dotnet-realtime-communication
dotnet-realtime-communication
Real-time communication patterns for .NET applications. Compares SignalR (full-duplex over WebSockets with automatic fallback), Server-Sent Events (SSE, built-in to ASP.NET Core in .NET 10), JSON-RPC 2.0 (structured request-response over any transport), and gRPC streaming (high-performance binary streaming). Provides decision guidance for choosing the right protocol based on requirements.
Out of scope: HTTP client factory patterns and resilience pipelines -- see [skill:dotnet-http-client] and [skill:dotnet-resilience]. Native AOT architecture and trimming strategies -- see [skill:dotnet-native-aot] for AOT compilation, [skill:dotnet-aot-architecture] for AOT-first design patterns, and [skill:dotnet-trimming] for trim-safe development. Blazor-specific SignalR usage (component integration, Blazor Server circuit management, render mode interaction) -- see [skill:dotnet-blazor-patterns] for Blazor hosting models and circuit patterns.
Cross-references: [skill:dotnet-grpc] for gRPC streaming implementation details and all four streaming patterns. See [skill:dotnet-integration-testing] for testing real-time communication endpoints. See [skill:dotnet-blazor-patterns] for Blazor-specific SignalR circuit management and render mode interaction.
Protocol Comparison
| Protocol | Direction | Transport | Format | Browser Support | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SignalR | Full-duplex | WebSocket, SSE, Long Polling (auto-negotiation) | JSON or MessagePack | Yes (JS/TS client) | Interactive apps, chat, dashboards, collaborative editing |
| SSE (.NET 10) | Server-to-client only | HTTP/1.1+ | Text (typically JSON lines) | Yes (native EventSource API) | Notifications, live feeds, status updates |
| JSON-RPC 2.0 | Request-response | Any (HTTP, WebSocket, stdio) | JSON | Depends on transport | Tooling protocols (LSP), structured RPC over simple transports |
| gRPC streaming | All four patterns | HTTP/2 | Protobuf (binary) | Limited (gRPC-Web) | Service-to-service, high-throughput, low-latency streaming |
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