Subscriptions (Server-Sent Events)

Overview

Express Zod API supports real-time data streaming using Server-Sent Events (SSE). This lightweight alternative to WebSockets enables your server to push updates to clients over a standard HTTP connection.

For bidirectional communication, consider Zod Sockets, a companion library for WebSocket support.

What are Server-Sent Events?

Server-Sent Events provide:

Unidirectional server-to-client communication
Automatic reconnection
Event-based message delivery
Built-in browser support via EventSource
Lower overhead than WebSockets for one-way streaming

Creating an Event Stream

Use EventStreamFactory to create streaming endpoints:

import { z } from "zod";
import { EventStreamFactory } from "express-zod-api";
import { setTimeout } from "node:timers/promises";

// Define your events schema
const eventsFactory = new EventStreamFactory({
  time: z.number().int().positive(),
});

// Build the streaming endpoint
const subscriptionEndpoint = eventsFactory.buildVoid({
  input: z.object({
    interval: z.number().int().positive().default(1000),
  }),
  handler: async ({ input, ctx: { emit, isClosed, signal } }) => {
    while (!isClosed()) {
      // Emit events to the stream
      emit("time", Date.now());
      
      // Wait before next event
      await setTimeout(input.interval);
    }
  },
});

Multiple Event Types

Define multiple event types in a single stream:

import { z } from "zod";
import { EventStreamFactory } from "express-zod-api";

const eventsFactory = new EventStreamFactory({
  // User events
  userJoined: z.object({
    userId: z.string(),
    username: z.string(),
    timestamp: z.number(),
  }),
  userLeft: z.object({
    userId: z.string(),
    timestamp: z.number(),
  }),
  
  // Message events
  message: z.object({
    id: z.string(),
    userId: z.string(),
    text: z.string(),
    timestamp: z.number(),
  }),
  
  // Status events
  status: z.object({
    activeUsers: z.number(),
    serverLoad: z.number(),
  }),
});

const chatStreamEndpoint = eventsFactory.buildVoid({
  input: z.object({
    roomId: z.string(),
  }),
  handler: async ({ input, ctx: { emit, isClosed, signal }, logger }) => {
    const room = await joinRoom(input.roomId);
    
    // Emit initial status
    emit("status", {
      activeUsers: room.users.length,
      serverLoad: 0.5,
    });
    
    // Listen for room events
    room.on("userJoined", (user) => {
      if (!isClosed()) {
        emit("userJoined", {
          userId: user.id,
          username: user.name,
          timestamp: Date.now(),
        });
      }
    });
    
    room.on("message", (msg) => {
      if (!isClosed()) {
        emit("message", msg);
      }
    });
    
    // Wait until connection closes
    signal.addEventListener("abort", () => {
      logger.info("Client disconnected");
      room.leave();
    });
  },
});

Client-Side Consumption

Consume SSE streams using the native EventSource API:

// Vanilla JavaScript
const source = new EventSource(
  "https://api.example.com/v1/events/stream?interval=1000"
);

source.addEventListener("time", (event) => {
  const timestamp = JSON.parse(event.data);
  console.log("Server time:", new Date(timestamp));
});

source.addEventListener("error", (error) => {
  console.error("Connection error:", error);
  source.close();
});

// Close when done
// source.close();

React Example

import { useEffect, useState } from "react";

function TimeDisplay() {
  const [time, setTime] = useState<number | null>(null);
  const [error, setError] = useState<string | null>(null);

  useEffect(() => {
    const source = new EventSource("/api/v1/events/time");

    source.addEventListener("time", (event) => {
      setTime(JSON.parse(event.data));
    });

    source.addEventListener("error", () => {
      setError("Connection lost");
      source.close();
    });

    return () => {
      source.close();
    };
  }, []);

  if (error) return <div>Error: {error}</div>;
  if (!time) return <div>Connecting...</div>;
  
  return <div>Server time: {new Date(time).toISOString()}</div>;
}

Connection Lifecycle

Manage the connection lifecycle with provided helpers:

`isClosed()`

Check if the client has disconnected:

const endpoint = eventsFactory.buildVoid({
  input: z.object({}),
  handler: async ({ ctx: { emit, isClosed } }) => {
    let counter = 0;
    
    while (!isClosed()) {
      emit("count", counter++);
      await setTimeout(1000);
    }
    
    // Cleanup after client disconnects
    console.log("Stream closed, sent", counter, "events");
  },
});

`signal` (AbortSignal)

Use the abort signal for cleanup and cancellation:

const endpoint = eventsFactory.buildVoid({
  input: z.object({ topic: z.string() }),
  handler: async ({ input, ctx: { emit, signal }, logger }) => {
    const subscription = messageBus.subscribe(input.topic);
    
    // Listen for disconnect
    signal.addEventListener("abort", () => {
      logger.info("Client disconnected, cleaning up");
      subscription.unsubscribe();
    });
    
    // Forward messages to stream
    for await (const message of subscription) {
      if (signal.aborted) break;
      emit("message", message);
    }
  },
});

With Middleware

Add authentication and other middlewares to event streams:

import { z } from "zod";
import { EventStreamFactory } from "express-zod-api";
import { authMiddleware } from "./middlewares";

const authenticatedEventsFactory = new EventStreamFactory({
  notification: z.object({
    id: z.string(),
    type: z.enum(["info", "warning", "error"]),
    message: z.string(),
    timestamp: z.number(),
  }),
})
  .addMiddleware(authMiddleware);

const notificationsEndpoint = authenticatedEventsFactory.buildVoid({
  input: z.object({}),
  handler: async ({ ctx: { user, emit, isClosed, signal } }) => {
    // user is available from authMiddleware
    const stream = await subscribeToUserNotifications(user.id);
    
    signal.addEventListener("abort", () => {
      stream.unsubscribe();
    });
    
    for await (const notification of stream) {
      if (signal.aborted) break;
      emit("notification", notification);
    }
  },
});

Real-World Examples

Live Metrics Dashboard

import { EventStreamFactory } from "express-zod-api";
import { z } from "zod";
import { setTimeout } from "node:timers/promises";

const metricsFactory = new EventStreamFactory({
  metrics: z.object({
    cpu: z.number().min(0).max(100),
    memory: z.number().min(0).max(100),
    requests: z.number().int().nonnegative(),
    errors: z.number().int().nonnegative(),
    timestamp: z.number(),
  }),
});

const metricsEndpoint = metricsFactory.buildVoid({
  input: z.object({
    interval: z.number().int().min(1000).default(5000),
  }),
  handler: async ({ input, ctx: { emit, isClosed } }) => {
    while (!isClosed()) {
      const metrics = await collectSystemMetrics();
      
      emit("metrics", {
        ...metrics,
        timestamp: Date.now(),
      });
      
      await setTimeout(input.interval);
    }
  },
});

Progress Tracking

const progressFactory = new EventStreamFactory({
  progress: z.object({
    taskId: z.string(),
    percentage: z.number().min(0).max(100),
    status: z.enum(["pending", "processing", "completed", "failed"]),
    message: z.string(),
  }),
});

const taskProgressEndpoint = progressFactory.buildVoid({
  input: z.object({
    taskId: z.string().uuid(),
  }),
  handler: async ({ input, ctx: { emit, isClosed, signal } }) => {
    const task = await Task.findById(input.taskId);
    
    task.on("progress", (progress) => {
      if (!isClosed()) {
        emit("progress", {
          taskId: input.taskId,
          percentage: progress.percentage,
          status: progress.status,
          message: progress.message,
        });
      }
    });
    
    // Wait for completion or disconnect
    await Promise.race([
      task.waitForCompletion(),
      new Promise((resolve) => {
        signal.addEventListener("abort", resolve);
      }),
    ]);
    
    task.removeAllListeners();
  },
});

Log Streaming

import { tail } from "tail";

const logsFactory = new EventStreamFactory({
  log: z.object({
    level: z.enum(["info", "warn", "error", "debug"]),
    message: z.string(),
    timestamp: z.string(),
    source: z.string(),
  }),
});

const logStreamEndpoint = logsFactory.buildVoid({
  input: z.object({
    service: z.string(),
    level: z.enum(["info", "warn", "error", "debug"]).optional(),
  }),
  handler: async ({ input, ctx: { emit, signal }, logger }) => {
    const logFile = `/var/log/${input.service}.log`;
    const tailer = new tail(logFile);
    
    tailer.on("line", (line) => {
      const log = parseLogLine(line);
      if (!input.level || log.level === input.level) {
        emit("log", log);
      }
    });
    
    signal.addEventListener("abort", () => {
      logger.info("Stopping log stream");
      tailer.unwatch();
    });
  },
});

Error Handling

Handle errors in event streams:

const endpoint = eventsFactory.buildVoid({
  input: z.object({ trigger: z.string().optional() }),
  handler: async ({ input, ctx: { emit, isClosed } }) => {
    // Trigger error for testing
    if (input.trigger === "failure") {
      throw new Error("Intentional failure");
    }
    
    try {
      while (!isClosed()) {
        const data = await fetchData();
        emit("data", data);
        await setTimeout(1000);
      }
    } catch (error) {
      // Errors terminate the stream and send error response
      throw createHttpError(500, "Data fetch failed");
    }
  },
});

Routing

Add SSE endpoints to your routing:

import { Routing } from "express-zod-api";

const routing: Routing = {
  v1: {
    events: {
      time: subscriptionEndpoint,
      metrics: metricsEndpoint,
      notifications: notificationsEndpoint,
    },
  },
};

Generated Client Support

The Integration generator creates a Subscription class for type-safe SSE consumption:

import { Integration } from "express-zod-api";

const client = new Integration({
  routing,
  config,
  variant: "client",
});

const code = await client.printFormatted();

Generated client usage:

import { Subscription } from "./generated-client";

const subscription = new Subscription("get /v1/events/time", {
  interval: 1000,
});

subscription.on("time", (timestamp) => {
  console.log("Time:", new Date(timestamp));
});

// Access the underlying EventSource
subscription.source.addEventListener("error", (err) => {
  console.error("Connection error", err);
});

// Close the connection
subscription.source.close();

Best Practices

Check connection status

Always check isClosed() before emitting events to avoid errors when the client has disconnected.

Use abort signals

Validate event data

Define strict Zod schemas for your events—the framework validates all emitted data automatically.

Handle backpressure

Don’t emit events faster than clients can consume them. Use appropriate intervals or queue mechanisms.

Set reasonable timeouts

Consider implementing heartbeat/ping events to detect stale connections.

Test disconnect scenarios

Test how your handlers behave when clients disconnect unexpectedly.

Limitations

SSE is one-way (server to client only)
Limited to text-based data (JSON strings)
Some proxies and firewalls may interfere
Maximum of 6 concurrent connections per domain in browsers
No binary data support (use base64 encoding if needed)

Comparison with WebSockets

Feature	SSE	WebSockets
Direction	Server → Client	Bidirectional
Protocol	HTTP	WS/WSS
Reconnection	Automatic	Manual
Browser Support	Good	Excellent
Overhead	Lower	Higher
Binary Data	No	Yes
Use Case	Live feeds, notifications	Chat, gaming, collaboration

Next Steps

Learn about Authentication for secure streams
Explore Express Middleware for rate limiting
See Zod Sockets for WebSocket support

Get Started

Core Concepts

Basic Features

Advanced Features

Integration

Guides

Subscriptions (Server-Sent Events)

Overview

What are Server-Sent Events?

Creating an Event Stream

Multiple Event Types

Client-Side Consumption

React Example

Connection Lifecycle

`isClosed()`

`signal` (AbortSignal)

With Middleware

Real-World Examples

Live Metrics Dashboard

Progress Tracking

Log Streaming

Error Handling

Routing

Generated Client Support

Best Practices

Limitations

Comparison with WebSockets

Next Steps

Get Started

Core Concepts

Basic Features

Advanced Features

Integration

Guides

Documentation Index

​Overview

​What are Server-Sent Events?

​Creating an Event Stream

​Multiple Event Types

​Client-Side Consumption

​React Example

​Connection Lifecycle

​isClosed()

​signal (AbortSignal)

​With Middleware

​Real-World Examples

​Live Metrics Dashboard

​Progress Tracking

​Log Streaming

​Error Handling

​Routing

​Generated Client Support

​Best Practices

​Limitations

​Comparison with WebSockets

​Next Steps

Overview

What are Server-Sent Events?

Creating an Event Stream

Multiple Event Types

Client-Side Consumption

React Example

Connection Lifecycle

`isClosed()`

`signal` (AbortSignal)

With Middleware

Real-World Examples

Live Metrics Dashboard

Progress Tracking

Log Streaming

Error Handling

Routing

Generated Client Support

Best Practices

Limitations

Comparison with WebSockets

Next Steps