ChannelsLiveTestCaseServer accepts a port to bind to

[MohammedSaleh2001]

Background

I'm developing a test suite for a Vue3 frontend which relies on a Django backend, which also has a Daphne server for websocket connections. For testing this setup I found this test class, ChannelsLiveTestCaseServer. The issue was that it binds to a randomly available port, and as such I can't direct my frontend to either of the servers. Resultantly I am changing the source code in Daphne to bind to a specific port (using build_endpoint_description_strings, line 156).

Suggestion

ChannelsLiveTestCaseServer should accept a port to bind to, similar to LiveTestCaseServer and StaticLiveTestCaseServer. I believe this would also mean changing the DaphneProcess class in the Daphne repository in daphne/testing.py. If this suggestion is more suitable there, please let me know.

I understand this is a very specific issue; but I was surprised that this test class doesn't accept a port. Thanks for your consideration.

[carltongibson]

Hi @MohammedSaleh2001. These seems like a reasonable adjustment. Would you like to work on the PRs?

[MohammedSaleh2001]

Sure, I can have a try at it.

[MohammedSaleh2001]

I've made the two PRs here:
https://github.com/django/channels/pull/2136#issue-2867092532
https://github.com/django/daphne/pull/550#issue-2867094065

If there are any changes I need to make, please let me know. Thanks.

[KianAnbarestani]

I ran into the same issue while testing a Vue 3 frontend with Django + Daphne. Having a fixed port is essential for end-to-end tests that rely on consistent WebSocket endpoints. I agree that ChannelsLiveTestCaseServer should accept a port param, similar to Django’s LiveServerTestCase. This would require a small change in both channels and daphne. Happy to contribute a PR if needed!

[carltongibson]

@KianAnbarestani PRs are already in progress. Will be in next versions. (Current backlog: asgiref, Daphne, then Channels.)

[KianAnbarestani]

Yep currently I'm using the exact things u said
It works well but waiting for the new features either