Realtime Channels#

Realtime channels let you push live data from the server to the client without polling. A Channel is a typed address; publish(topic, message) fires from a server action after a mutation; route.liveLoader({ topic, load }) subscribes any connected client to that topic and pushes a fresh data snapshot on every publish.

How it works#

Three pieces cooperate to wire up a live shared counter (or any data that changes on server events):

1. Define a channel with defineChannel. The name uses the same /:param grammar as route paths; channel.key(params) builds a branded Topic<Payload> that ties publish and subscribe together at the type level.
2. Subscribe from a serverLoaders entry using route.liveLoader({ topic, load }). The loader runs load once on connect and again on every publish to topic. The framework streams the results to the client over SSE so you consume them with the accumulating loader.View(render, { initial, reduce }) form.
3. Publish from a server action by calling publish(channel.key(params), message). Every connected live loader subscribed to that topic re-runs load and pushes the new value.

Example: live shared counter#

A single-instance signal channel (no route params, no payload) that signals all live loaders to refetch the current count.

counter-channel.ts (shared between server and action):

import { defineChannel } from 'hono-preact';

// A signal channel: defineChannel('name')<void>(). No payload; the subscriber
// calls load() for the fresh value. Published with no message argument.
export const counterChannel = defineChannel('counter')<void>();

counter.server.ts (server module for the /counter route):

import { serverRoute } from 'hono-preact';
import { counterChannel } from './counter-channel.js';
import { getCount } from './counter-db.js';

const route = serverRoute('/counter');

export const serverLoaders = {
  count: route.liveLoader({
    // topic(ctx) returns the Topic this loader subscribes to.
    topic: (_ctx) => counterChannel.key(),
    // load(ctx) is called on connect and on every publish to the topic.
    load: async (_ctx) => getCount(),
  }),
};

counter.tsx (page component):

import type { StreamStatus } from 'hono-preact';
import { serverLoaders } from './counter.server.js';

const countLoader = serverLoaders.count;

// The accumulating .View form folds every pushed chunk into `data`.
// `initial` seeds the value before the first chunk arrives;
// `reduce` folds each chunk. For a simple replace-on-every-push pattern,
// reduce just returns the latest chunk.
const CountDisplay = countLoader.View<number>(
  ({ data, status }) => (
    <div>
      <p>Count: {data}</p>
      <p>Status: {status}</p>
    </div>
  ),
  {
    initial: 0,
    reduce: (_acc, chunk) => chunk,
    fallback: <p>Connecting...</p>,
  }
);

export default function CounterPage() {
  return (
    <main>
      <CountDisplay />
    </main>
  );
}

counter.action.ts (server action that mutates and publishes):

import { defineAction } from 'hono-preact';
import { publish } from 'hono-preact';
import { counterChannel } from './counter-channel.js';
import { incrementCount } from './counter-db.js';

export const increment = defineAction(async () => {
  await incrementCount();
  // Signal channel: no message argument.
  publish(counterChannel.key());
});

Every client with the counter page open receives the new count within milliseconds of the action completing, without polling.

Parameterized channels#

When the same data shape is segmented per resource, include the resource id in the channel name:

import { defineChannel, type Channel, type Topic } from 'hono-preact';

// Type is Channel<'board/:boardId', { taskId: string; to: string }>
export const boardChannel = defineChannel('board/:boardId')<{
  taskId: string;
  to: string;
}>();

// In a server action: boardChannel.key({ boardId }) is a Topic<{ taskId, to }>
import { publish } from 'hono-preact';
publish(boardChannel.key({ boardId: 'b1' }), { taskId: 't7', to: 'done' });

The topic function in liveLoader receives the same ctx as load, so it can read ctx.location.pathParams to key the subscription to the route:

const route = serverRoute('/board/:boardId');

export const serverLoaders = {
  tasks: route.liveLoader({
    topic: (ctx) =>
      boardChannel.key({ boardId: ctx.location.pathParams.boardId }),
    load: async (ctx) => getTasks(ctx.location.pathParams.boardId),
  }),
};

Cross-connection fan-out#

Live loaders are server-to-client over SSE. Publishing to a topic fans out to every live loader subscribed to that topic within the same server process. On Node, that covers all connections on the same instance. On Cloudflare Workers, each request runs in an isolated Worker instance, so in-process pub/sub only reaches the publishing connection. Cross-connection fan-out on Cloudflare requires a shared backend such as a Durable Object that holds the bus; support for this will be added in a later release.

API reference#

defineChannel(name)<Payload>()#

Defines a typed channel. The name uses the /:param grammar. The Payload type parameter sets the message type. A void payload (the default) is a signal channel that publishes with no message.

const c = defineChannel('board/:boardId')<{ taskId: string }>();

Returns a Channel<Name, Payload> with one method:

publish(topic, message?)#

Publishes to a typed topic from a server action or server agent. Every live loader subscribed to topic re-runs its load and pushes the result to connected clients.

import { publish } from 'hono-preact';

publish(boardChannel.key({ boardId }), { taskId, to }); // payload channel
publish(counterChannel.key()); // signal channel

route.liveLoader({ topic, load })#

Defines a channel-driven live loader inside a serverLoaders object. Yields the result of load once on connect, then re-runs and pushes on every publish to topic.

Returns a LoaderRef<T, true>. Consume it with the accumulating form ref.View(render, { initial, reduce }). The StreamStatus and .View option table are described on the Live Loaders page.

Type exports#

import type { Channel, Topic, LiveLoaderOpts } from 'hono-preact';
import type { StreamStatus } from 'hono-preact';

See also#

• Live Loaders: the persistent-layout streaming pattern, .View accumulating form, and StreamStatus reference.
• Server Loaders: non-live loaders and the full defineLoader option table.
• Server Actions: where publish is typically called.