WebSocket (websocket)

Category: io | Form: | Symbol: Ws

Connect flows to WebSocket endpoints for real-time bidirectional communication

Unified WebSocket connector. When wired as a flow source it listens on spec.path for incoming connections and messages, emitting events downstream. When wired as a flow sink it can send messages to specific connections, broadcast to all, or close connections. Supports rooms for grouped broadcasting. Heartbeat/ping keeps connections alive. Connection lifecycle events (connect/disconnect) are emitted on the connection port. Auth is checked at upgrade time (bearer token in header or query param). This is the only IO element that maintains persistent stateful connections. For one-shot request-response, use the http element instead.

Guide

Connect flows to WebSocket endpoints for real-time bidirectional communication

What It Does

WebSocket is an IO connector for persistent, full-duplex connections. In exposed mode, it accepts incoming WebSocket connections on a platform path. In driven mode, it connects to an external WebSocket server. Messages flow bidirectionally, making it ideal for real-time applications like chat, live data feeds, and interactive dashboards.

Element Definition

Property	Value
Type	websocket
Category	io
Form	atom

Key Properties

Field	Type	Default	Description
path	string	—	URL path for exposed WebSocket endpoint
url	string	—	Target URL for driven (outbound) connections
protocols	array	—	Subprotocol negotiation list
heartbeat_interval_ms	integer	30000	Ping/pong keepalive interval
max_connections	integer	100	Maximum concurrent connections (exposed mode)

Usage

Exposed: Set a path and wire to an action to handle incoming WebSocket connections and messages.

Driven: Set a url and wire from an action to maintain a persistent connection to an external service.

Relationships

• Attaches to: rate-limit, auth-policy
• Uses: variable

Capabilities

• websocket: Full-duplex WebSocket connections
• rooms: Room-based connection grouping
• broadcast: Room and global broadcasting
• presence: Connection presence tracking
• heartbeat: Automatic ping/pong keepalive

Properties

Property	Type	Default	Description
path	string	"/ws"	WebSocket endpoint path (must start with /)
auth	object	—	Authentication configuration — checked at connection upgrade time
connection	object	—	Connection limits and timeouts
heartbeat	object	—	Heartbeat/ping-pong configuration
rooms	object	—	Room/channel support for grouped broadcasting

Operations

accept

Post /ops/accept | Auth: Execute

Accept a new WebSocket connection

Accepts the incoming WebSocket upgrade and returns a connection_id for subsequent send, broadcast, and close operations. Auth is checked here using spec.auth (bearer header or query_param). Each connection is tracked independently by connection_id.

activity

Get /ops/activity | Auth: Read

Get activity events for this element

Scope depends on element capabilities: individual elements query by element_id, project-form elements with activity-scope-members include member activities, circle-level elements with activity-scope-all query the entire circle. Gracefully returns empty list if activities table is missing (old circles).

attachments

Get /ops/attachments | Auth: Read

List all modifiers and resources attached to this element

Returns both modifiers (policy enforcement) and resources (data injection) with is_modifier flag to distinguish. Items in the generated MODIFIER_TYPES list are modifiers; everything else is a resource. Includes cascade_policy and version pin info.

batch_stats

Get /ops/batch_stats | Auth: Read

Get per-element statistics for all children of this element

Returns per-child stats plus an aggregate. Most meaningful on compound or manifest form elements (repositories, circles, projects); atoms have no children so the result is an empty children array with a zeroed aggregate. Uses efficient GROUP BY SQL. Weighted averages for eval scores.

broadcast

Post /ops/broadcast | Auth: Execute

Broadcast a message to all connections (or a specific room)

Sends a message to all currently active WebSocket connections. When spec.rooms.enabled is true, provide room to restrict the broadcast to that room’s members. Response semantics: broadcast: true means the send path completed — the platform accepted the message and dispatched it to every active subscriber. It does NOT mean “at least one client received it”. delivered_to tells you the audience size at the moment of dispatch, and subscriber_count is the total number of currently connected clients (or room members when room is supplied). delivered_to: 0 with subscriber_count: 0 is EXPECTED when no clients are connected — broadcasts are not queued for later delivery, so a successful broadcast to an empty audience is still a success. Callers should treat broadcast: true as authoritative and use delivered_to/subscriber_count only for observability.

close

Post /ops/close | Auth: Execute

Close a specific WebSocket connection

Terminates the specified connection by sending a WebSocket close frame. The client receives the close frame and the connection_id is released. Use to evict idle or misbehaving clients, or to signal session end.

compose

Post /ops/compose | Auth: Execute

Batch add and remove modifiers on this element in a single call

Declarative composition: add modifiers by ref path (slug or path@version) and remove by attachment ID, all in one atomic call on the target element. Each ‘add’ entry resolves the source element, validates topology, attaches with optional priority and cascade policy. Each ‘remove’ entry deletes the attachment row. Returns a summary of what was added and removed. Example: compose({ add: [{ref: “my-prompt”}, {ref: “rate-limit/api@v2”, priority: 50}], remove: [{attachment_id: “uuid”}] })

connections

Get /ops/connections | Auth: Read

List active WebSocket connections

Returns a list of currently connected clients with their connection_id, connected_at, and room memberships. Use for presence tracking and diagnostics.

context

Get /ops/context | Auth: Read

Get connected elements (graph traversal)

Graph traversal showing all connected elements with their relationship type (contains, contained_by, references, referenced_by, attaches, etc.). Use ?depth=N to control traversal depth (default 1) and ?types=actor,data to filter by element types.

create

Post /ops/create | Auth: Write

Create child element

POST to the parent path — element_type goes in the request body, NOT the URL. Both element_type and slug are required and must be non-empty. Name is derived from slug if omitted. Writes to both Git and PostgreSQL. All elements are stored flat under the circle — no intermediate library wrapper rows.

delete

Delete /ops/delete | Auth: Admin

Delete element (soft delete)

Soft delete — sets state to ‘deleted’ but retains the record. Cannot delete elements that have children (has_no_bond precondition) or active runs. Requires admin auth and confirmation.

disable

Post /ops/disable | Auth: Admin

Disable element (hides and prevents use)

Idempotent — safe to call on already-disabled elements. Optionally pass a reason string. Disabled elements cannot be invoked or executed. Inverse of enable.

enable

Post /ops/enable | Auth: Admin

Enable element (makes usable and visible)

Idempotent — safe to call on already-enabled elements. Transitions element to ready/enabled state. Cannot enable deleted elements. Inverse of disable.

export_bundle

Get /ops/export/bundle | Auth: Read

Export element as downloadable git bundle

On non-root-namespace elements, returns a binary git bundle. On root-namespace (circle) elements, dispatch hands off to the circle’s own export_bundle op, which returns a multi-element JSON envelope with one base64 bundle per child element — this is intentional, not an error.

get

Get /ops/get | Auth: Read

Get element details

Element is already resolved by the routing layer — this returns the cached element, not a fresh DB query. Use the path /api/{circle}/{slug} to address elements.

import_bundle

Post /ops/import/bundle | Auth: Write

Import git bundle into element

Accepts a base64-encoded git bundle in the JSON bundle_base64 field. Use overwrite=true to replace existing elements with same slug (default skips duplicates). Imported elements get new UUIDs. Returns counts of imported/skipped elements and any errors.

intention

Get /ops/intention | Auth: Read

Get element intention with full inheritance chain

Returns three levels: direct (this element’s intention), inherited (from category and root), and resolved (final merged intention). Useful for understanding an element’s purpose in context of its hierarchy.

promote

Post /ops/promote | Auth: Admin

Promote element configuration to a target environment

Only for manifest-form elements (projects). Environments advance: dev → demo → live. dev→demo requires member+ role, demo→live requires admin. Freezes member versions at promotion time (creates snapshot). Persists environment config to spec.environments.

readme

Get /ops/readme | Auth: Read

Get element README.md content

Reads README.md from the element’s git repository. Returns empty content (not an error) if no README exists. Always returns markdown format.

readme_update

Post /ops/readme_update | Auth: Write

Update element README.md content

Creates or overwrites README.md in the element’s git repo. Commits to the draft branch. Content must be provided as a markdown string.

receive

Post /ops/receive | Auth: None

Receive incoming external traffic

Entry point for external traffic reaching this IO element. Declared auth: none to bypass platform auth — element-level auth is enforced by IoReceiveExecutor before dispatching into the flow graph. The flow/app that wires this element as an entry point determines what happens next.

remove-modifier

Post /ops/remove-modifier | Auth: Execute

Remove an attached modifier from this element by attachment ID

Removes a modifier/resource attachment by its row ID. The ID comes from the attachments or context API. This is the reverse of attach — called on the target element, not the source.

restore

Post /ops/restore | Auth: Admin

Restore element to a specific version

Automatically snapshots the current state before restoring (creates a ‘Before restore to vN’ version entry). Writes restored spec to git as .triform/spec.yaml. Git failures warn but don’t fail the operation — DB state is authoritative. Cannot restore deleted elements.

schema

Get /ops/schema | Auth: Read

Get element input/output schema (MCP tools/list compatible)

Returns type-level port schemas from the TypeRegistry — not instance-specific overrides. Includes direction (input/output), required flag, and JSON schema per port. Useful for understanding what data an element accepts and produces.

send

Post /ops/send | Auth: Execute

Send a message to a specific connected client

Sends a JSON message to a single connection identified by connection_id. Fails with WS_CONNECTION_NOT_FOUND if the connection has been closed or does not exist.

source

Get /ops/source | Auth: Read

Get any file’s content from the element’s git repository

Reads an arbitrary file from the element’s CAS-backed git tree by its relative path. Same store as readme, just generalized. Path safety: rejects .. traversal, leading /, and null bytes. Use this to view main.py for action elements, asset files for SPAs, etc. Returns empty content (not an error) if the file doesn’t exist.

source_branches

Get /ops/source/branches | Auth: Read

List Source branches for this element

Returns the standard draft/demo/live Source branches, their current commits, and promotion relationships. Use GET /api/{element_path}/ops/source/branches.

source_promote

Post /ops/source/promote | Auth: Write

Promote Source branch forward

Promotes draft to demo or demo to live through the generated element op path. Direct Git pushes to demo/live are blocked by Source policy.

source_repair

Post /ops/source/repair | Auth: Write

Inspect or repair the element Source index

Runs Source repair through the element operation path. Defaults to dry_run=true; set dry_run=false only after reviewing a dry-run report.

source_status

Get /ops/source/status | Auth: Read

Get Source control status for this element

Returns the branch-aware clone URL, checkout commands, current draft commit, child source-link count, portable export summary, Source health, warnings, and auth hints for the addressed element. Use the element-first path: GET /api/{element_path}/ops/source/status.

source_validate

Post /ops/source/validate | Auth: Read

Validate Source branch contents

Validates a Source branch before accepting local Git workflow changes or promotion. Defaults to branch=draft and rejects runtime data, generated output, secret material, and unreadable CAS refs.

stats

Get /ops/stats | Auth: Read

Get aggregate statistics for this element

Health status is computed: error if errors_per_day > 5 or success_rate < 0.8, warning if errors_per_day > 0 or success_rate < 0.95. Firing alerts escalate health to error/warning. Default period is ‘day’. Returns runs_per_day, success_rate, avg_duration_ms, and more.

test_connection

Post /ops/test-connection | Auth: Execute

Test connection configuration

Validates the element’s configuration locally without making an actual external connection. Checks that required credentials are set, URLs are valid, etc. Returns success boolean and error details. Safe to call repeatedly.

tree

Get /ops/tree | Auth: Read

Get the element’s position in the graph — ancestors, children, references, and subtree statistics

Uses per-circle ElementGraph cache for O(1) lookups. Returns ancestors (containment chain), children (direct), members (references), referenced_by (reverse refs), attachments, and subtree stats. Default depth is 3, max is 10. Pass ?include_metadata=true for name/state on each node.

update

Patch /ops/update | Auth: Write

Update element

Partial update — send only the fields you want to change. spec, name, and intention are all independently optional. spec MUST be a JSON object when present; deep-merged into the existing spec by default. Empty {"spec":{}} preserves existing spec content but still records a new version (no-op for content, not for version state). To clear/replace the entire spec wholesale send {"spec":{...},"deep":false}. List-typed spec fields use replace semantics (the patch list replaces the existing list, no array merging). Coordinates Git + DB writes. Slug cannot be changed after creation.

update_meta

Patch /ops/update_meta | Auth: Write

Update element metadata (lightweight merge — does NOT bump version or snapshot spec)

Shallow JSONB merge into element.meta. Top-level keys in the provided value replace existing meta values; other keys are preserved. Used for UI metadata like canvas positions, panel state, viewer preferences. Wire-shape op_name is update_meta (distinct from update) so SSE subscribers + the cache auto-invalidator can distinguish lightweight metadata changes from spec edits without inspecting the payload. The MutatingElementStore wrapper stamps this op_name on the lifecycle event emitted by update_element_meta storage calls.

version

Get /ops/version | Auth: Read

Get current version or full history

Returns current version by default. Pass ?history=true for full version history (up to ?limit=N, default 50). Versions are backed by the element_versions table. Every spec update creates a new version entry.

Error Codes

Code	Class	Retryable	Description
WS_CONNECTION_FAILED	internal	yes	WebSocket connection could not be established
WS_MESSAGE_TOO_LARGE	limit	no	Message exceeds the configured size limit
WS_CONNECTION_NOT_FOUND	validation	no	Target connection_id not found or already closed
WS_MAX_CONNECTIONS_REACHED	limit	yes	Maximum concurrent connections reached