real-time-features

SKILL.md

Real-Time Features

Table of Contents

Overview

When to Use

Quick Start

Reference Guides

Best Practices

Overview

Implement real-time bidirectional communication between clients and servers for instant data synchronization and live updates.

When to Use

Chat and messaging applications

Live dashboards and analytics

Collaborative editing (Google Docs-style)

Real-time notifications

Live sports scores or stock tickers

Multiplayer games

Live auctions or bidding systems

IoT device monitoring

Real-time location tracking

Quick Start

Minimal working example:

// server.ts
import WebSocket, { WebSocketServer } from "ws";
import { createServer } from "http";

interface Message {
  type: "join" | "message" | "leave" | "typing";
  userId: string;
  username: string;
  content?: string;
  timestamp: number;
}

interface Client {
  ws: WebSocket;
  userId: string;
  username: string;
  roomId: string;
}

class ChatServer {
  private wss: WebSocketServer;
  private clients: Map<string, Client> = new Map();
  private rooms: Map<string, Set<string>> = new Map();

  constructor(port: number) {
// ... (see reference guides for full implementation)

Reference Guides

Detailed implementations in the references/ directory:

Guide
Contents

WebSocket Server (Node.js)
WebSocket Server (Node.js)

WebSocket Client (React)
WebSocket Client (React)

Server-Sent Events (SSE)
Server-Sent Events (SSE)

Socket.IO (Production-Ready)
Socket.IO (Production-Ready)

Best Practices

✅ DO

Implement reconnection logic with exponential backoff

Use heartbeat/ping-pong to detect dead connections

Validate and sanitize all messages

Implement authentication and authorization

Handle connection limits and rate limiting

Use compression for large payloads

Implement proper error handling

Monitor connection health

Use rooms/channels for targeted messaging

Implement graceful shutdown

❌ DON'T

Send sensitive data without encryption

Keep connections open indefinitely without cleanup

Broadcast to all users when targeted messaging suffices

Ignore connection state management

Send large payloads frequently

Skip message validation

Forget about mobile/unstable connections

Ignore scaling considerations

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