Building a Real-Time Notification System With WebSockets and Redis

Real-time features are a critical part of modern web applications. In this tutorial, you'll learn how to create a scalable real-time notification system using WebSockets (via socket.io) and Redis for pub/sub messaging across instances.

Why Use Redis?

When deploying multiple Node.js instances, WebSocket connections don’t share state across processes. Redis helps by broadcasting events between instances using its publish/subscribe mechanism.

Step 1: Set Up Your Project

npm init -y
npm install express socket.io redis

Step 2: Create the Server

// server.js
const express = require('express');
const http = require('http');
const { createClient } = require('redis');
const { Server } = require('socket.io');

const app = express();
const server = http.createServer(app);
const io = new Server(server);

const pubClient = createClient();
const subClient = pubClient.duplicate();

Promise.all([pubClient.connect(), subClient.connect()]).then(() => {
  io.adapter(require('@socket.io/redis-adapter')(pubClient, subClient));

  io.on('connection', (socket) => {
    console.log('User connected:', socket.id);

    socket.on('notify', (msg) => {
      io.emit('notification', msg);
    });

    socket.on('disconnect', () => {
      console.log('User disconnected:', socket.id);
    });
  });

  server.listen(3000, () => {
    console.log('Server listening on port 3000');
  });
});

Step 3: Create the Client




  
  Real-Time Notifications
  


  
Notification Center

  
    
  

  



    Step 4: Test It Out
    Run multiple instances using a process manager like PM2 or simply multiple terminals, and see how Redis allows them to communicate and share notifications in real-time.
    Conclusion
    Combining WebSockets with Redis gives you the tools to scale real-time features like notifications, chat, and presence across distributed infrastructure. This architecture is used in many production-grade applications for seamless live updates.
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