JavaScript realtime user list quick start

After following this guide you will have a user list in a webpage that updates when users open and close the page. If you have any questions get in touch.

Get your free API keys

Create an account , then create a Channels app. Go to the “Keys” page for that app, and make a note of your app_id, key, secret and cluster.

Create your webpage

Copy-paste the following code into index.html. Replace 'APP_KEY' and 'APP_CLUSTER' with the values from your dashboard. Then open index.html in your browser:

<!-- index.html -->
<html>
  <body>
    <div id="user_list"></div>
    <script src="https://js.pusher.com/8.0.1/pusher.min.js"></script>
    <script>
      Pusher.logToConsole = true;
      const pusher = new Pusher(
        "APP_KEY", // Replace with 'key' from dashboard
        {
          cluster: "APP_CLUSTER", // Replace with 'cluster' from dashboard
          forceTLS: true,
          channelAuthorization: {
            endpoint: "http://localhost:5000/pusher/auth",
          }
        }
      );
      if (!document.cookie.match("(^|;) ?user_id=([^;]*)(;|$)")) {
        // Primitive authorization! This 'user_id' cookie is read by your authorization endpoint,
        // and used as the user_id in the subscription to the 'presence-quickstart'
        // channel. This is then displayed to all users in the user list.
        // In your production app, you should use a secure authorization system.
        document.cookie = "user_id=" + prompt("Your initials:");
      }
      const channel = pusher.subscribe("presence-quickstart");
      const hashCode = (s) =>
        s.split("").reduce((a, b) => {
          a = (a << 5) - a + b.charCodeAt(0);
          return a & a;
        }, 0);
      function addMemberToUserList(memberId) {
        userEl = document.createElement("div");
        userEl.id = "user_" + memberId;
        userEl.innerText = memberId;
        userEl.style.backgroundColor =
          "hsl(" + (hashCode(memberId) % 360) + ",70%,60%)";
        document.getElementById("user_list").appendChild(userEl);
      }
      channel.bind("pusher:subscription_succeeded", () =>
        channel.members.each((member) => addMemberToUserList(member.id))
      );
      channel.bind("pusher:member_added", (member) =>
        addMemberToUserList(member.id)
      );
      channel.bind("pusher:member_removed", (member) => {
        const userEl = document.getElementById("user_" + member.id);
        userEl.parentNode.removeChild(userEl);
      });
    </script>
    <style>
      body {
        margin: 1em;
      }
      #user_list div {
        float: right;
        margin-left: -12px;
        font-family: sans-serif;
        text-align: center;
        height: 40px;
        width: 40px;
        line-height: 40px;
        border-radius: 50%;
        border: 3px solid white;
        color: white;
      }
    </style>
  </body>
</html>

This page will only work with an “authorization endpoint” at http://localhost:5000/pusher/auth. The authorization endpoint determines if a user can access a given channel and, in this case, also includes the user id in its reponse. You’ll create this authorization endpoint next. Read more about it on the Authorizing users page.

Create your authorization endpoint server

Your server should provide an endpoint /pusher/auth which reads the request’s cookies to identify the user, then provides an authorization token containing the user’s user_id. Each example below uses one of the official Pusher Channels server SDKs.

// server.js

// First, run 'npm install pusher express cookie-parser'
// Then run this file with 'node server.js'
const path = require("path");
const express = require("express");
const cookieParser = require("cookie-parser");
const Pusher = require("pusher");
const pusher = new Pusher({
  appId: "APP_ID", // Replace with 'app_id' from dashboard
  key: "APP_KEY", // Replace with 'key' from dashboard
  secret: "APP_SECRET", // Replace with 'secret' from dashboard
  cluster: "APP_CLUSTER", // Replace with 'cluster' from dashboard
  useTLS: true,
});
const app = express();
app.use(express.json());
app.use(cookieParser());
app.use(express.urlencoded({ extended: false }));
app.get("/", (req, res) => {
  res.sendFile(path.join(__dirname, "./index.html"));
});
app.post("/pusher/auth", (req, res) => {
  const socketId = req.body.socket_id;
  const channel = req.body.channel_name;
  // Primitive auth: the client self-identifies. In your production app,
  // the client should provide a proof of identity, like a session cookie.
  const user_id = req.cookies.user_id;
  const presenceData = { user_id };
  const authResponse = pusher.authorizeChannel(socketId, channel, presenceData);
  res.send(authResponse);
});
const port = process.env.PORT || 5000;
app.listen(port, () => console.log(`Listening on port ${port}!`));

If there isn’t an example in your language, have a look on our server SDKs page, or get in touch.

Open http://localhost:5000. Log in by entering your initials in the prompt. Your user should appear in the top-right. For more users, open “incognito” browser windows.

Where next?

Spotted something that isn’t quite right? Create an issue on GitHub.