🔗 Orchestrating multi-user workflows in Phoenix LiveView with websockets

Web apps used to be solitary places. One user, one session, one screen. But modern applications thrive on connection — not just between user and server, but between users themselves. It’s not enough to reflect real-time state. You need to coordinate it. You need workflows where one user acts and others respond — not in minutes, but in milliseconds.

Phoenix LiveView makes this possible with an architecture that bakes real-time into every interaction. Underneath it all is a single, persistent WebSocket per user — a conduit that carries messages, events, presence signals, and coordination hints between the people who use your app. It’s fast. It’s scalable. But more importantly, it’s expressive.

Let’s unpack how to build these kinds of workflows — not just reactive UIs, but orchestrated systems — using LiveView’s core tools and a few strategic patterns.