Exploring the New WebSocket Client in Node.js 23: What You Need to Know

Node.js 23 introduces a subtle but powerful addition — a native WebSocket client. While WebSocket support has existed through third-party libraries like ws, this is the first time Node.js ships with a built-in client API that's aligned with the browser standard.

"When you eliminate the unnecessary, the necessary speaks." – Hans Hofmann

In this article, we’ll explore how the new WebSocket client works, how it compares to existing solutions, and how you can start using it today — no extra packages required.

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🌐 The Bigger Picture: Why It Matters

If you've ever built bots, real-time dashboards, or CLI tools that consume WebSocket APIs, you know the usual dance:

npm install ws

Now, with native support, you can skip the install and get straight to work with a familiar browser-style API.

"Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication." – Leonardo da Vinci

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🚀 A Native Client in Action

Here’s how you can use the native client to connect to a WebSocket server:

// client.js
const ws = new WebSocket("ws://localhost:8080");

ws.addEventListener("open", () => {
    console.log("Connected to server");
    ws.send("Hello from native client!");
});

ws.addEventListener("message", (event) => {
    console.log("Received from server:", event.data);
});

Run it with:

node client.js

No flags. No polyfills. Just Node.js 23.

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🛠 Still Need a Server? Use ws

Node.js 23 doesn't (yet) include a native WebSocket server, so for now we’ll still rely on ws to handle incoming connections:

// server.js
import { WebSocketServer } from "ws";

const wss = new WebSocketServer({ port: 8080 });

wss.on("connection", (ws) => {
    console.log("Client connected");

    ws.on("message", (message) => {
        console.log("Received:", message.toString());
        ws.send(`Echo: ${message}`);
    });

    ws.send("Welcome to the server");
});

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✅ Pros of Native WebSocket Client

• Zero dependencies

• Familiar browser-like API

• Faster startup and reduced bundle size for tools

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⚠️ Limitations

• No native server yet — you still need ws or similar

• API is client-only for now, so this is only half the story

"Half a loaf is better than none. Especially if it's native." – Probably Not Shakespeare

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💾 Sample Code on GitHub

Want to try it yourself? You can find the full example code used in this article in the GitHub repo:

👉 codanyks/native-websocket-nodejs

Feel free to clone, experiment, and modify to fit your use case.

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🧭 What’s Next?

You’ve got a native client and a working server. But what about securing the connection?

Next up: Securing WebSockets: Authentication in WebSocket Connections — where we’ll dive into authentication for real-time systems.

Stay tuned!