Using ->toOthers() results in a "Ably error: Malformed message; invalid connectionKey"

[diversitude]

Triggering an event using toOthers() with X-Socket-ID in the request header results in an "Ably error: Malformed message; invalid connectionKey"

┆Issue is synchronized with this Jira Task by Unito

[sacOO7]

This is very unlikely to happen. How frequently does this happen? Also, what are the client side errors in laravel-echo ( if any )

[diversitude]

No client side errors as the event doesn't dispatch from Laravel- the job fails. It does work if the incoming request doesn't contain the X-SOCKET-ID header. The project I'm working on is running Laravel 8.83.27, couid that be an issue?

[sacOO7]

Okay, maybe you are using old ably broadcaster. Are you using pusher-js + echo at client side. Then you will get the same error -> https://faqs.ably.com/why-isnt-the-broadcast-only-to-others-functionality-working-in-laravel-with-the-ably-broadcaster. To fix this error, you need to install explicitly

composer require ably/laravel-broadcaster

and then install

npm install @ably/laravel-echo ably

at client side. Since you are planning to migrate to new setup, follow

https://github.com/ably/laravel-broadcaster?tab=readme-ov-file#migrating-from-pusherpusher-compatible-broadcasters

[diversitude]

I originally followed the Pusher integration, but presence channels weren't behaving as expected. So I switched to using the ably/laravel-broadcaster and the ably fork of Echo and now presence works as expected- it's just this issue now. I have run php artisan optimize:clear since I installed the new packages and the issue persists.

[sacOO7]

Ideally, it shouldn't persist. There might be something wrong with authentication being performed, wdyt?

[sacOO7]

Also, make sure you are using php>=8 and followed proper setup.

[diversitude]

I will keep digging, it's not a show stopper at the moment as the core functionality works and we can implement a workaround for not triggering the callback on the client that fired the request.

We are running PHP 8.2 in our environment.

[sacOO7]

I am not sure how it can work if it doesn't contain X-SOCKET-ID header. X-SOCKET-ID header is ably connection key. You can access the same using

window.Echo.connector.ably.connection.key

And make sure, your client side config. is

import Echo from '@ably/laravel-echo';
import * as Ably from 'ably';

window.Ably = Ably; // make globally accessible to Echo
window.Echo = new Echo({
    broadcaster: 'ably',
});

[sacOO7]

Btw, happy to hear presence is working for you : )

[diversitude]

I am triggering message send endpoints via RapidAPI and just using the same JWT bearer token and X-SOCKET-ID as my actual UI in the headers. I will test using the actual axios instance in the app now- hopefully that's the issue.

[sacOO7]

Please note that, only following interceptors are supported to capture X-SOCKET-ID as per official laravel-echo, others will not work https://github.com/ably-forks/laravel-echo/blob/ddfeba76b73028122b94e58c433e2a7fa2dc3c62/src/echo.ts#L123

[diversitude]

The issue persists using the axios instance in the app with all headers present.

[2024-02-28 20:09:30] local.ERROR: Ably error: Malformed message; invalid connectionKey. (See https://help.ably.io/error/40006 for help.) {"exception":"[object] (Illuminate\\Broadcasting\\BroadcastException(code: 0): Ably error: Malformed message; invalid connectionKey. (See https://help.ably.io/error/40006 for help.) at /Users/calvin/www/stratosfiaAPI/vendor/ably/laravel-broadcaster/src/AblyBroadcaster.php:187)

[sacOO7]

What is the value of X-Socket-Id ? Can you double check with local connection.key ?

[diversitude]

Getting e91lyWF6gBZ7fm!m1zfd-NJj6AW1gTIHbt8mI-53d74

[diversitude]

It is present in the headers in dev tools for all XHR requests

[sacOO7]

Ohkay, can you double check if it's same as window.Echo.connector.ably.connection.key

[diversitude]

I've wrapped echo as a vue plugin, so it matches the output of console.log("conn key", this.echo.connector.ably.connection.key);

[diversitude]

`import Echo from '@ably/laravel-echo'; import * as Ably from 'ably'; window.Ably = Ably;

class EchoManager {

constructor() {
    this.echo = null;
    this.apiKey = null;
    this.options = null;
}

init(apiKey, options) {
    if (this.echo) {
        console.warn("Echo instance already initialized.");
        return;
    }
    this.apiKey = apiKey;
    this.options = options;
}

connectEcho() {
    if (this.echo) {
        console.warn("Echo instance already initialized.");
        return;
    }
    this.echo = new Echo({
        broadcaster: 'ably',
        ...this.options,
        auth: {
            headers: {
                Authorization: `Bearer ${localStorage.getItem('x_token')}`,
            },
        },
    });
}

refreshToken() {
    // Update the auth headers for the Pusher connector
    this.echo.connector.options.auth.headers['Authorization'] = `Bearer ${localStorage.getItem('x_token')}`;
    // Optionally, force a disconnect and reconnect if needed to ensure the new token takes effect
    //this.echo.connector.pusher.disconnect(); //NOT SURE IF CORRECT IMPLEMENTATION FOR ABLY FORK 
    //this.echo.connector.pusher.connect();
}

subscribeToChannel(channelName, eventName, callback) {
    if (!this.echo) {
        console.error("Echo instance not initialized.");
        return;
    }

    this.echo.channel(channelName).listen(eventName, callback);
}

subscribeToPrivateChannel(channelName, eventName, callback) {
    if (!this.echo) {
        console.error("Echo instance not initialized.");
        return;
    }

    this.echo.private(channelName).listen(eventName, callback);
}

// Method to subscribe to a presence channel and listen to events
subscribeToPresenceChannel(channelName, events) {
    if (!this.echo) {
        console.error("Echo is not initialized.");
        return;
    }

    const channel = this.echo.join(channelName);

    // 'here' callback provides the initial list of users present in the channel
    if (events.onHere) {
        channel.here((users) => {
            events.onHere(users);
        });
    }

    // 'joining' callback is called when a new user joins the channel
    if (events.onJoining) {
        channel.joining((user) => {
            events.onJoining(user);
        });
    }

    // 'leaving' callback is called when a user leaves the channel
    if (events.onLeaving) {
        channel.leaving((user) => {
            events.onLeaving(user);
        });
    }

    // This example assumes you're using custom events as well
    if (events.onEvent) {
        Object.keys(events.onEvent).forEach(eventName => {
            channel.listen(eventName, (data) => {
                events.onEvent[eventName](data);
            });
        });
    }
}

// Method to leave/unsubscribe from any channel
leaveChannel(channelName) {
    if (!this.echo) {
        console.error("Echo is not initialized.");
        return;
    }
    // Unsubscribe from the channel
    this.echo.leave(channelName);
}

// Method to get the Echo socket ID
getSocketId() {
    if (!this.echo) {
        console.error("Echo is not initialized.");
        return null;
    }
    console.log("conn key", this.echo.connector.ably.connection.key);
    return this.echo.socketId();
}

}

// Vue Plugin export default { install(Vue, { apiKey, options }) { const echoManager = new EchoManager(); echoManager.init(apiKey, options); Vue.prototype.$echoManager = echoManager; }, };`

[diversitude]

The client side code seems to be working fine from what I can see. I'm tempted to just go through the rigmarole of upgrading the project to Laravel 10 and hope it resolves the issue.

[sacOO7]

Okay, I'm not sure why you are using root api key in your client application. We haven't documented anywhere to set the api-key at client side. We have explicit note not to set it. Since, you have set it server side, you don't need to set it client side. You can remove it from your client code and it will work : )

[diversitude]

That is not the root api key. auth: { headers: { Authorization:Bearer ${localStorage.getItem('x_token')}, }, }, is used to set the current JWT token for the client for that my API middleware with authenticate the incoming /broadcast/auth request

[sacOO7]

In the setup section, we set it server side => https://github.com/ably/laravel-broadcaster?tab=readme-ov-file#setup. Client automatically gets JWT from server using this API key. Also, don't set

auth: {
            headers: {
                Authorization: `Bearer ${localStorage.getItem('x_token')}`,
            },
        },

We have also documented not to set auth specific options -> https://github.com/ably-forks/laravel-echo?tab=readme-ov-file#installation

[diversitude]

oh this.apiKey is a relic from the previous pusher integration. it is redundant

[sacOO7]

If you explicitly want to request token, follow section => https://github.com/ably-forks/laravel-echo?tab=readme-ov-file#working-with-laravel-sanctum-support-channel-auth-using-custom-implementation

[sacOO7]

Also, this is mostly not needed. ably-laravel-echo automatically makes request to given endpoint using internal http request and retrieves jwt.

[sacOO7]

Please do star the repo, if issue is resolved : )

[diversitude]

Will get the actual front-end devs to have a look at the UI integration in detail and let you know if we resolve the issue. Thanks for the prompt responses :) much appreciated!

[sacOO7]

Btw, do star the repo. I will be available if new queries come up 👍

[sacOO7]

Hi @diversitude let me know if we have update on this. Otherwise we can close the issue and open a new one if needed : )

[sacOO7]

@diversitude do we have updates on this

[diversitude]

Have been traveling, back in the codebase today and will provide updates if we've managed to fix it.

[sacOO7]

Sure, that would be great !

[sacOO7]

@diversitude let me know if the fix is working for you. For reference, I recommend to go through full documentation under https://github.com/ably-forks/laravel-echo

[sacOO7]

@diversitude let me know if this issue is resolved. Otherwise, we can close this and you can create a new issue if you find a bug in the future

[diversitude]

Hey, Sorry for the delayed response. I haven't gotten round to bumping the project to Laravel 11 yet- been in the midst of some big feature sprints. We are still just implementing workarounds on the frontend to not catch events broadcast by the current user. We can close this and I will re-open if it persists on Laravel 11.