Real-Time AI Apps
(Node.js, Serverless, WebSockets)

Node.js uses an event-driven, non-blocking architecture, making it highly efficient for handling real-time, concurrent connections. With WebSocket libraries like ws or frameworks like Socket.IO, Node.js handles bidirectional communication smoothly and scalably.

Use WebSockets when you need a lightweight, low-level protocol for direct real-time messaging. Socket.IO is a higher-level library that wraps WebSockets and includes built-in fallbacks, heartbeats, and reconnection logic—ideal for production systems requiring reliability.

Yes—with caveats. Tools like AWS API Gateway and Lambda can support WebSocket connections, but since Lambdas are stateless and ephemeral, you'll need external storage (e.g., DynamoDB) to manage connection state. Alternatively, platforms like Ably manage WebSocket persistence and scaling for you.

Ably provides auto-scaling, high availability, global edge messaging, reconnection logic, and message ordering over WebSockets—saving you from managing infrastructure and improving reliability across regions.

A standard setup might include Node.js with Express (or Fastify), integrated with WebSocket libraries like ws or Socket.IO. The server opens a persistent WebSocket, handles events, and broadcasts updates to clients in real time.

These apps shine in use cases like live chat, streaming AI-driven insights (e.g., AI-based notifications), dynamic dashboards, collaborative tools, and real-time monitoring powered by AI models responding instantly. (Inferred from real-time app patterns.)

Scaling requires horizontal load balancing across servers or regions, efficient connection management, and possibly the use of serverless or managed real-time messaging services that handle failover and distribution.

Not directly. AWS Lambdas are short-lived and stateless, making them unsuitable to maintain persistent connections. API Gateway holds the connection while Lambdas responds to events. External storage is needed to manage state across invocations.

Define specific use cases that benefit from real-time interactions—like live AI predictions or alerts. Then choose an architecture: Node.js with WebSockets for full control, or serverless/managed services like Ably or AWS for ease of scaling and reliability.