ws.md

ws

Class: WebSocket.Server

This class represents a WebSocket server. It extends the EventEmitter.

new WebSocket.Server(options[, callback])

• options {Object}
  • host {String} The hostname where to bind the server.
  • port {Number} The port where to bind the server.
  • backlog {Number} The maximum length of the queue of pending connections.
  • server {http.Server|https.Server} A pre-created Node.js HTTP server.
  • verifyClient {Function} A function which can be used to validate incoming connections. See description below.
  • handleProtocols {Function} A function which can be used to handle the WebSocket subprotocols. See description below.
  • path {String} Accept only connections matching this path.
  • noServer {Boolean} Enable no server mode.
  • clientTracking {Boolean} Specifies whether or not to track clients.
  • perMessageDeflate {Boolean|Object} Enable/disable permessage-deflate.
  • maxPayload {Number} The maximum allowed message size in bytes.
• callback {Function}

Create a new server instance. One of port, server or noServer must be provided or an error is thrown.

If verifyClient is not set then the handshake is automatically accepted. If it is is provided with a single argument then that is:

• info {Object}
  • origin {String} The value in the Origin header indicated by the client.
  • req {http.IncomingMessage} The client HTTP GET request.
  • secure {Boolean} true if req.connection.authorized or req.connection.encrypted is set.

The return value (Boolean) of the function determines whether or not to accept the handshake.

if verifyClient is provided with two arguments then those are:

• info {Object} Same as above.
• cb {Function} A callback that must be called by the user upon inspection of the info fields. Arguments in this callback are:
  • result {Boolean} Whether or not to accept the handshake.
  • code {Number} When result is false this field determines the HTTP error status code to be sent to the client.
  • name {String} When result is false this field determines the HTTP reason phrase.

If handleProtocols is not set then the handshake is automatically accepted, otherwise the function takes two arguments:

• protocols {Array} The list of WebSocket subprotocols indicated by the client in the Sec-WebSocket-Protocol header.
• request {http.IncomingMessage} The client HTTP GET request.

If returned value is false then the handshake is rejected with the HTTP 401 status code, otherwise the returned value sets the value of the Sec-WebSocket-Protocol header in the HTTP 101 response.

perMessageDeflate can be used to control the behavior of permessage-deflate extension. The extension is disabled when false (default value). If an object is provided then that is extension parameters:

• serverNoContextTakeover {Boolean} Whether to use context take over or not.
• clientNoContextTakeover {Boolean} The value to be requested to clients whether to use context take over or not.
• serverMaxWindowBits {Number} The value of windowBits.
• clientMaxWindowBits {Number} The value of max windowBits to be requested to clients.
• level {Number} The value of zlib's level param (0-9, default 8).
• memLevel {Number} The value of zlib's memLevel param (1-9, default 8).
• threshold {Number} Payloads smaller than this will not be compressed. Defaults to 1024 bytes.
• concurrencyLimit {Number} The number of concurrent calls to zlib. Calls above this limit will be queued. Default 10. You usually won't need to touch this option. See [concurrency-limit][this issue] for more details.

If a property is empty then either an offered configuration or a default value is used. When sending a fragmented message the length of the first fragment is compared to the threshold. This determines if compression is used for the entire message.

callback will be added as a listener for the listening event when the HTTP server is created internally and that is when the port option is provided.

Event: 'connection'

• socket {WebSocket}
• request {http.IncomingMessage}

Emitted when the handshake is complete. request is the http GET request sent by the client. Useful for parsing authority headers, cookie headers, and other information.

Event: 'error'

• error {Error}

Emitted when an error occurs on the underlying server.

Event: 'headers'

• headers {Array}
• request {http.IncomingMessage}

Emitted before the response headers are written to the socket as part of the handshake. This allows you to inspect/modify the headers before they are sent.

Event: 'listening'

Emitted when the underlying server has been bound.

server.clients

• {Set}

A set that stores all connected clients. Please note that this property is only added when the clientTracking is truthy.

server.close([callback])

Close the server and terminate all clients, calls callback when done.

server.handleUpgrade(request, socket, head, callback)

• request {http.IncomingMessage} The client HTTP GET request.
• socket {net.Socket} The network socket between the server and client.
• head {Buffer} The first packet of the upgraded stream.
• callback {Function}.

Handle a HTTP upgrade request. When the HTTP server is created internally or when the HTTP server is passed via the server option, this method is called automatically. When operating in "noServer" mode, this method must be called manually.

If the upgrade is successful, the callback is called with a WebSocket object as parameter.

server.shouldHandle(request)

• request {http.IncomingMessage} The client HTTP GET request.

See if a given request should be handled by this server. By default this method validates the pathname of the request, matching it against the path option if provided. The return value, true or false, determines whether or not to accept the handshake.

This method can be overridden when a custom handling logic is required.

Class: WebSocket

This class represents a WebSocket. It extends the EventEmitter.

Ready state constants

Constant	Value	Description
CONNECTING	0	The connection is not yet open.
OPEN	1	The connection is open and ready to communicate.
CLOSING	2	The connection is in the process of closing.
CLOSED	3	The connection is closed.

new WebSocket(address[, protocols][, options])

• address {String} The URL to which to connect.
• protocols {String|Array} The list of subprotocols.
• options {Object}
  • protocol {String} Value of the Sec-WebSocket-Protocol header.
  • handshakeTimeout {Number} Timeout in milliseconds for the handshake request.
  • perMessageDeflate {Boolean|Object} Enable/disable permessage-deflate.
  • localAddress {String} Local interface to bind for network connections.
  • protocolVersion {Number} Value of the Sec-WebSocket-Version header.
  • headers {Object} An object with custom headers to send along with the request.
  • origin {String} Value of the Origin or Sec-WebSocket-Origin header depending on the protocolVersion.
  • agent {http.Agent|https.Agent} Use the specified Agent,
  • host {String} Value of the Host header.
  • family {Number} IP address family to use during hostname lookup (4 or 6).
  • checkServerIdentity {Function} A function to validate the server hostname.
  • rejectUnauthorized {Boolean} Verify or not the server certificate.
  • passphrase {String} The passphrase for the private key or pfx.
  • ciphers {String} The ciphers to use or exclude
  • cert {String|Array|Buffer} The certificate key.
  • key {String|Array|Buffer} The private key.
  • pfx {String|Buffer} The private key, certificate, and CA certs.
  • ca {Array} Trusted certificates.

perMessageDeflate default value is true. When using an object, parameters are the same of the server. The only difference is the direction of requests (e.g. serverNoContextTakeover is the value to be requested to the server).

Create a new WebSocket instance.

UNIX Domain Sockets

ws supports making requests to UNIX domain sockets. To make one, use the following URL scheme:

ws+unix:///absolute/path/to/uds_socket:/pathname?search_params

Note that : is the separator between the socket path and the URL path. If the URL path is omitted

ws+unix:///absolute/path/to/uds_socket

it defaults to /.

Event: 'close'

• code {Number}
• reason {String}

Emitted when the connection is closed. code is a numeric value indicating the status code explaining why the connection has been closed. reason is a human-readable string explaining why the connection has been closed.

Event: 'error'

• error {Error}

Emitted when an error occurs. Errors from the underlying net.Socket are forwarded here.

Event: 'headers'

• headers {Object}
• response {http.IncomingMessage}

Emitted when response headers are received from the server as part of the handshake. This allows you to read headers from the server, for example 'set-cookie' headers.

Event: 'message'

• data {String|Buffer|ArrayBuffer|Buffer[]}

Emitted when a message is received from the server.

Event: 'open'

Emitted when the connection is established.

Event: 'ping'

• data {Buffer}

Emitted when a ping is received from the server.

Event: 'pong'

• data {Buffer}

Emitted when a pong is received from the server.

Event: 'unexpected-response'

• request {http.ClientRequest}
• response {http.IncomingMessage}

Emitted when the server response is not the expected one, for example a 401 response. This event gives the ability to read the response in order to extract useful information. If the server sends an invalid response and there isn't a listener for this event, an error is emitted.

websocket.addEventListener(type, listener)

• type {String} A string representing the event type to listen for.
• listener {Function} The listener to add.

Register an event listener emulating the EventTarget interface.

websocket.binaryType

• {String}

A string indicating the type of binary data being transmitted by the connection. This should be one of "nodebuffer", "arraybuffer" or "fragments". Defaults to "nodebuffer". Type "fragments" will emit the array of fragments as received from the sender, without copyfull concatenation, which is useful for the performance of binary protocols transferring large messages with multiple fragments.

websocket.bufferedAmount

• {Number}

The number of bytes of data that have been queued using calls to send() but not yet transmitted to the network.

websocket.bytesReceived

• {Number}

Received bytes count.

websocket.close([code][, reason])

• code {Number} A numeric value indicating the status code explaining why the connection is being closed.
• reason {String} A human-readable string explaining why the connection is closing.

Initiate a closing handshake.

websocket.extensions

• {Object}

An object containing the negotiated extensions.

websocket.onclose

• {Function}

An event listener to be called when connection is closed. The listener receives a CloseEvent named "close".

websocket.onerror

• {Function}

An event listener to be called when an error occurs. The listener receives an Error instance.

websocket.onmessage

• {Function}

An event listener to be called when a message is received from the server. The listener receives a MessageEvent named "message".

websocket.onopen

• {Function}

An event listener to be called when the connection is established. The listener receives an OpenEvent named "open".

websocket.pause()

Pause the socket.

websocket.ping([data[, mask[, failSilently]]])

• data {Any} The data to send in the ping frame.
• mask {Boolean} Specifies whether data should be masked or not. Defaults to true when websocket is not a server client.
• failSilently {Boolean} Specifies whether or not to throw an error if the connection is not open.

Send a ping.

websocket.pong([data[, mask[, failSilently]]])

• data {Any} The data to send in the pong frame.
• mask {Boolean} Specifies whether data should be masked or not. Defaults to true when websocket is not a server client.
• failSilently {Boolean} Specifies whether or not to throw an error if the connection is not open.

Send a pong.

websocket.protocol

• {String}

The subprotocol selected by the server.

websocket.protocolVersion

• {Number}

The WebSocket protocol version used for this connection, 8 or 13.

websocket.readyState

• {Number}

The current state of the connection. This is one of the ready state constants.

websocket.removeEventListener(type, listener)

• type {String} A string representing the event type to remove.
• listener {Function} The listener to remove.

Removes an event listener emulating the EventTarget interface.

websocket.resume()

Resume the socket.

websocket.send(data, [options][, callback])

• data {Any} The data to send.
• options {Object}
  • compress {Boolean} Specifies whether data should be compressed or not. Defaults to true when permessage-deflate is enabled.
  • binary {Boolean} Specifies whether data should be sent as a binary or not. Default is autodetected.
  • mask {Boolean} Specifies whether data should be masked or not. Defaults to true when websocket is not a server client.
  • fin {Boolean} Specifies whether data is the last fragment of a message or not. Defaults to true.
• callback {Function} An optional callback which is invoked when data is written out.

Send data through the connection.

websocket.terminate()

Forcibly close the connection.

websocket.url

• {String}

The URL of the WebSocket server. Server clients don't have this attribute.