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Can shared dictionaries help JSON APIs?

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Ryan Townsend follows up from his own wroclove.rb 2026 talk: HTTP shared dictionary compression is done at the HTTP layer, so it also applies to APIs — REST, GraphQL, and presumably MCP once clients support it. By putting all JSON keys and enum values (with no PII) into a shared dictionary, requests and responses can be compressed close to Protobuf-size on the wire while still using a flexible JSON API and without a rigid protofile contract — useful when you don't know ahead of time what your API will look like or want to evolve it quickly. Emiliano agrees that this works around the exact protofile rigidity that makes gRPC hard.

answer_summary
Yes — shared dictionaries apply at HTTP level to REST/GraphQL/MCP and can bring payload sizes close to Protobuf while keeping API flexibility (no protofile required).
question Can shared dictionaries help JSON APIs?
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Topic of the Q&A exchange.
question Can shared dictionaries help JSON APIs?
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REST concept
Shared dictionaries can compress REST JSON payloads.
question Can shared dictionaries help JSON APIs?
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GraphQL tool
Shared dictionaries can compress GraphQL JSON payloads.
question Can shared dictionaries help JSON APIs?
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Expected to apply to MCP once clients support it.
question Can shared dictionaries help JSON APIs?
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Ryan Townsend raised this point during the Q&A.

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