Litestar Channels

Channels

Execution Workflow

1. Choose the backend and durability model first: in-memory, Redis Pub/Sub, Redis Streams, or Postgres-backed variants.
2. Define channel names or intentionally allow arbitrary channels.
3. Publish events from domain boundaries through the injected channels plugin.
4. Manage subscriber lifecycle explicitly with start_subscription(), subscribe(), unsubscribe(), and cleanup.
5. Decide whether history and backpressure need configuration before traffic arrives.
6. Integrate with websocket handlers directly or generate websocket route handlers through the plugin.

Core Rules

• Treat ChannelsPlugin as the central routing and fanout component.
• Keep event payloads compact, versionable, and transport-agnostic.
• Use the injected channels dependency instead of importing global plugin instances inside handlers.
• Choose the backend based on inter-process needs, latency, and history requirements.
• Configure backpressure intentionally when slow subscribers are possible.
• Prefer run_in_background() over manual iter_events() loops when concurrent websocket receive work is required.
• Keep history replay bounded so subscribers do not drown in backlog immediately after connecting.

Decision Guide

• Use MemoryChannelsBackend for local development, tests, and single-process deployments.
• Use RedisChannelsPubSubBackend when low-latency fanout matters more than history.
• Use RedisChannelsStreamBackend when history replay is required.
• Use generated websocket route handlers when each channel maps cleanly to a websocket subscription endpoint.
• Use manual websocket integration when authentication, multiplexing, or bidirectional behavior is more custom.

Reference Files

Read only the sections you need:

• For plugin configuration, publishing, subscription management, subscriber iteration, history replay, and direct websocket integration, read references/plugin-and-subscriber-patterns.md.
• For backend selection, backpressure strategy, and generated websocket route handlers, read references/backends-and-routing.md.

Recommended Defaults

• Define known channels up front unless arbitrary channel creation is part of the product.
• Publish from application services or domain events, not ad hoc transport code.
• Keep subscriber callbacks small and idempotent where retries or duplicate delivery are possible.
• Use bounded history and backlog settings when subscriber speed can vary materially.
• Reach for websocket integration only after the core event-stream model is sound.

Anti-Patterns

• Using channels when a single websocket connection with no fanout requirements would do.
• Publishing transport-specific payloads that make backend or consumer reuse hard.
• Ignoring backpressure in systems with bursty or slow consumers.
• Iterating iter_events() beside a websocket receive loop without understanding disconnect risks.
• Turning on arbitrary channels without a naming, authorization, or lifecycle strategy.

Validation Checklist

• Confirm backend choice matches latency, durability, and history needs.
• Confirm channel names and authorization expectations are explicit.
• Confirm publish paths work through the injected plugin.
• Confirm subscriber lifecycle is cleaned up on disconnect and shutdown.
• Confirm history replay and backlog settings cannot overwhelm new subscribers.
• Confirm websocket integration handles disconnects without hanging.
• Confirm generated websocket route handlers match the intended channel topology.

Cross-Skill Handoffs

• Use litestar-websockets for client-facing websocket contract design and handler selection.
• Use litestar-testing for subscriber, history, and websocket-fanout test coverage.
• Use litestar-metrics and litestar-logging for throughput, lag, and delivery observability.
• Use litestar-dependency-injection when publishers or subscriber callbacks need injected services.

Litestar References

• https://docs.litestar.dev/latest/usage/channels.html
• https://docs.litestar.dev/latest/reference/channels/plugin.html
• https://docs.litestar.dev/latest/reference/channels/subscriber.html