Reconnection, Error Handling & Cleanup
Handle disconnections gracefully and clean up socket listeners in useEffect.
Why Reconnection Matters
Network interruptions are common on mobile. Without reconnection logic, users silently lose their real-time connection. A good strategy retries automatically with backoff.
Socket.IO Auto-Reconnect
Socket.IO reconnects automatically by default. Configure reconnectionAttempts, reconnectionDelay, and reconnectionDelayMax in the io() options.
const socket = io('https://api.example.com', {
reconnectionAttempts: 5,
reconnectionDelay: 1000, // initial delay
reconnectionDelayMax: 10000, // max delay (exponential backoff)
randomizationFactor: 0.5,
});All lessons in this course
- WebSocket Fundamentals in the Browser
- Using Socket.IO with React
- Building a Real-Time Chat Component
- Reconnection, Error Handling & Cleanup