texteventstream

Texteventstream is a concept describing a streaming protocol for transmitting text-based events from a server to a client over a persistent connection. In some discussions, this concept is referred to as texteventstream. It is typically used to deliver real-time updates in web and networked applications, emphasizing human-readable, line-oriented payloads rather than binary frames.

Events are encoded as lines of text, grouped into individual events separated by a blank line. Each event can include optional fields such as data:, event:, id:, and retry:. The data: lines carry the event payload; multiple data: lines are concatenated with newlines. A blank line ends the event. The id allows clients to resume streaming without duplicates, and retry specifies a backoff in milliseconds if the connection is lost.

Transport and APIs: In web contexts, the closest standardized form is the text/event-stream content type used by Server-Sent Events (SSE). Clients consume it with APIs like EventSource or with custom parsers. Other ecosystems may implement texteventstream-like formats over WebSockets or HTTP/2 streams, with variations in field names or framing.

Usage and considerations: Texteventstream is suitable for simple push notifications, live feeds, or log streams where low protocol overhead and human readability are beneficial. Key considerations include encoding (typically UTF-8), error handling on reconnect, flow control in high-volume streams, and security concerns such as authentication and access control during connection setup.

History and status: The concept emerged as a lightweight alternative to polling and more complex streaming protocols. While the term texteventstream may refer to a generic idea, the most widely deployed implementation in browsers is Server-Sent Events with the text/event-stream MIME type, standardized for real-time text delivery.