Initalizing Server

The Server class from @mescius/js-collaboration initializes the server-side endpoint for real-time collaboration.

This page explains how to create and configure a Server instance.

Installation

Install the server package:

npm install @mescius/js-collaboration

Start in Standalone Mode

The simplest way to start the server is by specifying a port.

import { Server } from '@mescius/js-collaboration';

const server = new Server({ port: 8080 });

server.on('connect', (context) => {
  // Handle client connection
});

Use this mode when the collaboration service runs independently.

Attach to an Existing HTTP Server

If your application already uses a Node.js server (for example, Express), you can attach the collaboration server to it.

Supported server types:

• http.Server

• https.Server

• http2.Http2Server

• http2.Http2SecureServer

import express from "express";
import { createServer } from "http";
import { Server } from "@mescius/js-collaboration";

const app = express();
const httpServer = createServer(app);

const server = new Server({ httpServer });

app.use(express.static("public"));

server.on("connect", (context) => {
  // Collaboration logic
});

httpServer.listen(8080);

Use this mode when:

• Sharing the same server with REST APIs

• Using existing middleware

• Deploying in a unified backend service

Configure the Endpoint Path

By default, the collaboration endpoint uses: /collaboration/

Server

const server = new Server({
  port: 8080,
  path: "/my-custom-path/"
});

Client

import { Client } from "@mescius/js-collaboration-client";

const client = new Client("ws://server-domain.com:8000", {
  path: "/my-custom-path/"
});

Advanced Configuration

In addition to port, httpServer, and path, the Server constructor accepts advanced configuration options through IServerConfig.

These options allow you to:

• Configure cross-origin access (CORS)

• Validate handshake or upgrade requests

• Control maximum payload size

• Customize the Socket.IO adapter for distributed deployments

The following example illustrates how multiple advanced options can be combined in a production-style configuration. Replace the placeholder values with settings appropriate for your environment.

import { Server } from '@mescius/js-collaboration';
import { createClient } from 'redis';
import { createAdapter } from '@socket.io/redis-adapter';

const pubClient = createClient({ url: 'redis://localhost:6379' });
const subClient = pubClient.duplicate();

await Promise.all([pubClient.connect(), subClient.connect()]);

const server = new Server({
  port: 8080,

  // Custom endpoint
  path: "/collaboration/",

  // Enable multi-node broadcasting
  socketIoAdapter: createAdapter(pubClient, subClient),

  // Configure CORS
  cors: {
    origin: ["https://app.example.com"]
  },

  // Restrict handshake requests
  allowRequest: (req, callback) => {
    const origin = req.headers.origin;
    callback(null, !!origin);
  },

  // Control payload limits
  maxHttpBufferSize: 1024 * 1024 * 1024,
  maxDecompressedMessageSize: 1024 * 1024 * 1024,
});

Deploy in Multiple Server Instances

For multi-node deployments (for example, behind a load balancer), configure a custom adapter to synchronize messages across instances.

See:

• Multiple Servers Deployment

• IServerConfig (API Reference)

API Reference

For complete configuration options, see:

• IServerConfig

• Server Class

Next Steps

After initializing the server, use the methods of the Server class to register hooks and middleware for handling connections and messages. For more details, refer to the Server Class and Middleware.