WebSockets
When defining WebSockets, you normally declare a parameter of type WebSocket and with it you can read data from the client and send data to it.
It is provided directly by Starlette, but you can import it from fastapi:
from fastapi import WebSocket
 
Tip
When you want to define dependencies that should be compatible with both HTTP and WebSockets, you can define a parameter that takes an HTTPConnection instead of a Request or a WebSocket.
 
            fastapi.WebSocket
WebSocket(scope, receive, send)
 
    
            
              Bases: HTTPConnection
                  
                    Source code in starlette/websockets.py
                     | def __init__(self, scope: Scope, receive: Receive, send: Send) -> None:
    super().__init__(scope)
    assert scope["type"] == "websocket"
    self._receive = receive
    self._send = send
    self.client_state = WebSocketState.CONNECTING
    self.application_state = WebSocketState.CONNECTING
  | 
 
                   
  
            client_state
  
      instance-attribute
  
    
    
 
            application_state
  
      instance-attribute
  
    
    
 
            url_for
url_for(name, /, **path_params)
 
    
            
              Source code in starlette/requests.py
               | def url_for(self, name: str, /, **path_params: Any) -> URL:
    url_path_provider: Router | Starlette | None = self.scope.get("router") or self.scope.get("app")
    if url_path_provider is None:
        raise RuntimeError("The `url_for` method can only be used inside a Starlette application or with a router.")
    url_path = url_path_provider.url_path_for(name, **path_params)
    return url_path.make_absolute_url(base_url=self.base_url)
  | 
 
             
     
 
            receive
  
      async
  
    
        Receive ASGI websocket messages, ensuring valid state transitions.
            
              Source code in starlette/websockets.py
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57  | async def receive(self) -> Message:
    """
    Receive ASGI websocket messages, ensuring valid state transitions.
    """
    if self.client_state == WebSocketState.CONNECTING:
        message = await self._receive()
        message_type = message["type"]
        if message_type != "websocket.connect":
            raise RuntimeError(f'Expected ASGI message "websocket.connect", but got {message_type!r}')
        self.client_state = WebSocketState.CONNECTED
        return message
    elif self.client_state == WebSocketState.CONNECTED:
        message = await self._receive()
        message_type = message["type"]
        if message_type not in {"websocket.receive", "websocket.disconnect"}:
            raise RuntimeError(
                f'Expected ASGI message "websocket.receive" or "websocket.disconnect", but got {message_type!r}'
            )
        if message_type == "websocket.disconnect":
            self.client_state = WebSocketState.DISCONNECTED
        return message
    else:
        raise RuntimeError('Cannot call "receive" once a disconnect message has been received.')
  | 
 
             
     
 
            send
  
      async
  
    
        Send ASGI websocket messages, ensuring valid state transitions.
            
              Source code in starlette/websockets.py
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98  | async def send(self, message: Message) -> None:
    """
    Send ASGI websocket messages, ensuring valid state transitions.
    """
    if self.application_state == WebSocketState.CONNECTING:
        message_type = message["type"]
        if message_type not in {"websocket.accept", "websocket.close", "websocket.http.response.start"}:
            raise RuntimeError(
                'Expected ASGI message "websocket.accept", "websocket.close" or "websocket.http.response.start", '
                f"but got {message_type!r}"
            )
        if message_type == "websocket.close":
            self.application_state = WebSocketState.DISCONNECTED
        elif message_type == "websocket.http.response.start":
            self.application_state = WebSocketState.RESPONSE
        else:
            self.application_state = WebSocketState.CONNECTED
        await self._send(message)
    elif self.application_state == WebSocketState.CONNECTED:
        message_type = message["type"]
        if message_type not in {"websocket.send", "websocket.close"}:
            raise RuntimeError(
                f'Expected ASGI message "websocket.send" or "websocket.close", but got {message_type!r}'
            )
        if message_type == "websocket.close":
            self.application_state = WebSocketState.DISCONNECTED
        try:
            await self._send(message)
        except OSError:
            self.application_state = WebSocketState.DISCONNECTED
            raise WebSocketDisconnect(code=1006)
    elif self.application_state == WebSocketState.RESPONSE:
        message_type = message["type"]
        if message_type != "websocket.http.response.body":
            raise RuntimeError(f'Expected ASGI message "websocket.http.response.body", but got {message_type!r}')
        if not message.get("more_body", False):
            self.application_state = WebSocketState.DISCONNECTED
        await self._send(message)
    else:
        raise RuntimeError('Cannot call "send" once a close message has been sent.')
  | 
 
             
     
 
            accept
  
      async
  
accept(subprotocol=None, headers=None)
 
    
            
              Source code in starlette/websockets.py
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110  | async def accept(
    self,
    subprotocol: str | None = None,
    headers: Iterable[tuple[bytes, bytes]] | None = None,
) -> None:
    headers = headers or []
    if self.client_state == WebSocketState.CONNECTING:  # pragma: no branch
        # If we haven't yet seen the 'connect' message, then wait for it first.
        await self.receive()
    await self.send({"type": "websocket.accept", "subprotocol": subprotocol, "headers": headers})
  | 
 
             
     
 
            receive_text
  
      async
  
    
            
              Source code in starlette/websockets.py
               | async def receive_text(self) -> str:
    if self.application_state != WebSocketState.CONNECTED:
        raise RuntimeError('WebSocket is not connected. Need to call "accept" first.')
    message = await self.receive()
    self._raise_on_disconnect(message)
    return cast(str, message["text"])
  | 
 
             
     
 
            receive_bytes
  
      async
  
    
            
              Source code in starlette/websockets.py
               | async def receive_bytes(self) -> bytes:
    if self.application_state != WebSocketState.CONNECTED:
        raise RuntimeError('WebSocket is not connected. Need to call "accept" first.')
    message = await self.receive()
    self._raise_on_disconnect(message)
    return cast(bytes, message["bytes"])
  | 
 
             
     
 
            receive_json
  
      async
  
receive_json(mode='text')
 
    
            
              Source code in starlette/websockets.py
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142  | async def receive_json(self, mode: str = "text") -> Any:
    if mode not in {"text", "binary"}:
        raise RuntimeError('The "mode" argument should be "text" or "binary".')
    if self.application_state != WebSocketState.CONNECTED:
        raise RuntimeError('WebSocket is not connected. Need to call "accept" first.')
    message = await self.receive()
    self._raise_on_disconnect(message)
    if mode == "text":
        text = message["text"]
    else:
        text = message["bytes"].decode("utf-8")
    return json.loads(text)
  | 
 
             
     
 
            iter_text
  
      async
  
    
            
              Source code in starlette/websockets.py
               | async def iter_text(self) -> AsyncIterator[str]:
    try:
        while True:
            yield await self.receive_text()
    except WebSocketDisconnect:
        pass
  | 
 
             
     
 
            iter_bytes
  
      async
  
    
            
              Source code in starlette/websockets.py
               | async def iter_bytes(self) -> AsyncIterator[bytes]:
    try:
        while True:
            yield await self.receive_bytes()
    except WebSocketDisconnect:
        pass
  | 
 
             
     
 
            iter_json
  
      async
  
    
            
              Source code in starlette/websockets.py
               | async def iter_json(self) -> AsyncIterator[Any]:
    try:
        while True:
            yield await self.receive_json()
    except WebSocketDisconnect:
        pass
  | 
 
             
     
 
            send_text
  
      async
  
    
            
              Source code in starlette/websockets.py
               | async def send_text(self, data: str) -> None:
    await self.send({"type": "websocket.send", "text": data})
  | 
 
             
     
 
            send_bytes
  
      async
  
    
            
              Source code in starlette/websockets.py
               | async def send_bytes(self, data: bytes) -> None:
    await self.send({"type": "websocket.send", "bytes": data})
  | 
 
             
     
 
            send_json
  
      async
  
send_json(data, mode='text')
 
    
            
              Source code in starlette/websockets.py
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178  | async def send_json(self, data: Any, mode: str = "text") -> None:
    if mode not in {"text", "binary"}:
        raise RuntimeError('The "mode" argument should be "text" or "binary".')
    text = json.dumps(data, separators=(",", ":"), ensure_ascii=False)
    if mode == "text":
        await self.send({"type": "websocket.send", "text": text})
    else:
        await self.send({"type": "websocket.send", "bytes": text.encode("utf-8")})
  | 
 
             
     
 
            close
  
      async
  
close(code=1000, reason=None)
 
    
            
              Source code in starlette/websockets.py
               | async def close(self, code: int = 1000, reason: str | None = None) -> None:
    await self.send({"type": "websocket.close", "code": code, "reason": reason or ""})
  | 
 
             
     
 
   
     
 When a client disconnects, a WebSocketDisconnect exception is raised, you can catch it.
You can import it directly form fastapi:
from fastapi import WebSocketDisconnect
 
            fastapi.WebSocketDisconnect
WebSocketDisconnect(code=1000, reason=None)
 
    
            
              Bases: Exception
                  
                    Source code in starlette/websockets.py
                     | def __init__(self, code: int = 1000, reason: str | None = None) -> None:
    self.code = code
    self.reason = reason or ""
  | 
 
                   
  
            reason
  
      instance-attribute
  
    
    
 
   
     
 WebSockets - additional classes
Additional classes for handling WebSockets.
Provided directly by Starlette, but you can import it from fastapi:
from fastapi.websockets import WebSocketDisconnect, WebSocketState
 
            fastapi.websockets.WebSocketDisconnect
WebSocketDisconnect(code=1000, reason=None)
 
    
            
              Bases: Exception
                  
                    Source code in starlette/websockets.py
                     | def __init__(self, code: int = 1000, reason: str | None = None) -> None:
    self.code = code
    self.reason = reason or ""
  | 
 
                   
  
            reason
  
      instance-attribute
  
    
    
 
   
     
 
            fastapi.websockets.WebSocketState
    
            
              Bases: Enum
  
            CONNECTING
  
      class-attribute
      instance-attribute
  
    
    
 
            CONNECTED
  
      class-attribute
      instance-attribute
  
    
    
 
            DISCONNECTED
  
      class-attribute
      instance-attribute
  
    
    
 
            RESPONSE
  
      class-attribute
      instance-attribute