Reading Streams

This skill builds on durable-streams/getting-started. Read it first for setup and offset basics.

Durable Streams — Reading Streams

Use stream() for read-only access (fetch-like API). Use DurableStream.stream() when you already have a DurableStream handle for read/write operations. Both return a StreamResponse with identical consumption methods.

Setup

import { stream } from "@durable-streams/client"

// Catch-up read (returns all existing data, then stops)
const res = await stream<{ event: string; userId: string }>({
  url: "https://your-server.com/v1/stream/my-stream",
  offset: "-1",
  live: false,
})
const items = await res.json()

Core Patterns

Live modes

import { stream } from "@durable-streams/client"

// Catch-up only — stop at end of existing data
const catchUp = await stream({ url, offset: "-1", live: false })

// Auto-select best transport (SSE for JSON, long-poll for binary)
const auto = await stream({ url, offset: "-1", live: true })

// Explicit long-poll
const longPoll = await stream({ url, offset: "-1", live: "long-poll" })

// Explicit SSE
const sse = await stream({ url, offset: "-1", live: "sse" })

Dynamic headers for auth token refresh

Header functions are called per-request, allowing token refresh during long-lived live streams:

import { stream } from "@durable-streams/client"

const res = await stream({
  url: "https://your-server.com/v1/stream/my-stream",
  offset: "-1",
  live: true,
  headers: {
    Authorization: async () => `Bearer ${await getAccessToken()}`,
  },
})

Error recovery with onError

import { stream } from "@durable-streams/client"

const res = await stream({
  url: "https://your-server.com/v1/stream/my-stream",
  offset: "-1",
  live: true,
  onError: (error) => {
    if (error.status === 401) {
      // Refresh auth and retry with new headers
      return { headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${newToken}` } }
    }
    if (error.status === 404) {
      return // Stop retrying (void = propagate error)
    }
    return {} // Retry with same params
  },
})

SSE resilience with auto-fallback

import { stream } from "@durable-streams/client"

const res = await stream({
  url: "https://your-server.com/v1/stream/my-stream",
  offset: "-1",
  live: "sse",
  sseResilience: {
    minConnectionDuration: 1000, // Connections under 1s are "short"
    maxShortConnections: 3, // Fall back after 3 short connections
  },
})

Common Mistakes

CRITICAL Not saving offset for resumption

Wrong:

res.subscribeJson((batch) => {
  processItems(batch.items)
  // offset not saved!
})

Correct:

res.subscribeJson((batch) => {
  processItems(batch.items)
  saveCheckpoint(batch.offset)
})

The whole point of durable streams is resumability. Without persisting the offset, you lose the ability to resume after disconnect.

Source: README.md resume from offset section

HIGH Using .json() on non-JSON content type streams

Wrong:

// Stream created with contentType: "text/plain"
const res = await stream({ url, offset: "-1", live: false })
const data = await res.json() // throws DurableStreamError!

Correct:

const res = await stream({ url, offset: "-1", live: false })
const text = await res.text()

.json(), .jsonStream(), and .subscribeJson() only work on JSON-mode streams (contentType: "application/json"). Use .text() or .body() for other content types.

Source: packages/client/src/response.ts

HIGH Ignoring onError handler for live streams

Wrong:

const res = await stream({ url, offset: "-1", live: true })
// No onError — auth failures retry forever with exponential backoff

Correct:

const res = await stream({
  url,
  offset: "-1",
  live: true,
  onError: (error) => {
    if (error.status === 401) return // Stop retrying
    return {} // Retry for transient errors
  },
})

Without onError, permanent errors (401, 403) silently retry forever with exponential backoff.

Source: packages/client/src/types.ts StreamErrorHandler

HIGH Returning void from onError to retry

Wrong:

onError: (error) => {
  console.log("retrying...")
  // Returns undefined — error propagates instead of retrying!
}

Correct:

onError: (error) => {
  console.log("retrying...")
  return {} // Return an object to signal retry
}

The onError handler must return an object ({} or { headers, params }) to signal retry. Returning void/undefined propagates the error.

Source: packages/client/src/types.ts RetryOpts

MEDIUM Using HTTP instead of HTTPS in browser

Wrong:

const res = await stream({ url: "http://api.example.com/v1/stream/my-stream" })

Correct:

const res = await stream({ url: "https://api.example.com/v1/stream/my-stream" })

HTTP/1.1 in browsers limits to ~6 concurrent connections per origin. With multiple live streams, this can freeze the app.

Source: packages/client/src/utils.ts warnIfUsingHttpInBrowser

References

• StreamResponse consumption methods

See also

• getting-started — Basic setup and offset concepts
• stream-db — StreamDB uses stream reading internally

Version

Targets @durable-streams/client v0.2.1.