Mastering Real-time Notifications with Pusher: My Own Coding Guide

4 min readNov 9, 2023

In the fast-paced world of web development, real-time communication is non-negotiable. Pusher emerges as a beacon, offering a seamless solution for implementing robust real-time notifications in your applications. Let’s dive into the realm of Pusher and unlock the magic of instant updates.

Understanding Pusher: The Real-time Marvel

Pusher is a real-time communication service that simplifies the integration of real-time features into your applications. Whether it’s chat applications, live updates, or notifications, Pusher ensures that information flows instantly between the server and connected clients.

Getting Started with Pusher: A Quick Setup

Create a Pusher Account:

2. Set Up a New App:

Create a new app within your Pusher dashboard to obtain your app credentials.

3. Integrate Pusher into Your Backend:

Utilize the Pusher library for your chosen backend technology (Node.js, Laravel, Django, etc.). Implement the necessary code to trigger events.

4. Integrate Pusher into Your Frontend:

Include the Pusher JavaScript library in your frontend. Subscribe to channels and bind to events to receive real-time updates.

Implementing Real-time Notifications: A Step-by-Step Guide

My own Schema structure:

Breaking Down the Schema:

Sender and Receiver Information:

sender: Stores the unique identifier (ObjectId) of the sender.
senderType: Specifies the type of the sender (Instructor or User) using an enumeration.

2. Recipient Details:

recipient: Holds the ObjectId of the recipient.
receiverType: Identifies the type of the recipient, following the same enumeration as the senderType.

3. Additional Notification Details:

studentname: If applicable, stores the name of the student associated with the notification.
name: General field for storing tutor names.
message: Captures the content or context of the notification.
Notify: An additional field that can be used for specific notification details.

4. Status Indicator:

status: Keeps track of the notification status, allowing for differentiation between 'read' and 'unread' notifications. Defaults to 'unread'.

5. Timestamps:

timestamps: Automatically generates timestamp fields for createdAt and updatedAt, providing insights into when the notification was created or last updated.

How to Use the Schema in Your Application:

Integration with Mongoose Models:

Import this schema into your application and create a Mongoose model. For example, export default mongoose.model('Notify', NotificationSchema);.

2. Database Operations:

Utilize the model for database operations such as creating, updating, and retrieving notifications.

3. Real-time Updates:

With this schema, you can seamlessly integrate real-time updates using tools like Pusher, ensuring instant notification delivery to your application’s users.

Real-time Notification Posting: A Dive into the Code

Breaking Down the Code:

Request Parsing:

Extract essential information from the request body, including teacherId, studentId, studentname, and message.

2. Sender Details Retrieval:

Retrieve sender details by querying the UserModel with the provided studentId.

3. Error Handling for Sender Not Found:

If the sender is not found, respond with a 404 status and an appropriate message.

4. Pusher Configuration:

Set up Pusher with the required credentials for real-time communication.

5. Notification Event Creation:

Create a new notification event using the NotifySchema with relevant details

6. Database Operation — Save Event:

Save the created event to the database and proceed with additional operations in the promise chain.

7. Building the Response:

Formulate a response object including recipient, studentname, message, and sender details with ID and image URL.

8. Real-time Update Trigger:

Utilize Pusher to trigger a real-time event (‘my-event’) on the specified channel (‘my-channel’) with the response payload.

9. Client Response:

Send the final response object to the client with a 200 OK status.

10. Error Handling:

Catch and handle any errors that may occur during the process, providing an appropriate error response.

Express Router Configuration: Adding a Notification Endpoint

In the world of Express.js, defining routes is a fundamental aspect of building a robust API. Let’s break down the code that configures a specific endpoint for adding notifications using the eventRouter.

Conclusion: Orchestrating Real-time Notifications with Finesse

This code orchestrates the posting of real-time notifications, seamlessly integrating sender details, Pusher for real-time updates, and error handling for a robust notification system. 🚀📩 #RealTimeUpdates #PusherMagic #WebDevelopment 🌐💻