Chatting Server Problem

[ilikecode41]

🏷️ Discussion Type

Question

Body

Hello guys! I am working on a project for a chatting server and i noticed if you are idle for too long, it will quit the session. Can someone please help me with this project? I think if you search up my name on github search, you will find a repo named "chatting-server".
Please help me! I am a beginner in code!
Thanks,
ilikecode41

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[Yanvi09]

Since this is a chat server, my first thought would be to check whether the connection is timing out due to inactivity.

If you're using real-time communication (such as WebSockets or Socket.IO), then you would look at the pingTimeout and pingInterval settings and also check the disconnect logs to see why the session is ending.

Connection timeout issues are a common cause of unexpected disconnects in chat applications.

[ilikecode41]

Thanks @Yanvi09!

[akhiranandan-04]

Hi! I'd be happy to help.

To figure out why the session is closing, we'll need a bit more information:

1. What language is your chatting server written in (Python, Java, Node.js, C#, etc.)?
2. Are you using sockets, WebSockets, or another networking library?
3. Do you get any error messages when the session ends?
4. Can you share the relevant server code or logs?

A few common reasons chat server sessions disconnect after being idle:

• Connection timeout configured on the server.
• Socket inactivity timeout in the networking library.
• Missing heartbeat/ping-pong messages to keep the connection alive.
• The client or hosting provider automatically closing idle connections.
• An exception occurring in a background thread that closes the connection.

Since I can't directly inspect repositories from a GitHub username alone, it would help if you could post a link to the repository or share the relevant code snippet here.

As a beginner, don't worry—connection timeout issues are very common when building chat applications. Share the code and we'll work through it together.

[ilikecode41]

Hello @akhiranandan-04!
Thank you again for offering to help me — I really appreciate it. I’m happy to answer any questions you have and share my code.

I’m working in Python and using TCP sockets. When the session ends, I don’t receive any error messages at all.

Before I paste the code, I do have one question for you:
Is it possible for you to search my GitHub username, “ilikecode41,” and take a look at the issue I’ve opened there? It might be easier to review the full context directly on the repository.

I’ll provide the full code in my next message if you cannot access it there. I just don’t want anyone copying my code from this discussion. Thank you for understanding!

Thanks!
-ilikecode41

[hphantech]

This usually happens when the server has an idle timeout, heartbeat/ping timeout, or the connection is being closed because no data is sent for a while.

I would first check where the disconnect happens: is the client closing the connection, or is the server closing it?

A simple fix is to add a heartbeat system. For example, the client sends a small “ping” message every 20–30 seconds, and the server updates the user’s last active time when it receives it. If the server does not receive anything for too long, only then it should close the session.

Also check if your server has a timeout setting somewhere. Some frameworks or socket libraries close idle connections automatically unless you increase the timeout or keep the connection alive.

Since you said you are a beginner, I would suggest adding logs first:

“client connected”
“message received”
“ping received”
“client disconnected”
“server closed session because idle”

That will make it much easier to see what is actually causing the session to quit.