzinga TCP username
-key	Your API access key
-v	Enable verbose output

If successful, you’ll see messages similar to:

Benzinga TCP Client initializing.
Connecting to 'tcp-v1.benzinga.io:11337' as user 'YOUR_USERNAME' (w/TLS: false)
Connected. Waiting for events.
{"id":49917328,"title":"Alphabet Option Alert..."}

Library Usage

Core Functions

The library exposes two primary functions:

Function	Description
bztcp.Dial(addr, user, key)	Establish connection to the TCP server
Conn.Stream(ctx, callback)	Start streaming messages with a callback

Basic Example

package main

import (
	"context"
	"fmt"

	"github.com/Benzinga/go-bztcp/bztcp"
)

func main() {
	// Connect to the server
	conn, err := bztcp.Dial("tcp-v1.benzinga.io:11337", "USER", "KEY")
	if err != nil {
		panic(err)
	}

	// Stream messages
	err = conn.Stream(context.Background(), func(stream bztcp.StreamData) {
		fmt.Printf("%#v\n", stream)
	})

	if err != nil {
		panic(err)
	}
}

Advanced Usage

Context-Based Cancellation

Use Go’s context for graceful shutdown:

package main

import (
	"context"
	"fmt"
	"os"
	"os/signal"
	"syscall"

	"github.com/Benzinga/go-bztcp/bztcp"
)

func main() {
	conn, err := bztcp.Dial("tcp-v1.benzinga.io:11337", "USER", "KEY")
	if err != nil {
		panic(err)
	}

	// Create cancellable context
	ctx, cancel := context.WithCancel(context.Background())
	defer cancel()

	// Handle shutdown signals
	sigChan := make(chan os.Signal, 1)
	signal.Notify(sigChan, syscall.SIGINT, syscall.SIGTERM)
	
	go func() {
		<-sigChan
		fmt.Println("Shutting down...")
		cancel()
	}()

	// Stream with context
	err = conn.Stream(ctx, func(stream bztcp.StreamData) {
		fmt.Printf("Received: %s\n", stream.Title)
	})

	if err != nil && err != context.Canceled {
		fmt.Printf("Error: %v\n", err)
	}
}

Processing Stream Data

The StreamData struct contains the parsed message:

conn.Stream(ctx, func(stream bztcp.StreamData) {
	// Access message fields
	fmt.Printf("ID: %d\n", stream.ID)
	fmt.Printf("Title: %s\n", stream.Title)
	fmt.Printf("Published: %s\n", stream.Published)
	
	// Process tickers
	for _, ticker := range stream.Tickers {
		fmt.Printf("Ticker: %s\n", ticker.Name)
	}
	
	// Process channels
	for _, channel := range stream.Channels {
		fmt.Printf("Channel: %s\n", channel)
	}
})

Error Handling

conn, err := bztcp.Dial("tcp-v1.benzinga.io:11337", "USER", "KEY")
if err != nil {
	log.Fatalf("Failed to connect: %v", err)
}

err = conn.Stream(ctx, handler)
if err != nil {
	switch {
	case err == context.Canceled:
		log.Println("Stream cancelled by user")
	case err == context.DeadlineExceeded:
		log.Println("Stream timeout")
	default:
		log.Printf("Stream error: %v", err)
	}
}

Complete Example

package main

import (
	"context"
	"encoding/json"
	"fmt"
	"log"
	"os"
	"os/signal"
	"syscall"

	"github.com/Benzinga/go-bztcp/bztcp"
)

func main() {
	user := os.Getenv("BZTCP_USER")
	key := os.Getenv("BZTCP_KEY")

	if user == "" || key == "" {
		log.Fatal("Set BZTCP_USER and BZTCP_KEY environment variables")
	}

	conn, err := bztcp.Dial("tcp-v1.benzinga.io:11337", user, key)
	if err != nil {
		log.Fatalf("Connection failed: %v", err)
	}

	ctx, cancel := context.WithCancel(context.Background())
	defer cancel()

	// Graceful shutdown
	sigChan := make(chan os.Signal, 1)
	signal.Notify(sigChan, syscall.SIGINT, syscall.SIGTERM)
	go func() {
		<-sigChan
		fmt.Println("\nShutting down gracefully...")
		cancel()
	}()

	fmt.Println("Starting Benzinga TCP stream...")

	err = conn.Stream(ctx, func(stream bztcp.StreamData) {
		// Pretty print the message
		data, _ := json.MarshalIndent(stream, "", "  ")
		fmt.Println(string(data))
	})

	if err != nil && err != context.Canceled {
		log.Printf("Stream ended with error: %v", err)
	}
}

Requirements

• Go 1.13 or later (uses context library, requires Go 1.8+)
• Network access to tcp-v1.benzinga.io:11337

See Also

• Connection Guide - Server details and authentication
• Message Format - JSON structure reference
• Python Client - Alternative Python implementation