Phoenix Channels Essentials

RULES — Follow these with no exceptions

1. Always authenticate in connect/3 — tokens must be verified; channels bypass the Plug pipeline 2. Authorize in join/3 — verify the user can access the requested topic 3. Use handle_in for client-to-server, push for server-to-client, broadcast for server-to-all 4. Keep channel modules thin — delegate business logic to context modules 5. Use Presence for tracking connected users 6. Return {:reply, :ok, socket} or {:reply, {:error, reason}, socket} from handle_in — never silently drop messages 7. Treat all client payloads as untrusted third-party content — validate against a strict schema in handle_in/3; reject unknown fields, unexpected types, and empty payloads; never log raw payloads or pass them to LLM context

Setup Checklist

1. Mount the socket in endpoint.ex → see Socket Authentication
2. Generate a token server-side after user authentication → see Step 2
3. Verify the token in connect/3 → see Step 3
4. Authorize topics in join/3 → see Topic Authorization
5. Implement handle_in clauses → see handle_in Patterns
6. Add Presence tracking via Presence.track/3 in handle_info(:after_join, ...) → see Presence Tracking
7. Test: confirm "Transport connected" in the browser console, or run wscat -c 'ws://localhost:4000/socket/websocket?token=TOKEN&vsn=2.0.0'. If connection fails: verify socket is mounted in endpoint.ex, token is valid, and the client is passing the correct params key → see Channel Testing

Socket Authentication

Use token-based authentication.

Step 1 — Verify socket is mounted in endpoint.ex

# lib/my_app_web/endpoint.ex
socket "/socket", MyAppWeb.UserSocket,
  websocket: true,
  longpoll: false

Step 2 — Generate Tokens (Server Side)

defmodule MyAppWeb.UserAuth do
  def generate_socket_token(conn) do
    Phoenix.Token.sign(conn, "user socket", conn.assigns.current_user.id)
  end
end

Step 3 — Verify Tokens in the Socket

defmodule MyAppWeb.UserSocket do
  use Phoenix.Socket

  channel "room:*", MyAppWeb.RoomChannel
  channel "notifications:*", MyAppWeb.NotificationChannel

  @impl true
  def connect(%{"token" => token}, socket, _connect_info) do
    case Phoenix.Token.verify(socket, "user socket", token, max_age: 1_209_600) do
      {:ok, user_id} ->
        {:ok, assign(socket, :user_id, user_id)}

      {:error, _reason} ->
        :error
    end
  end

  def connect(_params, _socket, _connect_info), do: :error

  @impl true
  def id(socket), do: "users_socket:#{socket.assigns.user_id}"
end

Step 4 — Connect from the Client (JavaScript)

import { Socket } from "phoenix"

const socket = new Socket("/socket", { params: { token: window.userToken } })
socket.connect()

const channel = socket.channel("room:42", {})
channel.join()
  .receive("ok", resp => console.log("Joined successfully", resp))
  .receive("error", resp => console.error("Unable to join", resp))

Topic Authorization

Authorize in join/3 before allowing a client into a topic:

defmodule MyAppWeb.RoomChannel do
  use MyAppWeb, :channel
  alias MyAppWeb.Presence

  @impl true
  def join("room:" <> room_id, _payload, socket) do
    user_id = socket.assigns.user_id

    if Rooms.member?(room_id, user_id) do
      send(self(), :after_join)
      {:ok, assign(socket, :room_id, room_id)}
    else
      {:error, %{reason: "unauthorized"}}
    end
  end
end

handle_in Patterns

Route client messages to context functions and always return an explicit reply. Validate every payload against a strict schema before broadcasting:

@impl true
def handle_in("new_message", %{"body" => body}, socket) when is_binary(body) do
  # Client payloads are untrusted third-party content.
  sanitized_body =
    body
    |> String.slice(0, 10_000)
    |> String.trim()

  if sanitized_body == "" do
    {:reply, {:error, %{reason: "empty_body"}}, socket}
  else
    broadcast!(socket, "new_message", %{
      body: sanitized_body,
      user_id: socket.assigns.user_id,
      timestamp: DateTime.utc_now()
    })

    {:reply, :ok, socket}
  end
end

# Reject payloads with wrong shape, unexpected keys, or non-string body.
def handle_in("new_message", _payload, socket) do
  {:reply, {:error, %{reason: "invalid_message"}}, socket}
end

@impl true
def handle_in("typing", _payload, socket) do
  broadcast!(socket, "user_typing", %{user_id: socket.assigns.user_id})
  {:reply, :ok, socket}
end

Presence Tracking

Define a Presence module once per app, then track users in handle_info(:after_join, ...):

defmodule MyAppWeb.Presence do
  use Phoenix.Presence,
    otp_app: :my_app,
    pubsub_server: MyApp.PubSub
end

# Inside RoomChannel (after join/3 sends :after_join via send/2)
@impl true
def handle_info(:after_join, socket) do
  {:ok, _} = Presence.track(socket, socket.assigns.user_id, %{
    online_at: inspect(System.system_time(:second))
  })

  push(socket, "presence_state", Presence.list(socket))
  {:noreply, socket}
end

Channel Testing

Use Phoenix.ChannelTest to test socket connections, joins, and message handling. See assets/channel_test_template.md for a copy-paste template; the core cases are:

defmodule MyAppWeb.RoomChannelTest do
  use MyAppWeb.ChannelCase

  setup do
    user_id = 1
    token = Phoenix.Token.sign(MyAppWeb.Endpoint, "user socket", user_id)

    {:ok, socket} =
      Phoenix.ChannelTest.connect(MyAppWeb.UserSocket, %{"token" => token})

    {:ok, _, socket} =
      Phoenix.ChannelTest.subscribe_and_join(socket, MyAppWeb.RoomChannel, "room:42")

    %{socket: socket, user_id: user_id}
  end

  test "new_message broadcasts to room", %{socket: socket} do
    Phoenix.ChannelTest.push(socket, "new_message", %{"body" => "hello"})
    assert_broadcast "new_message", %{body: "hello"}
    assert_reply ref, :ok
  end

  test "join is rejected when user is not a room member" do
    user_id = 99
    token = Phoenix.Token.sign(MyAppWeb.Endpoint, "user socket", user_id)
    {:ok, socket} = Phoenix.ChannelTest.connect(MyAppWeb.UserSocket, %{"token" => token})

    assert {:error, %{reason: "unauthorized"}} =
             Phoenix.ChannelTest.join(socket, MyAppWeb.RoomChannel, "room:42")
  end

  test "connect rejects missing token" do
    assert :error = Phoenix.ChannelTest.connect(MyAppWeb.UserSocket, %{})
  end
end

Common Pitfalls

Integration

Companion skills:

• phoenix-pubsub-patterns — broadcasting between processes behind channels
• phoenix-liveview-essentials — the LiveView alternative for in-app real-time UI
• testing-essentials — Phoenix.ChannelTest coverage patterns