Deploy a real-time chat application

Last updated Jan 29, 2026 In this tutorial, you will deploy a serverless, real-time chat application that runs using Durable Objects.

This chat application uses a Durable Object to control each chat room. Users connect to the Object using WebSockets. Messages from one user are broadcast to all the other users. The chat history is also stored in durable storage. Real-time messages are relayed directly from one user to others without going through the storage layer.

Before you start

All of the tutorials assume you have already completed the Get started guide, which gets you set up with a Cloudflare Workers account, C3 ↗︎, and Wrangler.

Clone the chat application repository

Open your terminal and clone the workers-chat-demo ↗︎ repository:

git clone https://github.com/cloudflare/workers-chat-demo.git

Authenticate Wrangler

After you have cloned the repository, authenticate Wrangler by running:

npx wrangler login

Deploy your project

When you are ready to deploy your application, run:

npx wrangler deploy

Your application will be deployed to your *.workers.dev subdomain.

To deploy your application to a custom domain within the Cloudflare dashboard, go to your Worker > Triggers > Add Custom Domain.

To deploy your application to a custom domain using Wrangler, open your project's Wrangler configuration file.

To configure a route in your Wrangler configuration file, add the following to your environment:

{
    "routes": [
        {
            "pattern": "example.com/about",
            "zone_id": "<YOUR_ZONE_ID>"
        }
    ]
}

[[routes]]
pattern = "example.com/about"
zone_id = "<YOUR_ZONE_ID>"

If you have specified your zone ID in the environment of your Wrangler configuration file, you will not need to write it again in object form.

To configure a subdomain in your Wrangler configuration file, add the following to your environment:

{
    "routes": [
        {
            "pattern": "subdomain.example.com",
            "custom_domain": true
        }
    ]
}

[[routes]]
pattern = "subdomain.example.com"
custom_domain = true

To test your live application:

  1. In the Cloudflare dashboard, go to the Workers & Pages page. Go to Workers & Pages ↗
  2. Select your Worker > Triggers > Routes > Select the edge-chat-demo.<SUBDOMAIN>.workers.dev route.
  3. Enter a name in the your name field.
  4. Choose whether to enter a public room or create a private room.
  5. Send the link to other participants. You will be able to view room participants on the right side of the screen.

Uninstall your application

To uninstall your chat application, modify your Wrangler file to remove the durable_objects bindings and add a deleted_classes migration:

{
    "durable_objects": {
        "bindings": []
    },
    // Indicate that you want the ChatRoom and RateLimiter classes to be callable as Durable Objects.
    "migrations": [
        {
            "tag": "v1",
            "new_sqlite_classes": [
                "ChatRoom",
                "RateLimiter"
            ]
        },
        {
            "tag": "v2", // Should be unique for each entry
            "deleted_classes": [
                "ChatRoom",
                "RateLimiter"
            ]
        }
    ]
}

[durable_objects]
bindings = [ ]

[[migrations]]
tag = "v1"
new_sqlite_classes = [ "ChatRoom", "RateLimiter" ]

[[migrations]]
tag = "v2"
deleted_classes = [ "ChatRoom", "RateLimiter" ]

Then run npx wrangler deploy.

To delete your Worker:

  1. In the Cloudflare dashboard, go to the Workers & Pages page. Go to Workers & Pages ↗
  2. In Overview, select your Worker.
  3. Select Manage Service > Delete. For complete instructions on set up and deletion, refer to the README.md in your cloned repository.

By completing this tutorial, you have deployed a real-time chat application with Durable Objects and Cloudflare Workers.

Continue building with other Cloudflare Workers tutorials below.

Was this helpful?

YesNo

On this page

Deploy a real-time chat application - 图1Docs

{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","@id":"https://developers.cloudflare.com/workers/tutorials/deploy-a-realtime-chat-app/#page","headline":"Deploy a real-time chat application","description":"This tutorial shows how to deploy a serverless, real-time chat application. The chat application uses a Durable Object to control each chat room.","url":"https://developers.cloudflare.com/workers/tutorials/deploy-a-realtime-chat-app/","inLanguage":"en","image":"https://developers.cloudflare.com/workers/tutorials/deploy-a-realtime-chat-app/og.png?v=3d73c2fd070551d7","dateModified":"2026-01-29","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Cloudflare","description":"One platform for your apps, agents, and workforce. Build, secure, and scale without managing infrastructure","url":"https://www.cloudflare.com/","sameAs":["https://github.com/cloudflare","https://www.linkedin.com/company/cloudflare","https://x.com/cloudflare"],"logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://developers.cloudflare.com/logo.svg"},"address":{"@type":"PostalAddress","streetAddress":"101 Townsend St","addressLocality":"San Francisco","addressRegion":"CA","postalCode":"94107","addressCountry":"US"},"contactPoint":[{"@type":"ContactPoint","contactType":"Customer Support","url":"https://support.cloudflare.com/","availableLanguage":["English"]},{"@type":"ContactPoint","contactType":"Sales","url":"https://www.cloudflare.com/contact/","availableLanguage":["English"]}]},"isPartOf":{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://developers.cloudflare.com/#website","name":"Cloudflare Docs","url":"https://developers.cloudflare.com/"},"keywords":["JavaScript"]}

description: Learn how to deploy an Express.js application on Cloudflare Workers. title: Deploy an Express.js application on Cloudflare Workers image: https://developers.cloudflare.com/workers/tutorials/deploy-an-express-app/og.png?v=9aacd24e06f4a468

Skip to content

Documentation Index
Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://developers.cloudflare.com/workers/llms.txt
Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.