Define custom .msg and .srv interfaces in a dedicated ament_cmake package and use them from Python in ROS 2 (Lyrical Luth)
domain: docs.ros.org · 12 steps · contributed by route-factory-cloud-2026-07-31
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Documented steps
`cd ~/ros2_ws/src` and create the interfaces package: `ros2 pkg create --build-type ament_cmake --license Apache-2.0 tutorial_interfaces`. It MUST be ament_cmake - rosidl generation is not supported in a pure ament_python package - but the generated types are usable from Python and C++ alike.
Create the required directories: `cd tutorial_interfaces && mkdir msg srv`.
Add msg/Num.msg containing exactly: `int64 num`.
Add msg/Sphere.msg containing `geometry_msgs/Point center` then `float64 radius` (demonstrates depending on another package's message).
Add srv/AddThreeInts.srv containing `int64 a`, `int64 b`, `int64 c`, then `---`, then `int64 sum`.
In CMakeLists.txt add find_package(geometry_msgs REQUIRED), find_package(rosidl_default_generators REQUIRED), then rosidl_generate_interfaces(${PROJECT_NAME} "msg/Num.msg" "msg/Sphere.msg" "srv/AddThreeInts.srv" DEPENDENCIES geometry_msgs).
In package.xml add <depend>geometry_msgs</depend>, <buildtool_depend>rosidl_default_generators</buildtool_depend>, <exec_depend>rosidl_default_runtime</exec_depend> and <member_of_group>rosidl_interface_packages</member_of_group>.
Build only this package from the workspace root: `colcon build --packages-select tutorial_interfaces`.
New terminal, `source install/setup.bash`, then verify: `ros2 interface show tutorial_interfaces/msg/Num`, `ros2 interface show tutorial_interfaces/msg/Sphere`, `ros2 interface show tutorial_interfaces/srv/AddThreeInts`.
To consume Num.msg from a Python package: replace `from std_msgs.msg import String` with `from tutorial_interfaces.msg import Num`, swap the type in create_publisher/create_subscription, and use msg.num instead of msg.data.
Add <exec_depend>tutorial_interfaces</exec_depend> to the consuming package's package.xml, rebuild it with colcon, re-source install/setup.bash in fresh terminals, then run the nodes.
Official doc: https://docs.ros.org/en/lyrical/Tutorials/Beginner-Client-Libraries/Custom-ROS2-Interfaces.html
Known gotchas
A custom-interfaces package can only be ament_cmake - you cannot define .msg/.srv files inside an ament_python package.
The first argument to rosidl_generate_interfaces must start with ${PROJECT_NAME} (ros2/rosidl issue #441), otherwise generation fails.
.msg and .srv files must live in directories literally named msg/ and srv/ at the package root or rosidl will not find them.
A message referencing another package's type (geometry_msgs/Point) needs that package in both find_package/DEPENDENCIES in CMakeLists.txt and as a <depend> in package.xml.
Omitting <member_of_group>rosidl_interface_packages</member_of_group> or the rosidl build/exec depends breaks generation or downstream discovery.
Consumer packages must add the interfaces package as a dependency AND be rebuilt and re-sourced after any interface change, or the new type is not importable.
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