How to Implement Heartbeat/Ping-Pong for WebSockets in Go

Implement WebSocket heartbeats in Go by setting EnableCompression to false and using SetPingHandler and SetPongHandler to track connection liveness.

conn, _, err := upgrader.Upgrade(w, r, nil)
if err != nil {
    log.Fatal(err)
}

conn.SetPingHandler(func(appData string) error {
    log.Println("Ping received")
    return nil
})

conn.SetPongHandler(func(appData string) error {
    log.Println("Pong received")
    return nil
})

// Send a ping every 30 seconds
for {
    time.Sleep(30 * time.Second)
    if err := conn.WriteMessage(websocket.PingMessage, []byte{}); err != nil {
        log.Println("Ping failed:", err)
        break
    }
}

A heartbeat is a periodic signal sent between a client and server to confirm they are still connected. It works like a 'ping-pong' game where one side sends a ball (ping) and the other returns it (pong) to prove they are still listening. You use this to detect and close dead connections before they cause errors.