> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.pipecat.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Serializers

> Message serialization for network transport

## MessageSerializer

Abstract base class for bus message serialization. Network bus implementations use a `MessageSerializer` to convert messages to bytes for transmission and reconstruct them on the receiving end.

```python theme={null}
from pipecat.bus.serializers.base import MessageSerializer
```

### Methods

#### serialize

```python theme={null}
@abstractmethod
def serialize(self, message: BusMessage) -> bytes
```

Convert a bus message to bytes.

| Parameter | Type                                               | Description                  |
| --------- | -------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------- |
| `message` | [`BusMessage`](/api-reference/server/bus/messages) | The bus message to serialize |

**Returns:** The serialized bytes.

#### deserialize

```python theme={null}
@abstractmethod
def deserialize(self, data: bytes) -> BusMessage | None
```

Reconstruct a bus message from bytes.

| Parameter | Type    | Description                                    |
| --------- | ------- | ---------------------------------------------- |
| `data`    | `bytes` | The serialized bytes produced by `serialize()` |

**Returns:** The reconstructed `BusMessage`, or `None` if deserialization fails.

## JSONMessageSerializer

Serialize bus messages as JSON with pluggable type adapters. Handles JSON-native types, enums, bytes, dataclasses, and any type with a registered `TypeAdapter`.

Adapters for common Pipecat types (`LLMContext`, `ToolsSchema`) are registered by default.

```python theme={null}
from pipecat.bus.serializers import JSONMessageSerializer

serializer = JSONMessageSerializer()

data = serializer.serialize(message)
restored = serializer.deserialize(data)
```

This is the default serializer used by [`RedisBus`](/api-reference/server/bus/bus#redisbus) and the [proxy agents](/api-reference/server/bus/proxy).

### Methods

#### register\_adapter

```python theme={null}
def register_adapter(self, type_: type, adapter: TypeAdapter) -> None
```

Register a custom type adapter for types not supported by default.

| Parameter | Type          | Description                                        |
| --------- | ------------- | -------------------------------------------------- |
| `type_`   | `type`        | The type to handle                                 |
| `adapter` | `TypeAdapter` | The adapter that serializes/deserializes instances |

## TypeAdapter

Abstract base class for type-specific serialization adapters. Each adapter handles one or more types, converting them to/from a JSON-compatible dict.

```python theme={null}
from pipecat.bus.adapters.base import TypeAdapter
```

### Methods

#### serialize

```python theme={null}
@abstractmethod
def serialize(self, obj: Any, serialize_value: SerializeFunc) -> dict[str, Any]
```

Convert an object to a JSON-compatible dict.

| Parameter         | Type                   | Description                                     |
| ----------------- | ---------------------- | ----------------------------------------------- |
| `obj`             | `Any`                  | The object to serialize                         |
| `serialize_value` | `Callable[[Any], Any]` | Callback to recursively serialize nested values |

#### deserialize

```python theme={null}
@abstractmethod
def deserialize(
    self,
    data: dict[str, Any],
    deserialize_value: DeserializeFunc,
    target_type: type | None = None,
) -> Any
```

Reconstruct an object from a dict.

| Parameter           | Type                   | Default | Description                                       |
| ------------------- | ---------------------- | ------- | ------------------------------------------------- |
| `data`              | `dict[str, Any]`       |         | The dict representation produced by `serialize()` |
| `deserialize_value` | `Callable[[Any], Any]` |         | Callback to recursively deserialize nested values |
| `target_type`       | `type \| None`         | `None`  | The resolved target class                         |