liveview-streams

LiveView Streams

RULES — Follow these with no exceptions

1. Use streams for collections with 100+ items; combine with pagination or infinite scroll — smaller lists use regular assigns; never stream unlimited items 2. Use stream_insert/3 and stream_delete/3 for incremental updates — never replace the entire stream assign 3. Use phx-update="stream" in templates — required for stream DOM patching; missing this causes full re-renders 4. Use reset: true for filtering and sorting — clears existing items before inserting the new result set 5. Call stream_configure/3 before stream/3 — configuring a custom dom_id after the stream is initialized has no effect 6. Re-fetch from the database when sorting or filtering — streams do not keep items in assigns, so you cannot reorder them in memory

End-to-End Workflow

Follow this sequence when implementing LiveView streams:

1. Identify collection size — see Rule 1 above for the threshold
2. Define DOM ID strategy — decide on id attribute format (e.g., post-#{post.id})
3. Add stream_configure/3 in mount/3 to set custom DOM ID generator
4. Initialize stream — call stream(socket, :name, collection) in mount/3
5. Update template — add phx-update="stream" container and id={dom_id} on items
6. Handle events — use stream_insert/stream_delete for all mutations
7. Add handle_info — handle Phoenix.PubSub broadcasts with stream updates
8. Verify WS frames — confirm targeted DOM patches in browser DevTools

Basic Stream Pattern

defmodule MyAppWeb.PostLive.Index do
  use MyAppWeb, :live_view

  @impl true
  def mount(_params, _session, socket) do
    {:ok,
     socket
     |> stream_configure(:posts, dom_id: &"post-#{&1.id}")
     |> stream(:posts, Blog.list_posts())}
  end

  @impl true
  def handle_event("create", %{"post" => params}, socket) do
    case Blog.create_post(params) do
      {:ok, post} ->
        {:noreply, stream_insert(socket, :posts, post, at: 0)}

      {:error, %Ecto.Changeset{} = changeset} ->
        {:noreply, assign(socket, :form, to_form(changeset))}
    end
  end

  @impl true
  def handle_event("delete", %{"id" => id}, socket) do
    with {:ok, post} <- Blog.fetch_post(id),
         {:ok, _} <- Blog.delete_post(post) do
      {:noreply, stream_delete(socket, :posts, post)}
    else
      {:error, :not_found} ->
        {:noreply, put_flash(socket, :error, "Post not found")}

      {:error, %Ecto.Changeset{}} ->
        {:noreply, put_flash(socket, :error, "Could not delete post")}

      {:error, _} ->
        {:noreply, put_flash(socket, :error, "Could not delete post")}
    end
  end

  @impl true
  def handle_info({:post_created, post}, socket) do
    {:noreply, stream_insert(socket, :posts, post, at: 0)}
  end
end

Template with Streams

<div id="posts" phx-update="stream">
  <div :for={{dom_id, post} <- @streams.posts} id={dom_id} class="post">
    <h3><%= post.title %></h3>
    <p><%= post.body %></p>

    <button phx-click="delete" phx-value-id={post.id}>
      Delete
    </button>
  </div>
</div>

Infinite Scroll with Streams

@per_page 20

@impl true
def mount(_params, _session, socket) do
  {:ok,
   socket
   |> assign(:page, 1)
   |> assign(:loading, false)
   |> stream_configure(:posts, dom_id: &"post-#{&1.id}")
   |> stream(:posts, Blog.list_posts(page: 1, per_page: @per_page))}
end

@impl true
def handle_event("load_more", _params, socket) do
  page = socket.assigns.page + 1
  new_posts = Blog.list_posts(page: page, per_page: @per_page)

  {:noreply,
   socket
   |> assign(:page, page)
   |> then(fn s -> Enum.reduce(new_posts, s, &stream_insert(&2, :posts, &1)) end)}
end

<div id="posts" phx-update="stream">
  <div :for={{dom_id, post} <- @streams.posts} id={dom_id}>
    <%= post.title %>
  </div>
</div>

<div phx-hook="InfiniteScroll" data-page={@page}>
  <button phx-click="load_more" disabled={@loading}>Load More</button>
</div>

PubSub Integration with Streams

@impl true
def mount(_params, _session, socket) do
  if connected?(socket) do
    Phoenix.PubSub.subscribe(MyApp.PubSub, "posts")
  end

  {:ok,
   socket
   |> stream_configure(:posts, dom_id: &"post-#{&1.id}")
   |> assign(:editing_id, nil)
   |> assign(:form, nil)
   |> stream(:posts, Blog.list_posts())}
end

@impl true
def handle_info({:post_created, post}, socket) do
  {:noreply, stream_insert(socket, :posts, post, at: 0)}
end

Broadcast from your context:

def create_post(attrs) do
  {:ok, post} = Repo.insert(Post.changeset(%Post{}, attrs))
  Phoenix.PubSub.broadcast(MyApp.PubSub, "posts", {:post_created, post})
  {:ok, post}
end

Resetting and Replacing Streams

Use reset: true to clear existing items before inserting new ones — required for filtering and sorting:

# Filtering
def handle_event("filter", %{"status" => status}, socket) do
  {:noreply, stream(socket, :posts, Blog.list_posts_by_status(status), reset: true)}
end

# Sorting — re-fetch from the database because streams do not store items in assigns
def handle_event("sort", %{"column" => col, "direction" => dir}, socket) do
  direction = String.to_existing_atom(dir)
  sorted = Blog.list_posts(order_by: [{direction, String.to_existing_atom(col)}])

  {:noreply,
   socket
   |> assign(:sort_direction, direction)
   |> stream(:posts, sorted, reset: true)}
end

Edit-in-Place Pattern

@impl true
def handle_event("start_edit", %{"id" => id}, socket) do
  case Blog.fetch_post(id) do
    {:ok, post} ->
      {:noreply,
       socket
       |> assign(:editing_id, id)
       |> assign(:form, to_form(Blog.change_post(post)))}

    {:error, :not_found} ->
      {:noreply, put_flash(socket, :error, "Post not found")}
  end
end

@impl true
def handle_event("save_edit", %{"id" => id, "post" => params}, socket) do
  with {:ok, post} <- Blog.fetch_post(id),
       {:ok, updated_post} <- Blog.update_post(post, params) do
    {:noreply,
     socket
     |> assign(:editing_id, nil)
     |> assign(:form, nil)
     |> stream_insert(:posts, updated_post)}
  else
    {:error, :not_found} ->
      {:noreply, put_flash(socket, :error, "Post not found")}

    {:error, %Ecto.Changeset{} = changeset} ->
      {:noreply,
       socket
       |> assign(:editing_id, id)
       |> assign(:form, to_form(changeset))}
  end
end

@impl true
def handle_event("cancel_edit", _params, socket) do
  {:noreply,
   socket
   |> assign(:editing_id, nil)
   |> assign(:form, nil)}
end

<div id="posts" phx-update="stream">
  <div :for={{dom_id, post} <- @streams.posts} id={dom_id}>
    <%= if @editing_id == post.id do %>
      <.form for={@form} phx-submit="save_edit">
        <input type="hidden" name="id" value={post.id} />
        <.input field={@form[:title]} type="text" label="Title" />
        <button type="submit">Save</button>
        <button type="button" phx-click="cancel_edit">Cancel</button>
      </.form>
    <% else %>
      <h3><%= post.title %></h3>
      <button phx-click="start_edit" phx-value-id={post.id}>Edit</button>
    <% end %>
  </div>
</div>

Debugging Checklist

If stream patching is not working as expected, check for:

• Missing phx-update="stream" on the container <div>
• Missing id={dom_id} on each item element
• Accidentally replacing the entire stream assign instead of using stream_insert/stream_delete
• DOM ID collisions caused by non-unique item IDs (especially across pages in infinite scroll)
• Using stream_insert without proper dom_id configuration
• Forgetting to call stream_configure before stream when using custom IDs

Manual verification step: Open your browser's DevTools panel → Network tab → WS frames. Confirm incoming frames contain targeted patch operations for individual items, not full list replacements. If you see full re-renders, the first two checklist items above are the most common cause.

Common Pitfalls

❌ Don't	✅ Do
Replace the whole stream assign to update it	Use stream_insert/3 and stream_delete/3 for incremental changes
Omit phx-update="stream" on the container	Add phx-update="stream" so LiveView patches items instead of re-rendering
Forget id={dom_id} on each item element	Set id={dom_id} so DOM patching can target individual rows
Reuse non-unique IDs across pages in infinite scroll	Configure a stable dom_id (e.g. &"post-#{&1.id}") so IDs never collide
Sort or filter from items held in assigns	Re-fetch from the database and apply stream(..., reset: true)
Stream tiny collections (a handful of rows)	Use regular assigns; reserve streams for 100+ item lists
Call stream_configure/3 after stream/3	Configure the custom dom_id before the stream is initialized

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Integration

Predecessor	This Skill	Successor
phoenix-liveview-essentials	liveview-streams	phoenix-pubsub-patterns
ecto-essentials	liveview-streams	testing-essentials

Companion skills: phoenix-liveview-essentials, phoenix-pubsub-patterns, testing-essentials.