h3/dist/docs/0.guide/3.advanced/1.websocket.md

Minimal H(TTP) framework built for high performance and portability.

# WebSockets

> H3 has built-in utilities for cross platform WebSocket and Server-Sent Events.

You can add cross platform WebSocket support to H3 servers using [🔌 CrossWS](https://crossws.h3.dev/).

> [!IMPORTANT]
> Built-in support of WebSockets in h3 version is WIP.

## Usage

WebSocket handlers can be defined using the `defineWebSocketHandler()` utility and registered to any route like event handlers.

You need to register CrossWS as a server plugin in the `serve` function and provide a `resolve` function to resolve the correct hooks from the route.

```js
import { H3, serve, defineWebSocketHandler } from "h3";

import { plugin as ws } from "crossws/server";

const app = new H3();

app.get("/_ws", defineWebSocketHandler({ message: console.log }));

serve(app, {
  plugins: [ws({ resolve: async (req) => (await app.fetch(req)).crossws })],
});
```

**Full example:**

```js [websocket.mjs]
import { H3, serve, defineWebSocketHandler } from "h3";
import { plugin as ws } from "crossws/server";

export const app = new H3();

const demoURL =
  "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/h3js/crossws/refs/heads/main/playground/public/index.html";

app.get("/", () =>
  fetch(demoURL).then(
    (res) => new Response(res.body, { headers: { "Content-Type": "text/html" } }),
  ),
);

app.get(
  "/_ws",
  defineWebSocketHandler({
    // upgrade(req) {},
    open(peer) {
      console.log("[open]", peer);

      // Send welcome to the new client
      peer.send("Welcome to the server!");

      // Join new client to the "chat" channel
      peer.subscribe("chat");

      // Notify every other connected client
      peer.publish("chat", `[system] ${peer} joined!`);
    },

    message(peer, message) {
      console.log("[message]", peer);

      if (message.text() === "ping") {
        // Reply to the client with a ping response
        peer.send("pong");
        return;
      }

      // The server re-broadcasts incoming messages to everyone
      peer.publish("chat", `[${peer}] ${message}`);

      // Echo the message back to the sender
      peer.send(message);
    },

    close(peer) {
      console.log("[close]", peer);
      peer.publish("chat", `[system] ${peer} has left the chat!`);
      peer.unsubscribe("chat");
    },
  }),
);

serve(app, {
  plugins: [ws({ resolve: async (req) => (await app.fetch(req)).crossws })],
});
```

## Server-Sent Events (SSE)

As an alternative to WebSockets, you can use [Server-sent events](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Server-sent_events).

H3 has a built-in API to create server-sent events using `createEventStream(event)` utility.

### Example

```js [server-sent-events.mjs]
import { H3, serve, createEventStream } from "h3";

export const app = new H3();

app.get("/", (event) => {
  const eventStream = createEventStream(event);

  // Send a message every second
  const interval = setInterval(async () => {
    await eventStream.push("Hello world");
  }, 1000);

  // cleanup the interval when the connection is terminated or the writer is closed
  eventStream.onClosed(() => {
    console.log("Connection closed");
    clearInterval(interval);
  });

  return eventStream.send();
});

serve(app);
```