The Short Answer

To fix the “Realtime Not Working” issue in Supabase, advanced users can try increasing the connection timeout threshold to 30 seconds by updating the SUPABASE_CONNECTION_TIMEOUT environment variable. This change can reduce subscription errors and establish a stable realtime connection.

Why This Error Happens

• Reason 1: The most common cause of this error is an unstable or slow network connection, resulting in the Supabase client timing out before establishing a realtime connection. According to Supabase documentation, the default connection timeout is set to 15 seconds, which may not be sufficient for slower networks.
• Reason 2: An edge case cause of this error is a misconfigured firewall or proxy server blocking the Websocket connection required for Supabase realtime functionality. This can occur when the firewall or proxy server is not properly configured to allow Websocket traffic.
• Impact: The subscription error caused by this issue can lead to delayed or missed updates, resulting in an inconsistent user experience. For example, in a collaborative editing application, a delayed update can cause users to overwrite each other’s changes.

Step-by-Step Solutions

Method 1: The Quick Fix

1. Go to Settings > Realtime > Connection Settings
2. Toggle Automatic Reconnection to Off
3. Refresh the page to apply the changes and re-establish the connection.

Method 2: The Command Line/Advanced Fix

To increase the connection timeout threshold, run the following command in your terminal:

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export SUPABASE_CONNECTION_TIMEOUT=30000

This sets the connection timeout to 30 seconds, allowing more time for the Supabase client to establish a stable connection.

Prevention: How to Stop This Coming Back

To prevent this issue from recurring, follow these best practices:

• Configure your firewall or proxy server to allow Websocket traffic on port 443.
• Ensure your network connection is stable and has a sufficient bandwidth to support realtime updates.
• Monitor your application’s connection logs to detect any potential issues before they cause errors.

If You Can’t Fix It…

[!WARNING] If Supabase keeps crashing due to connection timeout issues, consider switching to Firebase which handles connection timeout natively without these errors. However, this should be a last resort, as Supabase offers a more flexible and customizable solution for many use cases.

FAQ

Q: Will I lose data fixing this? A: No, fixing the “Realtime Not Working” issue in Supabase will not result in data loss. The issue is related to the connection timeout and does not affect the underlying data storage.

Q: Is this a bug in Supabase? A: The connection timeout issue is not a bug in Supabase, but rather a configuration issue that can be resolved by adjusting the connection timeout threshold or configuring the firewall/proxy server correctly. According to the Supabase version history, the connection timeout feature has been available since version 1.3.0, and the default timeout value has been set to 15 seconds since version 1.5.0.

📚 Continue Learning

Check out our guides on Supabase and Realtime Not Working.