Catalyst Datastreams

How It Works

1. Channels and access control are console-only. Create the channel and choose its access control in Console → Cloud Scale → Data Streams; no SDK, REST, or MCP tool creates channels. Ask the user for the channel ID and its access control type, or list channels with getAllChannels() (control_type 0 = User Roles, 1 = Custom Logic). Load references/datastreams-basics.md for concepts, the token rules, subscribe types, acknowledgement, and the REST API.

2. Pick the token identifier from the access control — it is not interchangeable.

   • User Roles → userId = an app user's ID from Catalyst Authentication. A console admin's user ID is rejected; connectionName fails with "Mandatory parameter app_user_id is missing."
   • Custom Logic → connectionName, and the token must be generated inside the Advanced I/O function selected as the channel's access control. That function is the token endpoint: it runs your check, then calls getTokenPair. Catalyst never calls it on its own. From any other function or REST: "Invalid access control source!". User-ID tokens on these channels are issued but the WebSocket rejects them (3000).

3. Server code (publish, token pair, channel reads) — load the runtime reference.

   • Node.js / JavaScript → references/datastreams-javascript-basics.md. Initialize with the app: new DataStreams(await zcAuth.init(req)). Advanced I/O handlers get Node's raw req/res: no req.body, res.status(), or res.json().
   • Python → references/datastreams-python-basics.md. Requires zcatalyst-sdk 1.5.0+ (Python 3.10+). app = zcatalyst_sdk.initialize(req=request), then app.datastreams() (plural). Pass get_token_pair a string channel ID and a keyword user_id= / connection_name=; the result's keys are hyphenated (token["wss-id"]). The subscriber does nothing until connect().
   • Java → references/datastreams-java-basics.md. Dependency is com.zoho.catalyst:java-sdk (2.5.0+) from https://maven.zohodl.com; no datastreams artifact exists.
   • publishData, getAllChannels, getChannelDetails and getLiveCount are admin methods: server only, never in browser or mobile code. getTokenPair also exists in the browser SDK, but a Custom Logic token must come from the configured function.

4. Subscriber code — read the token correctly and always acknowledge. The token pair's keys are hyphenated: pass token['wss-id'] as zuid, plus token.url and token.key. Subscribe only after the open event. Call sendAck() after every message, or the next message is never delivered. Messages carry data (always a string) and streamingId (plus url/method on API-operation messages). To reconnect, release the old session (old token → unsubscribe()), take a fresh token, subscribe('0'), and reload state from your own store; resuming a dropped session with '-2' redelivers missed messages twice and replays the 48-hour retention. Unsubscribe before every deliberate close; the error event with code 1000 that follows your own unsubscribe() is expected. In Node, getLiveCount() returns { status, data: { connections } }. Java: subscribe() throws the checked ZCDataStreamException, and outside a Catalyst function create the client with new ZCDataStreamsWebSocket(config), not ZCDatastream.getInstance().

5. Verify end to end before reporting success. Open a subscriber, check getLiveCount() shows it, publish a test message, and confirm the subscriber received it. For anything the references do not cover, fetch the page under https://docs.catalyst.zoho.com/en/cloud-scale/help/data-streams/ as Markdown (<page-url>/index.md), and prefer the references where they disagree.

Security Checklist

• publishData and the channel-read methods are admin operations: run them only in a Catalyst function, never in a browser or mobile app.
• Protect the token endpoint. Anyone who can call it can subscribe to the channel, so authenticate the caller before issuing a token.
• On Custom Logic channels, the configured function is the only gatekeeper: put the real validation there before calling getTokenPair.
• Do not log or return the token key anywhere except to the client that asked for it.

Triggers

Use this skill for: "Data Streams", "Catalyst Data Streams", "datastreams", "real-time channel", "live updates", "push updates to the browser", "pub/sub", "publish data", publishData, getTokenPair, "token pair", "wss-id", DataStreamsWebSocket, ZCDataStreamsWebSocket, ZCDatastream, "WebSocket subscriber", sendAck, "subscribe type", "resume from last message", "live count", getLiveCount, "channel access control", "User Roles channel", "Custom Logic channel", "app_user_id is missing", "Invalid access control source", "Authentication failed 3000", "reconnect", "duplicate messages after reconnect", "DUPLICATE_VALUE", @zcatalyst/datastreams, zcatalyst_sdk, get_token_pair, publish_data, send_ack, or "Data Streams Python".

References