Centrifugo — Scalable Real-Time Messaging Server

What it is

Centrifugo is a scalable real-time messaging server that adds live update capabilities to any application regardless of its tech stack. It handles WebSocket connections, Server-Sent Events (SSE), HTTP streaming, and GRPC transports. The server is language-agnostic -- your backend publishes messages via HTTP or GRPC API, and Centrifugo delivers them to connected clients in real time. It supports Redis, Nats, and Tarantool as scalable backends for multi-node deployments.

Development teams that need to add real-time features (live notifications, chat, dashboards, collaborative editing) to existing applications without rewriting their backend benefit most.

How it saves time or tokens

Centrifugo decouples real-time message delivery from your application logic. Instead of implementing WebSocket handling, connection management, heartbeats, reconnection logic, and horizontal scaling yourself, you deploy Centrifugo as a sidecar service. Your backend only needs to make HTTP calls to publish messages. This reduces the engineering effort from weeks of WebSocket infrastructure work to hours of integration.

How to use

1. Install and run Centrifugo:

# Docker
docker run -p 8000:8000 centrifugo/centrifugo:latest centrifugo --admin

# Or download binary
curl -sSL https://centrifugal.dev/install.sh | sh
centrifugo --config config.json

1. Connect from a client:

import { Centrifuge } from 'centrifuge';

const client = new Centrifuge('ws://localhost:8000/connection/websocket');
const sub = client.newSubscription('notifications');
sub.on('publication', (ctx) => {
  console.log('New message:', ctx.data);
});
sub.subscribe();
client.connect();

1. Publish from your backend:

curl -X POST http://localhost:8000/api/publish \
  -H 'Authorization: apikey YOUR_API_KEY' \
  -d '{"channel": "notifications", "data": {"text": "Hello"}}'

Example

# Python backend publishing to Centrifugo
import requests

def notify_user(user_id, message):
    requests.post('http://centrifugo:8000/api/publish', json={
        'channel': f'user:{user_id}',
        'data': {'type': 'notification', 'text': message}
    }, headers={'Authorization': 'apikey YOUR_API_KEY'})

Related on TokRepo

• DevOps Tools -- Infrastructure tools for scalable applications
• Self-Hosted Solutions -- Self-hosted alternatives for real-time infrastructure

Common pitfalls

• Centrifugo requires a backend engine (Redis, Nats) for horizontal scaling. A single-node deployment works for development but does not scale in production without a broker.
• Client tokens must be generated by your backend with a shared secret. Exposing the API key in client-side code creates a security vulnerability.
• Channel naming conventions matter for authorization. Use namespaces to separate public channels from private user channels.