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Design a WebSocket API

WebSocket is a protocol similar to HTTP and is part of the HTML5 specification. It enables simultaneous two-way communication (full-duplex communication) between the client and the server over a single connection.

The WebSocket protocol is designed to achieve the following:

  • Reduce unnecessary network traffic and latency.
  • Allow streaming through proxies and firewalls while simultaneously supporting upstream and downstream communication.
  • Be backward compatible with the pre-WebSocket world by starting up as an HTTP connection before switching to WebSocket frames.

A WebSocket API allows an API creator to expose a WebSocket backend as an API to offer services via a WebSocket protocol while providing OAuth security, Throttling, Analytics, etc.

Follow the instructions below to design a WebSocket API.

  1. Sign in to WSO2 API Cloud. This opens the API Publisher portal.

  2. Close the interactive tutorial that starts automatically if you are a first-time user, and then click ADD NEW API.

  3. Select Design a New WebSocket API and then click Start Creating.

  4. Specify the following as details of the new WebSocket API.

    1. On the Design tab, specify the following and then click Next: Implement.

      Field Sample value
      Name EchoWebSocket
      Context /echowebsocket
      Version 1.0

    2. On the Implement tab, click Managed API to expand the section, specify the following and then click Next: Manage:

      Endpoint

      Use one of the following endpoints.

      • ws://echo.websocket.org:80
      • wss://echo.websocket.org:443

    3. On the Manage tab, under Throttling Settings, select Gold and silver as the Subscription Tiers.

  5. Click Save. This displays the overview page of the created WebSocket API.

Now you have successfully created and configured a WebSocket API, which you can publish to the API Store.

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