fast-rtc-peer

a small RTC client for connecting 2 peers

Installation

yarn add @mattkrick/fast-rtc-peer

Why

WebRTC is great, but navigating the handshake includes a lot of boilerplate. Most libraries out there were written years ago before WebRTC hit v1.0. As a result, they can slow and a little bloated. The goal of this library is to be fast, small, and easy to understand.

FAQ

Can I connect more than 2 peers?

Yes! Just use fast-rtc-swarm

Does it support older clients/protocols?

Yes! Just use adapter.

Does it support multiple data channels?

Yes! Just use the underlying RTCConnection: peer.peerConnection.createDataChannel('channel2')

Does it support audio/video?

Yes, but you have to use the low-level API. Now that WebRTC Stage 3 is finalized & pretty great, I'm open to writing a wrapper around it. Open an issue to discuss what that API should look like.

Usage

import FastRTCPeer, {SIGNAL, DATA, DATA_OPEN, DATA_CLOSE} from '@mattkrick/fast-rtc-peer'

const localPeer = new FastRTCPeer({isOfferer: true})

// handle outgoing signals
localPeer.on(SIGNAL, (payload) => {
  socket.send(JSON.stringify(payload))
})

// handle incoming signals
socket.addEventListener('message', (event) => {
  const payload = JSON.parse(event.data)
  localPeer.dispatch(payload)
})

// handle events
localPeer.on(DATA_OPEN, (peer) => {
  console.log('connected & ready to send and receive data!', peer)
  peer.send(JSON.stringify('Hello from', peer.id))
})
localPeer.on(DATA_CLOSE, (peer) => {
  console.log('disconnected from peer!', peer)
})
localPeer.on(DATA, (data, peer) => {
  console.log(`got message ${data} from ${peer.id}`)
})

// ON THE REMOTE CLIENT
const remotePeer = new FastRTCPeer()
remotePeer.on(SIGNAL, (payload) => {
  socket.send(JSON.stringify(payload))
})
remotePeer.on(DATA, (data, peer) => {
  console.log(`got message ${data} from ${peer.id}`)
})

API

FastRTCPeer(options)

Options: A superset of RTCConfiguration

• isOfferer: true if this client will be sending an offer, falsy if the client will be receiving the offer.
• id: An ID to assign to the peer, defaults to a v4 uuid
• wrtc: pass in node-webrtc if using server side

Static Methods

• defaultICEServers: a list of default STUN servers. In production, you'll want to add a list of TURN servers to this if peers are behind symmetrical NATs. An instantiation may look like this: new FastRTCPeer({iceServers: [...FastRTCPeer.defaultIceServers, myTURNServer]})

Methods

• dispatch(signal): receive an incoming signal from the signal server
• send(message): send a string or buffer to the peer.
• close(): destroy the connection

Events

• peer.on(DATA_OPEN, (peer) => {}): fired when a peer connects
• peer.on(DATA_CLOSE, (peer) => {}): fired when a peer disconnects
• peer.on(DATA, (data, peer) => {}): fired when a peer sends data
• peer.on(ERROR, (error, peer) => {}): fired when an error occurs in the signaling process
• peer.on(SIGNAL, (signal, peer) => {}): fired when a peer creates an offer, ICE candidate, or answer. Don't worry about what that means. Just forward it to the remote client & have them call dispatch(signal).

License

MIT