Using it with Laravel

Laravel's built-in pusher broadcaster and Laravel Echo work with this server, because both only need the Pusher protocol. This page is the short setup.

Server

Run the server as in Getting started, then give Laravel the same id, key and secret.

.env

Use BROADCAST_DRIVER instead of BROADCAST_CONNECTION on Laravel 10 and older.

BROADCAST_CONNECTION=pusher
PUSHER_APP_ID=my-app-id
PUSHER_APP_KEY=my-app-key
PUSHER_APP_SECRET=a-long-random-secret
PUSHER_HOST=127.0.0.1
PUSHER_PORT=6001
PUSHER_SCHEME=http

VITE_PUSHER_APP_KEY="${PUSHER_APP_KEY}"
VITE_PUSHER_HOST="${PUSHER_HOST}"
VITE_PUSHER_PORT="${PUSHER_PORT}"

config/broadcasting.php

'pusher' => [
    'driver' => 'pusher',
    'key' => env('PUSHER_APP_KEY'),
    'secret' => env('PUSHER_APP_SECRET'),
    'app_id' => env('PUSHER_APP_ID'),
    'options' => [
        'host' => env('PUSHER_HOST', '127.0.0.1'),
        'port' => env('PUSHER_PORT', 6001),
        'scheme' => env('PUSHER_SCHEME', 'http'),
        'useTLS' => env('PUSHER_SCHEME', 'http') === 'https',
    ],
],

composer require pusher/pusher-php-server

If your events are queued, keep a queue worker running or nothing is sent.

Echo

npm install --save-dev laravel-echo pusher-js

import Echo from 'laravel-echo';
import Pusher from 'pusher-js';

window.Pusher = Pusher;
window.Echo = new Echo({
    broadcaster: 'pusher',
    key: import.meta.env.VITE_PUSHER_APP_KEY,
    wsHost: import.meta.env.VITE_PUSHER_HOST,
    wsPort: import.meta.env.VITE_PUSHER_PORT,
    wssPort: import.meta.env.VITE_PUSHER_PORT,
    forceTLS: false,
    enabledTransports: ['ws', 'wss'],
    cluster: 'unused',
});

Private and presence channels use Laravel's /broadcasting/auth route, which signs with the same secret this server checks.

Notes

• Laravel's REST calls are signed Pusher API calls, the same as any SDK.
• Laravel treats an HTTP 429 as a failed broadcast. If you set SOCKETELX_REST_RATE_LIMIT, keep it above your real peak.
• BROADCAST_CONNECTION=pusher plus the host option is all that distinguishes this from pusher.com.