WebSocket

Work with WebSockets in PowerShell

WebSocket is a small PowerShell module that helps you work with WebSockets.

It has a single command: Get-WebSocket.

Because Get is the default verb in PowerShell, you can just call it WebSocket.

WebSocket Container

You can use the WebSocket module within a container:

docker pull ghcr.io/powershellweb/websocket
docker run -it ghcr.io/powershellweb/websocket

Installing and Importing

Install-Module WebSocket -Scope CurrentUser -Force
Import-Module WebSocket -Force -PassThru

Get-WebSocket

To connect to a websocket and start listening for results, use Get-WebSocket

# Because get is the default verb, we can just say `WebSocket`
# The `-Watch` parameter will continually watch for results
websocket wss://jetstream2.us-east.bsky.network/subscribe?wantedCollections=app.bsky.feed.post -Watch

To stop watching a websocket, simply stop the background job.

More Examples

Get-WebSocket Example 1

# Create a WebSocket job that connects to a WebSocket and outputs the results.
$socketServer = Get-WebSocket -RootUrl "http://localhost:8387/" -HTML "<h1>WebSocket Server</h1>"
$socketClient = Get-WebSocket -SocketUrl "ws://localhost:8387/"
foreach ($n in 1..10) { $socketServer.Send(@{n=Get-Random}) }
$socketClient | Receive-Job -Keep

Get-WebSocket Example 2

# Get is the default verb, so we can just say WebSocket.
# `-Watch` will output a continous stream of objects from the websocket.
# For example, let's Watch BlueSky, but just the text 
websocket wss://jetstream2.us-west.bsky.network/subscribe?wantedCollections=app.bsky.feed.post -Watch -Maximum 1kb |
    % { 
        $_.commit.record.text
    }

Get-WebSocket Example 3

# Watch BlueSky, but just the text and spacing
$blueSkySocketUrl = "wss://jetstream2.us-$(
    'east','west'|Get-Random
).bsky.network/subscribe?$(@(
    "wantedCollections=app.bsky.feed.post"
) -join '&')"
websocket $blueSkySocketUrl -Watch | 
    % { Write-Host "$(' ' * (Get-Random -Max 10))$($_.commit.record.text)$($(' ' * (Get-Random -Max 10)))"} -Max 1kb

Get-WebSocket Example 4

# Watch continuously in a background job.
websocket wss://jetstream2.us-east.bsky.network/subscribe?wantedCollections=app.bsky.feed.post

Get-WebSocket Example 5

# Watch the first message in -Debug mode.  
# This allows you to literally debug the WebSocket messages as they are encountered.
websocket wss://jetstream2.us-west.bsky.network/subscribe -QueryParameter @{
    wantedCollections = 'app.bsky.feed.post'
} -Max 1 -Debug

Get-WebSocket Example 6

# Watch BlueSky, but just the emoji
websocket jetstream2.us-east.bsky.network/subscribe?wantedCollections=app.bsky.feed.post -Tail -Max 1kb |
    Foreach-Object {
        $in = $_
        if ($in.commit.record.text -match '[\p{IsHighSurrogates}\p{IsLowSurrogates}]+') {
            Write-Host $matches.0 -NoNewline
        }
    }

Get-WebSocket Example 7

$emojiPattern = '[\p{IsHighSurrogates}\p{IsLowSurrogates}\p{IsVariationSelectors}\p{IsCombiningHalfMarks}]+)'
websocket wss://jetstream2.us-west.bsky.network/subscribe?wantedCollections=app.bsky.feed.post -Tail |
    Foreach-Object {
        $in = $_
        $spacing = (' ' * (Get-Random -Minimum 0 -Maximum 7))
        if ($in.commit.record.text -match "(?>(?:$emojiPattern|\#\w+)") {
            $match = $matches.0                    
            Write-Host $spacing,$match,$spacing -NoNewline
        }
    }

Get-WebSocket Example 8

websocket wss://jetstream2.us-east.bsky.network/subscribe?wantedCollections=app.bsky.feed.post -Watch |
    Where-Object {
        $_.commit.record.embed.'$type' -eq 'app.bsky.embed.external'
    } |
    Foreach-Object {
        $_.commit.record.embed.external.uri
    }

Get-WebSocket Example 9

# BlueSky, but just the hashtags
websocket wss://jetstream2.us-west.bsky.network/subscribe -QueryParameter @{
    wantedCollections = 'app.bsky.feed.post'
} -WatchFor @{
    {$webSocketoutput.commit.record.text -match "\#\w+"}={
        $matches.0
    }                
} -Maximum 1kb

Get-WebSocket Example 10

# BlueSky, but just the hashtags (as links)
websocket wss://jetstream2.us-west.bsky.network/subscribe?wantedCollections=app.bsky.feed.post -WatchFor @{
    {$webSocketoutput.commit.record.text -match "\#\w+"}={
        if ($psStyle.FormatHyperlink) {
            $psStyle.FormatHyperlink($matches.0, "https://bsky.app/search?q=$([Web.HttpUtility]::UrlEncode($matches.0))")
        } else {
            $matches.0
        }
    }
}

Get-WebSocket Example 11

websocket wss://jetstream2.us-west.bsky.network/subscribe?wantedCollections=app.bsky.feed.post -WatchFor @{
    {$args.commit.record.text -match "\#\w+"}={
        $matches.0
    }
    {$args.commit.record.text -match '[\p{IsHighSurrogates}\p{IsLowSurrogates}]+'}={
        $matches.0
    }
}

Get-WebSocket Example 12

# We can decorate a type returned from a WebSocket, allowing us to add additional properties.