A method of responding to requests using stream processing includes, responsive to a client request, assigning a processing thread for handling the client request. A return connection is established within the processing thread. A server request derived from the client request is sent to a stream server configured to interact with a plurality of stream processing nodes. The server request includes a thread identifier specifying the processing thread. The processing thread for handling the client request is maintained in an idle state pending a write response message from the stream server. Responsive to receiving the write response message comprising a stream processing result and the thread identifier from the stream server, the processing thread specified by the thread identifier is returned to an active state using a processor. A client response comprising the stream processing result is returned to the client over the return connection.