LiveView Platform

Dioxus LiveView enables you to run your application entirely on the server while streaming UI updates to the client over WebSockets. This architecture provides the benefits of server-side rendering with the interactivity of a single-page application.

Overview

Architecture

Client (Browser)
    ↕ WebSocket
Server (VirtualDOM + State)
    ↓ Binary Mutations
Client (Sledgehammer applies changes)

Key characteristics:

Server-side state: All application state lives on the server
Binary protocol: Efficient mutation streaming via WebSocket
Low client overhead: Minimal JavaScript required
Secure by default: No client-side logic to expose

Quick Start

Dependencies

Add LiveView with Axum support:

[dependencies]
dioxus = "0.6"
dioxus-liveview = { version = "0.6", features = ["axum"] }
axum = "0.7"
tokio = { version = "1", features = ["full"] }

Basic Server

Create a LiveView server:

use axum::{Router, routing::get};
use dioxus::prelude::*;
use dioxus_liveview::{LiveViewPool, axum_socket};

#[tokio::main]
async fn main() {
    let addr = "127.0.0.1:3000";
    
    let app = Router::new()
        .route("/", get(index))
        .route("/ws", get(ws_handler));
    
    println!("Listening on http://{}", addr);
    axum::Server::bind(&addr.parse().unwrap())
        .serve(app.into_make_service())
        .await
        .unwrap();
}

async fn index() -> axum::response::Html<String> {
    axum::response::Html(format!(
        r#"
        <!DOCTYPE html>
        <html>
        <head>
            <title>LiveView App</title>
        </head>
        <body>
            <div id="main"></div>
            {}
        </body>
        </html>
        "#,
        dioxus_liveview::interpreter_glue("/ws")
    ))
}

async fn ws_handler(
    ws: axum::extract::WebSocketUpgrade,
) -> impl axum::response::IntoResponse {
    ws.on_upgrade(|socket| async move {
        let _ = axum_socket(socket, App).await;
    })
}

#[component]
fn App() -> Element {
    let mut count = use_signal(|| 0);
    
    rsx! {
        h1 { "LiveView Counter" }
        button { onclick: move |_| count += 1, "Count: {count}" }
    }
}

Run the server:

cargo run

Visit http://localhost:3000

LiveView Pool

The LiveView pool manages concurrent client connections:

use dioxus_liveview::LiveViewPool;
use std::sync::Arc;

#[derive(Clone)]
struct AppState {
    pool: Arc<LiveViewPool>,
}

impl AppState {
    fn new() -> Self {
        Self {
            pool: Arc::new(LiveViewPool::new()),
        }
    }
}

#[tokio::main]
async fn main() {
    let state = AppState::new();
    
    let app = Router::new()
        .route("/ws", get(ws_handler))
        .with_state(state);
    
    // ... serve app
}

async fn ws_handler(
    ws: axum::extract::WebSocketUpgrade,
    axum::extract::State(state): axum::extract::State<AppState>,
) -> impl axum::response::IntoResponse {
    ws.on_upgrade(move |socket| async move {
        state.pool.launch_virtualdom(socket, || VirtualDom::new(App)).await;
    })
}

Server State

Per-Connection State

Each WebSocket connection gets its own VirtualDOM:

#[component]
fn App() -> Element {
    // This state is per-connection
    let mut local_count = use_signal(|| 0);
    
    rsx! {
        h1 { "Your count: {local_count}" }
        button { onclick: move |_| local_count += 1, "Increment" }
    }
}

Shared State

Share state across connections:

use std::sync::Arc;
use tokio::sync::RwLock;

#[derive(Clone)]
struct GlobalState {
    counter: Arc<RwLock<i32>>,
}

#[component]
fn App() -> Element {
    let state = use_context::<GlobalState>();
    let mut count = use_signal(|| 0);
    
    use_effect(move || {
        spawn(async move {
            let value = *state.counter.read().await;
            count.set(value);
        });
    });
    
    let increment = move |_| {
        spawn(async move {
            let mut counter = state.counter.write().await;
            *counter += 1;
            count.set(*counter);
        });
    };
    
    rsx! {
        h1 { "Global count: {count}" }
        button { onclick: increment, "Increment" }
    }
}

Database Integration

Integrate with databases seamlessly:

use sqlx::{PgPool, FromRow};

#[derive(FromRow, Clone)]
struct Todo {
    id: i32,
    title: String,
    completed: bool,
}

#[component]
fn TodoList() -> Element {
    let pool = use_context::<PgPool>();
    let mut todos = use_signal(Vec::new);
    
    use_effect(move || {
        spawn(async move {
            let items = sqlx::query_as::<_, Todo>("SELECT * FROM todos")
                .fetch_all(&pool)
                .await
                .unwrap();
            todos.set(items);
        });
    });
    
    rsx! {
        h1 { "Todos" }
        ul {
            for todo in todos() {
                li { 
                    key: "{todo.id}",
                    "{todo.title}"
                }
            }
        }
    }
}

Real-time Updates

Push updates to connected clients:

use tokio::sync::broadcast;

#[derive(Clone)]
struct Message {
    user: String,
    text: String,
}

#[component]
fn Chat() -> Element {
    let mut messages = use_signal(Vec::new);
    let mut input = use_signal(String::new);
    let tx = use_context::<broadcast::Sender<Message>>();
    
    // Subscribe to broadcast channel
    use_effect(move || {
        let mut rx = tx.subscribe();
        spawn(async move {
            while let Ok(msg) = rx.recv().await {
                messages.write().push(msg);
            }
        });
    });
    
    let send = move |_| {
        let msg = Message {
            user: "User".to_string(),
            text: input().clone(),
        };
        tx.send(msg).ok();
        input.set(String::new());
    };
    
    rsx! {
        div {
            for msg in messages() {
                p { "{msg.user}: {msg.text}" }
            }
        }
        input { 
            value: "{input}",
            oninput: move |evt| input.set(evt.value())
        }
        button { onclick: send, "Send" }
    }
}

Authentication

Implement authentication:

use axum::extract::Query;
use serde::Deserialize;

#[derive(Deserialize)]
struct AuthQuery {
    token: String,
}

async fn ws_handler(
    ws: axum::extract::WebSocketUpgrade,
    Query(auth): Query<AuthQuery>,
) -> impl axum::response::IntoResponse {
    // Verify token
    if !verify_token(&auth.token).await {
        return axum::http::StatusCode::UNAUTHORIZED.into_response();
    }
    
    ws.on_upgrade(|socket| async move {
        let _ = axum_socket(socket, App).await;
    })
}

async fn verify_token(token: &str) -> bool {
    // Verify JWT or session token
    true
}

Performance

Connection Pooling

The LiveViewPool uses a thread pool:

Each client gets a pinned task
VirtualDOM runs on task’s executor
Efficient handling of concurrent clients

Binary Protocol

Mutations are sent as binary data:

Sledgehammer binary encoding
Minimal overhead
Efficient WebSocket usage

Backpressure

Handle slow clients:

use futures_util::SinkExt;

// WebSocket will buffer and apply backpressure automatically

Scaling

Horizontal Scaling

Scale across multiple servers:

use redis::aio::ConnectionManager;

// Use Redis pub/sub for cross-server communication
let redis = ConnectionManager::new(redis::Client::open("redis://localhost").unwrap())
    .await
    .unwrap();

Load Balancing

Use sticky sessions:

upstream liveview {
    ip_hash;  # Sticky sessions
    server localhost:3000;
    server localhost:3001;
    server localhost:3002;
}

server {
    location /ws {
        proxy_pass http://liveview;
        proxy_http_version 1.1;
        proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
        proxy_set_header Connection "upgrade";
    }
}

Error Handling

Handle disconnections gracefully:

async fn ws_handler(
    ws: axum::extract::WebSocketUpgrade,
) -> impl axum::response::IntoResponse {
    ws.on_upgrade(|socket| async move {
        match axum_socket(socket, App).await {
            Ok(_) => println!("Client disconnected normally"),
            Err(e) => eprintln!("WebSocket error: {}", e),
        }
    })
}

Configuration

Customize LiveView behavior:

use dioxus_liveview::Config;

let config = Config::new()
    .with_reconnect_attempts(5)
    .with_reconnect_delay(Duration::from_secs(2));

Security

CSRF Protection

use axum::extract::State;
use tower_sessions::Session;

async fn ws_handler(
    ws: axum::extract::WebSocketUpgrade,
    session: Session,
) -> impl axum::response::IntoResponse {
    // Verify CSRF token
    let csrf_token: String = session.get("csrf_token").unwrap().unwrap();
    
    ws.on_upgrade(|socket| async move {
        let _ = axum_socket(socket, App).await;
    })
}

Rate Limiting

use tower::ServiceBuilder;
use tower_governor::{GovernorLayer, GovernorConfigBuilder};

let governor = GovernorConfigBuilder::default()
    .per_second(10)
    .burst_size(20)
    .finish()
    .unwrap();

let app = Router::new()
    .route("/ws", get(ws_handler))
    .layer(ServiceBuilder::new().layer(GovernorLayer { config: Arc::new(governor) }));

Debugging

Enable logging:

use tracing_subscriber;

#[tokio::main]
async fn main() {
    tracing_subscriber::fmt::init();
    
    // ... rest of main
}

Deployment

Docker

FROM rust:1.75 as builder
WORKDIR /app
COPY . .
RUN cargo build --release

FROM debian:bookworm-slim
COPY --from=builder /app/target/release/myapp /usr/local/bin/
EXPOSE 3000
CMD ["myapp"]

Systemd Service

[Unit]
Description=LiveView App
After=network.target

[Service]
Type=simple
User=www-data
WorkingDirectory=/var/www/app
ExecStart=/var/www/app/myapp
Restart=always

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Comparison with Other Platforms

Feature	LiveView	Web	Desktop
State Location	Server	Client	Client
Network Required	Yes	Initial	No
Security	High	Medium	High
Scalability	Moderate	High	N/A
Latency	Network	None	None
Server Cost	Higher	Lower	None

When to Use LiveView

LiveView is ideal for:

Internal admin dashboards
Real-time collaborative tools
Data-heavy applications
Apps requiring server-side security
Rapid prototyping

Avoid LiveView when:

Offline functionality is required
Latency is critical
Client-side resources are preferred
Scaling to millions of users

Next Steps

Fullstack - Combine client and server rendering
Web Platform - Client-side WASM apps
Authentication - Secure your application

Get Started

Core Concepts

Building UI

State Management

Routing

Async & Data

Fullstack

Platforms

CLI

Advanced

Documentation Index

​Overview

​Architecture

​Quick Start

​Dependencies

​Basic Server

​LiveView Pool

​Server State

​Per-Connection State

​Shared State

​Database Integration

​Real-time Updates

​Authentication

​Performance

​Connection Pooling

​Binary Protocol

​Backpressure

​Scaling

​Horizontal Scaling

​Load Balancing

​Error Handling

​Configuration

​Security

​CSRF Protection

​Rate Limiting

​Debugging

​Deployment

​Docker

​Systemd Service

​Comparison with Other Platforms

​When to Use LiveView

​Next Steps

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