node.jssocket.io

How do I get a list of connected sockets/clients with Socket.IO?

I'm trying to get a list of all the sockets/clients that are currently connected.

io.sockets does not return an array, unfortunately.

I know I could keep my own list using an array, but I don't think this is an optimal solution for two reasons:

  1. Redundancy. Socket.IO already keeps a copy of this list.

  2. Socket.IO provides method to set arbitrary field values for clients (i.e: socket.set('nickname', 'superman')), so I'd need to keep up with these changes if I were to maintain my own list.

What should I do?

Solution

  • In Socket.IO 0.7 you have a clients method on the namespaces. This returns an array of all connected sockets.

    API for no namespace:

    var clients = io.sockets.clients();
var clients = io.sockets.clients('room'); // all users from room `room`

    For a namespace

    var clients = io.of('/chat').clients();
var clients = io.of('/chat').clients('room'); // all users from room `room`

    Note: This solution only works with a version prior to 1.0

    From 1.x and above, please refer to getting how many people are in a chat room in socket.io.