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Ballerina Websocket Library

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The WebSocket library facilitates connecting and interacting with WebSocket endpoints over the network, providing robust support for both client and server-side communication.

Client

The `websocket:Client`` allows for synchronous reading/writing of text and binary messages.

Example: Text Message Handling

import ballerina/websocket;

public function main() returns error? {
   websocket:Client wsClient = check new("ws://echo.websocket.org");

   check wsClient->writeTextMessage("Text message");

   string textResp = check wsClient->readTextMessage();
}

Similar to the above, this module has the writeBinaryMessage and readBinaryMessage functions to handle binary messages.

Example: Handling Ping/Pong Frames

A callback service with the two onPing and onPong remote functions can be registered at the initialization of the client to receive the ping/pong control frames.

import ballerina/io;
import ballerina/websocket;

public function main() returns error? {
   websocket:Client wsClient = check new("ws://echo.websocket.org", pingPongHandler = new clientPingPongCallbackService());
   check wsClient->writeTextMessage("Text message");
}

service class clientPingPongCallbackService {
    *websocket:PingPongService;
    remote isolated function onPing(websocket:Caller caller, byte[] localData) returns byte[] {
        io:println("Ping message received");
        return localData;
    }

    remote isolated function onPong(websocket:Caller caller, byte[] localData) {
        io:println("Pong message received");
    }
}

Listener

In the listener-side, a WebSocket upgrade service can be initially attached to the websocket:Listener to handle upgrade requests. It contains a single get resource, which optionally accepts an http:Request. This resource returns a websocket:Service, to which incoming messages are dispatched after a successful WebSocket connection upgrade. Additionally, this resource can be utilized to intercept the initial HTTP upgrade with custom headers or to reject the WebSocket upgrade by returning an error. The returned websocket:Service must implement a specific set of remote methods.

service /ws on new websocket:Listener(21003) {
    resource function get .(http:Request req) returns websocket:Service|websocket:UpgradeError {
        return new WsService();
}
        
service class WsService {
  *websocket:Service;
  remote isolated function onTextMessage(websocket:Caller caller, string data) returns websocket:Error? {
      check caller->writeTextMessage(data);
  }
}

Remote methods in websocket:Service

Control messages

A WebSocket contains three types of control messages: close, ping, and pong. A WebSocket server or a client can send a ping message and the opposite side should respond with a corresponding pong message by returning the same payload sent with the ping message. These ping/pong sequences are used as a heartbeat mechanism to check if the connection is healthy.

You do not need to explicitly control these messages as they are handled automatically by the services and clients. However, if required, you can override the default implementations of the ping/pong messages by registering a websocket:PingPongService in the client side as given in the above client code sample and by including the onPing and onPong remote functions in the websocket:Service in the server side.

remote function onPing(websocket:Caller caller, byte[] data) returns error? {
    io:println(string `Ping received with data: ${data.toBase64()}`);
    check caller->pong(data);
}
 
remote function onPong(websocket:Caller caller, byte[] data) {
    io:println(string `Pong received with data: ${data.toBase64()}`);
}

A WebSocket server or a client can close the WebSocket connection by calling the close function. In the event of a connection closure, the service will be notified by invoking the onClose remote function. Also, on the client side, you will get a connection closure error if you try to read/write messages.

remote function onClose(websocket:Caller caller, int statusCode, string reason) {
    io:println(string `Client closed connection with ${statusCode} because of ${reason}`);
}

WebSocket compression

Per message compression extensions are supported by the Ballerina websocket module and this is enabled by default for both the WebSocket client and the server. Compression can be enabled or disabled by setting the webSocketCompressionEnabled to true or false in the ClientConfiguration and ListenerConfiguration. Once the compression is successfully negotiated, receiving compressed messages will be automatically decompressed when reading.

Origin considerations

The Origin header can be used to differentiate between WebSocket connections from different hosts or between those made from a browser and some other kind of network client. It is recommended to validate this Origin header before accepting the WebSocket upgrade.

import ballerina/http;
import ballerina/websocket;

service /basic/ws on new websocket:Listener(9090) {
   resource isolated function get .(http:Request httpRequest) returns websocket:Service|websocket:UpgradeError {
       string|error header = httpRequest.getHeader("Origin");
       if header is string {
           // Implement validateOrigin function to validate the origin header.
	       boolean validated = validateOrigin(header);
           if validated {
              return new WsService();
           }
       }
       return error("Invalid upgrade request");
   }
}
service class WsService {
    *websocket:Service;
    remote function onTextMessage(websocket:Caller caller, string text) {
        
    }
}

Using the TLS protocol to secure WebSocket communication

It is strongly recommended to use the wss:// protocol to protect against man-in-the-middle attacks. The Ballerina websocket module allows the use of TLS in communication to do this. This expects a secure socket to be set in the connection configuration as shown below.

Configuring TLS in server side

listener websocket:Listener wssListener = new (9090, {
    secureSocket: {
        key: {
            certFile: "../resource/path/to/public.crt",
            keyFile: "../resource/path/to/private.key"
        }
    }
});
service /basic/ws on wssListener {
    
}

Configuring TLS in client side

websocket:Client wssClient = new ("wss://echo.websocket.org", {
    secureSocket: {
        cert: "../resource/path/to/public.crt"
    }
});

Issues and projects

Issues and Projects tabs are disabled for this repository as this is part of the Ballerina Standard Library. To report bugs, request new features, start new discussions, view project boards, etc. please visit Ballerina Standard Library parent repository.

This repository only contains the source code for the module.

Building from the Source

Setting up the prerequisites

  1. Download and install Java SE Development Kit (JDK) version 21 (from one of the following locations).

    • Oracle

    • OpenJDK

      Note: Set the JAVA_HOME environment variable to the path name of the directory into which you installed JDK.

Building the source

Execute the commands below to build from source.

  1. To build the package:

    ./gradlew clean build

  2. To run the tests:

    ./gradlew clean test

  3. To run a group of tests

    ./gradlew clean test -Pgroups=<test_group_names>

  4. To build the without the tests:

    ./gradlew clean build -x test

  5. To debug package implementation:

    ./gradlew clean build -Pdebug=<port>

  6. To debug with Ballerina language:

    ./gradlew clean build -PbalJavaDebug=<port>

  7. Publish the generated artifacts to the local Ballerina central repository:

    ./gradlew clean build -PpublishToLocalCentral=true

  8. Publish the generated artifacts to the Ballerina central repository:

    ./gradlew clean build -PpublishToCentral=true

Contributing to Ballerina

As an open source project, Ballerina welcomes contributions from the community.

For more information, go to the contribution guidelines.

Code of conduct

All contributors are encouraged to read the Ballerina Code of Conduct.

Useful links