Fast Channels for Starlette: Advanced WebSocket Handling Based on Django Channels

[huynguyengl99]

Hello Starlette community! 👋

I'm excited to introduce Fast Channels - a library that brings Django Channels' battle-tested WebSocket patterns to your favorite ASGI framework.

What It Provides

Fast Channels brings Django Channels' proven WebSocket patterns to Starlette/FastAPI - enabling group messaging, cross-process communication, and scalable real-time apps without architectural changes.

Starlette Integration

from starlette.routing import WebSocketRoute
from fast_channels.consumer.websocket import AsyncWebsocketConsumer

class ChatConsumer(AsyncWebsocketConsumer):
    groups = ["chat_room"]
    channel_layer_alias = "redis"

app = Starlette(routes=[
    WebSocketRoute('/ws/chat', ChatConsumer.as_asgi()),
])

Advantages Over Raw WebSockets

• Consumer pattern - structured connect()/receive()/disconnect() methods
• Group broadcasting - send to multiple connections simultaneously
• Cross-process messaging - HTTP endpoints → WebSocket clients
• Async testing framework - WebsocketCommunicator for comprehensive tests
• Production reliability - Redis-backed messaging with persistence

Based on Battle-Tested Django Channels

Leverages the same reliable, high-performance group messaging and cross-socket communication that powers thousands of Django real-time applications, now available for the entire ASGI ecosystem.

Third-Party Package Request

Can Fast Channels be added to https://www.starlette.io/third-party-packages/? It fills a significant gap for enterprise-grade WebSocket functionality in Starlette applications.