Documentation
Realtime Platform
Production-grade realtime infrastructure — Sync, Socket, and Database CDC streaming unified under one platform.
The Realtime Platform is a production-grade infrastructure system that provides three unified realtime capabilities under a single, horizontally-scalable architecture.
Sync Service
Twilio Sync–style realtime document state with revision tracking and presence.
Socket Service
Raw WebSocket messaging with channels, broadcasting, and direct messaging.
Database CDC
High-scale PostgreSQL change data capture (CDC) streaming with domain mappings.
Quick Links
Quick Start
Get the platform running locally in 5 minutes.
Installation
Full installation guide with prerequisites and environment setup.
Core Concepts
Understand Topics, Schemas, Mappings and how they relate.
Architecture
Understand the monorepo structure, event flow, and design principles.
SDK Reference
Integrate with the client SDK for browser and Node.js.
API Reference
Complete REST API and WebSocket event reference.
Admin UI
Manage topics, schemas, mappings, webhooks, and more through the GUI.
How It Works
Clients subscribe to domain topics (e.g. session.status, order.updated), not internal services. The platform determines the producing service internally and routes all events through a normalized RealtimeEvent envelope via Redis Pub/Sub.
Realtime Platform
├── API Server (Express + Socket.IO)
├── Socket Gateway
├── Event Router
├── Hosted Redis
│ ├── RedisJSON (document state)
│ ├── Pub/Sub (event fanout)
│ └── BullMQ (job queues)
├── CDC / Outbox Workers
├── Webhook Dispatcher
├── Topic Registry
├── Schema Registry
├── Metrics Collector
├── Event Debugger & Replay
├── Admin API
└── Management UI (React + MUI)Key Features
- Domain-driven subscriptions — Subscribe to business topics, not infrastructure channels
- Multi-tenant isolation — Application-scoped data with environment promotion (dev → staging → prod)
- Versioned schemas — JSON Schema validation with backward compatibility enforcement
- CDC streaming — Stream PostgreSQL row changes to subscribers in real time
- Webhook delivery — HMAC-signed webhook dispatch with retries and dead-letter queues
- Event debugging — Trace, inspect, and replay events through the debugger
- Full Admin UI — 17+ pages for managing every aspect of the platform
- User authentication — Session-based auth with RBAC, MFA, and invite system
- Operational dashboards — Real-time delivery, pipeline, and reliability metrics
Technology Stack
| Layer | Technology |
|---|---|
| Runtime | Node.js >= 20, TypeScript |
| API | Express, Socket.IO |
| Database | PostgreSQL >= 14 |
| Cache/Pub-Sub | Redis >= 7.0 (with RedisJSON) |
| Queue | BullMQ |
| Build | pnpm workspaces, Turborepo |
| Testing | Vitest |
| Admin UI | React, Material UI |
| SDK | @smarterservices/realtime |