whep-reconnect

WHEP Reconnect (whep-reconnect)

This example demonstrates application-managed reconnect for WHEPClient subscribers.

The SDK does not provide built-in auto-reconnect for WHEP subscribers, so your app must decide when to retry and how to schedule reconnect attempts.

What This Example Demonstrates

• standard WHEP subscribe flow
• reconnect trigger on init/subscribe exception
• reconnect trigger on subscriber events via isSubscriberReconnectEvent(...)
• debounced retry orchestration using a reconnect controller (2s delay)
• reconnect attempt tracking and UI/log visibility

Reconnect Triggers Used in This Example

This example retries in two broad cases:

1. Init/Subscribe exception
   • if init(...) or subscribe() throws, initial connect is considered failed and a reconnect is scheduled
2. Reconnect signal events
   • event type matches isSubscriberReconnectEvent(...)
   • currently:
     • Connect.Failure
     • Subscribe.Connection.Closed
     • Subscribe.Play.Unpublish

About Subscribe.Play.Unpublish

Subscribe.Play.Unpublish is server-originated and indicates the publisher stream is currently unavailable.

Common causes include upstream publisher disconnect or transient publisher-side network disruption. The publisher may return later, so subscriber reconnect retries can be appropriate.

How Reconnect Is Structured

Reconnect flow is handled by SubscriberReconnectController in src/lib/subscriber-reconnect.ts:

• scheduleReconnect(reason) sets a delayed retry (2 seconds)
• runReconnect(...) executes reconnect callback and tracks attempts
• success resets attempts and cancels pending timers
• failure/error schedules the next retry
• user stop (markStopped()) cancels retries and resets attempt state

In src/examples/whep-reconnect/index.ts, reconnect callback does:

1. teardown existing subscriber instance
2. create/init/subscribe a fresh WHEPClient
3. restore status/buttons on success

Minimal Developer Snippet

const reconnectController = new SubscriberReconnectController({
  reconnect: async () => {
    await teardownSubscriber()
    return connectSubscriber()
  },
})

async function startSubscribe() {
  const ok = await connectSubscriber()
  if (!ok) reconnectController.scheduleReconnect('init/subscribe failure')
}

subscriber.on('*', (event) => {
  if (isSubscriberReconnectEvent(event.type, red5prosdk.SubscriberEventTypes)) {
    reconnectController.scheduleReconnect(event.type)
  }
})

Endpoint and connectionParams: Standalone vs Stream Manager

Reconnect logic is independent from deployment mode. Endpoint and connectionParams resolution follows the same WHEP pattern as other subscriber examples.

Standalone Server

const endpoint = `https://${host}:443/live/whep/${streamName}`
const connectionParams = {}

Stream Manager

const endpoint = `https://${host}/as/v1/proxy/whep/${app}/${streamName}`
const connectionParams = {
  // e.g. region, nodeGroup, auth metadata
}

Important Distinction from WHIP Reconnect

This example is not paired with publisher reconnect examples (whip-resiliency / whip-reconnect) and does not use publisher-side reconnect configuration.

Publisher reconnect uses a different mechanism (reconnect init config for WHIPClient) with server-assisted handling.
This WHEP example shows subscriber-side retry logic implemented in application code.

Where to Look in This Example

• reconnect trigger utility: isSubscriberReconnectEvent() in src/lib/subscriber-reconnect.ts
• reconnect scheduler/controller: SubscriberReconnectController
• initial connect path: connectSubscriber()
• reconnect kickoff on first failure: startSubscribe()
• event-driven reconnect scheduling: onSubscriberEvent()
• subscriber teardown between attempts: teardownSubscriber()

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Use this example as the baseline for implementing resilient WHEP playback when your app needs subscriber retry behavior after transient disconnects or upstream publisher loss.