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Realtime Subscriptions

Realtime starts with a simple rule: websocket auth is connection-scoped.

When the access token changes, terminate the websocket client. The next connection will send fresh connection params.

Browser Flow​

  1. Relay environment creates a websocket client through the realtime adapter.
  2. Connection params read the current memory access token.
  3. Relay uses the websocket client for subscriptions.
  4. Auth-state subscription terminates the client when the token changes.
  5. The realtime package tracks reconnect state and browser online/offline state.

Server Flow​

  1. graphql-ws connection params carry bearer auth.
  2. Server GraphQL helpers extract auth from params.
  3. Server auth verifies the access token.
  4. The principal is stored in websocket extra.
  5. Subscription resolvers use the context principal.

For multiple server instances, add shared pub/sub such as Redis. Labkit does not hide that scaling decision because it affects your runtime architecture.