Tracking active users in real-time applications like chats, dashboards, or live interactions often involves detecting when users are online and when they leave. With our plugin, you can use client-side exposed states to track users' online statuses, allowing you to monitor user activity directly in your app.
The exposed states (either "active" or "away") provide a fast and easy way to access the user's current status. These states update in response to user interactions like mouse movements and keypresses, and will automatically switch to "away" if the user becomes inactive or leaves the page.

However, one of the biggest challenges in tracking active users is handling scenarios where users close their tabs or unload pages. Relying solely on exposed states isn't always reliable, as workflows may not complete before the page unloads—leaving users marked as "active" even when they're no longer online.

To overcome this limitation, we offer an optional backend solution that works alongside the exposed states for more accurate tracking. Our plugin can trigger a backend API to update the user’s status directly on the server side. This ensures that even if a page unloads unexpectedly, the user's status is updated correctly, maintaining an accurate list of active user IDs.

With minimal setup, you can implement both client-side tracking and a backend API for added reliability. Whether you're building a live chat, a dashboard, or any real-time experience, this solution provides a comprehensive and reliable method for managing active user tracking.

Setup is easy: Simply follow the video tutorial on our demo page, and you'll have your list of active users ready to integrate into your app however you need.