Kotlin Academy · Lesson

SharedFlow: Event Buses and One-Shot Events

Configure SharedFlow replay and extraBufferCapacity for event broadcasting.

Lesson 2 of 413 steps

SharedFlow: Event Buses and One-Shot Events is a free Kotlin Academy lesson on CoddyKit. This is lesson 2 of 4. Any 3 lessons of this learning path are free to read in full — after that, CoddyKit PRO unlocks every lesson, plus hands-on practice with a built-in code editor and a 24/7 AI tutor. It is part of the Kotlin Academy learning path, and your progress syncs across the web and the CoddyKit app. The Kotlin Academy course includes 4 lessons in total.

What Is SharedFlow?

SharedFlow is a hot Flow that broadcasts to all active collectors. Unlike StateFlow, it has no concept of a current value — it is purely event-driven.

import kotlinx.coroutines.*
import kotlinx.coroutines.flow.*
fun main() = runBlocking {
    val events = MutableSharedFlow<String>()
    launch { events.collect { println("Collector 1: $it") } }
    launch { events.collect { println("Collector 2: $it") } }
    delay(50)
    events.emit("UserLoggedIn")
    events.emit("DataRefreshed")
    delay(50)
    coroutineContext.cancelChildren()
}

replay Parameter

replay buffers the last N emissions. New collectors immediately receive up to N past events. Default is 0 (no replay).

import kotlinx.coroutines.*
import kotlinx.coroutines.flow.*
fun main() = runBlocking {
    val flow = MutableSharedFlow<Int>(replay = 2)
    flow.emit(1); flow.emit(2); flow.emit(3)
    // Late subscriber gets last 2:
    flow.collect { print("$it ") }  // prints 2 3
}

extraBufferCapacity

extraBufferCapacity adds buffer space beyond replay. Senders can emit without suspending until the buffer is full.

import kotlinx.coroutines.*
import kotlinx.coroutines.flow.*
fun main() = runBlocking {
    val flow = MutableSharedFlow<Int>(
        replay = 0,
        extraBufferCapacity = 10
    )
    // Can emit up to 10 times without a collector ready:
    repeat(10) { flow.tryEmit(it) }
    launch { flow.collect { print("$it ") } }
    delay(50)
    coroutineContext.cancelChildren()
}

tryEmit for Non-Suspending Emit

tryEmit(value) emits without suspending, returning false if the buffer is full. Use in non-suspend contexts (callbacks, click handlers).

import kotlinx.coroutines.*
import kotlinx.coroutines.flow.*
fun main() = runBlocking {
    val flow = MutableSharedFlow<String>(extraBufferCapacity = 5)
    val ok = flow.tryEmit("click")  // non-suspending
    println("Emitted: $ok")
    launch { flow.collect { println(it) } }
    delay(50)
    coroutineContext.cancelChildren()
}

One-Shot Events (UI Navigation)

Use SharedFlow with replay=0 for one-shot UI events like navigation or showing a Snackbar — events are not replayed on recomposition.

import kotlinx.coroutines.*
import kotlinx.coroutines.flow.*
class NavViewModel {
    private val _events = MutableSharedFlow<String>()
    val events = _events.asSharedFlow()
    fun navigateTo(route: String) {
        // viewModelScope.launch:
        kotlinx.coroutines.GlobalScope.launch { _events.emit(route) }
    }
}
// Collect in UI:
// viewModel.events.collect { route -> navController.navigate(route) }

SharedFlow vs StateFlow

StateFlow: state with current value (UI state). SharedFlow: events without persistence (navigation, Snackbar, analytics). Choose based on whether consumers need the latest value.

import kotlinx.coroutines.flow.*
// StateFlow: always has a value; new subscribers get current value
val uiState = MutableStateFlow("idle")

// SharedFlow: no stored value; events fire and are gone (unless replay>0)
val singleEvents = MutableSharedFlow<String>(replay = 0)

fun main() { println("State = what it is; Event = what happened") }

Event Bus with SharedFlow

Implement a simple app-wide event bus using a singleton SharedFlow, replacing RxJava PublishSubject patterns.

import kotlinx.coroutines.flow.*
object EventBus {
    private val _events = MutableSharedFlow<Any>(extraBufferCapacity = 100)
    val events = _events.asSharedFlow()
    fun post(event: Any) { _events.tryEmit(event) }
}
sealed class AppEvent {
    object UserLoggedOut : AppEvent()
    data class ShowError(val msg: String) : AppEvent()
}
// Usage: EventBus.post(AppEvent.UserLoggedOut)

subscriptionCount

sharedFlow.subscriptionCount is a StateFlow tracking the number of active collectors — useful for starting/stopping upstream producers.

import kotlinx.coroutines.*
import kotlinx.coroutines.flow.*
fun main() = runBlocking {
    val flow = MutableSharedFlow<Int>()
    println("Subscribers: ${flow.subscriptionCount.value}")  // 0
    val job = launch { flow.collect { } }
    delay(50)
    println("Subscribers: ${flow.subscriptionCount.value}")  // 1
    job.cancel()
    delay(50)
    println("Subscribers: ${flow.subscriptionCount.value}")  // 0
}

resetReplayCache

resetReplayCache() clears the buffered replay cache, useful when the replayed events are stale and new subscribers should not see them.

import kotlinx.coroutines.flow.*
fun main() {
    val flow = MutableSharedFlow<Int>(replay = 3)
    flow.tryEmit(1); flow.tryEmit(2); flow.tryEmit(3)
    println("Replay cache: ${flow.replayCache}")  // [1, 2, 3]
    flow.resetReplayCache()
    println("Replay cache: ${flow.replayCache}")  // []
}

Handling Back-Pressure in SharedFlow

When collectors are slow, use onBufferOverflow to choose: SUSPEND (default), DROP_OLDEST, or DROP_LATEST.

import kotlinx.coroutines.*
import kotlinx.coroutines.flow.*
import kotlinx.coroutines.channels.BufferOverflow
fun main() = runBlocking {
    val flow = MutableSharedFlow<Int>(
        replay = 0,
        extraBufferCapacity = 3,
        onBufferOverflow = BufferOverflow.DROP_OLDEST
    )
    repeat(10) { flow.tryEmit(it) }
    launch {
        flow.collect { println(it) }  // only sees most recent 3
    }
    delay(50)
    coroutineContext.cancelChildren()
}

Collecting with timeout

Collect a SharedFlow with a timeout to process a finite number of events and then stop, useful for testing or bounded processing.

import kotlinx.coroutines.*
import kotlinx.coroutines.flow.*
fun main() = runBlocking {
    val events = MutableSharedFlow<String>()
    launch { repeat(5) { delay(50); events.emit("Event $it") } }
    withTimeoutOrNull(200) {
        events.collect { println(it) }
    }
    println("Done collecting")
}

Quick Check

What replay value should you use for one-shot UI events like navigation?

Answer it in the interactive lesson

Recap

SharedFlow is a hot event broadcaster. Use replay=0 for one-shot events, replay>0 for late subscribers. tryEmit for non-suspend contexts. Choose SharedFlow for events; StateFlow for state.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Is the “SharedFlow: Event Buses and One-Shot Events” lesson free?

Yes — any 3 lessons of the Kotlin Academy learning path, including “SharedFlow: Event Buses and One-Shot Events”, are free to read in full here on the web. After that, CoddyKit PRO unlocks every lesson, plus interactive practice with a built-in code editor and a 24/7 AI tutor. The Kotlin Academy course includes 4 lessons in total.

What will I learn in “SharedFlow: Event Buses and One-Shot Events”?

Configure SharedFlow replay and extraBufferCapacity for event broadcasting. You practise Kotlin Academy with hands-on code you run directly in the browser, and a 24/7 AI tutor answers your questions as you work through the lesson.

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No prior experience is required. Kotlin Academy on CoddyKit is structured for beginners through advanced learners, so you can start here or from the beginning and move at your own pace. This is lesson 2 of 4.

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All lessons in this course

StateFlow: Hot State Holder for UI
SharedFlow: Event Buses and One-Shot Events
Converting Cold Flow to Hot with shareIn and stateIn
Testing StateFlow and SharedFlow with Turbine

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