Using the Realtime API you can create channels and channel resources where messages
can be published. Site visitors who subscribe to a channel receive the published
messages published to that channel. When a message is received you can handle the message any
way you choose, such as displaying the contents of the message or changing the state
of page elements depending on the contents of the message. You can also manage the
permissions of who can read from specific channels.
The wix-realtime-backend module is used in conjunction with the
wix-realtime-frontend module.
Get hands-on experience with the Realtime API on our Hello Realtime example page.
Typical uses of the Realtime API include implementing a messaging system or
as an alternative to using a polling mechanism.
The Realtime API uses the following terminology:
- Channel: A specific channel on which messages are published. Each channel
has a unique name. Site visitors can subscribe to a channel to receive the
messages that are published on it. When site visitors subscribe to a channel, they do not
receive messages published to a resource on that same channel.
- Channel resource: A subchannel on which messages are published. Subchannels
can share a name with a channel and other subchannels, but they have a unique
resource ID. When site visitors subscribe to a channel resource, they do not
receive messages published to that same channel without a specified resource.
Channel resources inherit their parent channel's permissions, unless specified
otherwise.
- Message: A message published on a channel or channel resource. A message can
be of any type, such as a string, number, or object. Channel subscribers receive
the messages published on the channel.
- Publish: Sending a message over a channel or channel resource.
- Subscribe: A site visitor subscribes to receive the messages published on a
channel or channel resource.
- Permissions router: The permissions router is used to define the permissions
you want to grant to subscribers on channels and channel resources.
- Permissions handler: Handles a permissions check for a specific user on a
specific channel or channel resource.
For a tutorial on using the Realtime API, see
Sending Messages with the Realtime API.
To use the Realtime API in the backend, import wixRealtimeBackend from the wix-realtime-backend module: