Real-time Location Tracking

Overview

Connect to the Chidori WebSocket server to receive real-time driver location updates for your deliveries. This is ideal for building live tracking maps and interfaces.

Required permission: location:read

WebSocket is only available in the live environment. Sandbox mode does not support real-time location tracking.

Connection details

Property	Value
URL	`https://api.chidori.africa`
Path	`/enterprise-socket`
Protocol	Socket.IO

Authentication

Pass your live API key in the auth object when connecting:

const socket = io('https://api.chidori.africa', {
  path: '/enterprise-socket',
  auth: {
    apiKey: 'sk_live_xxx.yyy'
  }
});

Alternatively, pass it as a query parameter:

const socket = io('https://api.chidori.africa?apiKey=sk_live_xxx.yyy', {
  path: '/enterprise-socket'
});

Security: User-scoped subscriptions

You can only subscribe to deliveries that belong to your account. When you subscribe to a delivery, the server verifies that the delivery’s userId matches your API key’s owner. This ensures you only receive location updates for your own deliveries.

Attempting to subscribe to another user’s delivery will result in an error: “Delivery not found or not owned by you”

Events

Events to emit (client → server)

Event	Payload	Description
`subscribe:location`	`deliveryId` (string)	Subscribe to a delivery’s location updates
`unsubscribe:location`	`deliveryId` (string)	Unsubscribe from location updates

Events to listen (server → client)

Event	Payload	Description
`subscribed:location`	`{ deliveryId }`	Confirmation of successful subscription
`unsubscribed:location`	`{ deliveryId }`	Confirmation of unsubscription
`location:update`	Location object	Driver location update
`error`	`{ message }`	Error message

Connection example

import { io } from 'socket.io-client';

// Connect to WebSocket
const socket = io('https://api.chidori.africa', {
  path: '/enterprise-socket',
  auth: {
    apiKey: 'sk_live_xxx.yyy'
  }
});

// Connection events
socket.on('connect', () => {
  console.log('Connected to Chidori WebSocket');
});

socket.on('disconnect', () => {
  console.log('Disconnected from Chidori WebSocket');
});

socket.on('error', (error) => {
  console.error('WebSocket error:', error.message);
});

// Subscribe to location updates for a delivery (must be owned by your account)
socket.emit('subscribe:location', 'abc123-def456-ghi789');

// Listen for subscription confirmation
socket.on('subscribed:location', ({ deliveryId }) => {
  console.log(`Tracking location for delivery: ${deliveryId}`);
});

// Listen for location updates
socket.on('location:update', (data) => {
  console.log('Location update:', data);
  // Update your map marker with the new location
  updateMapMarker(data.location.lat, data.location.lon);
});

// Unsubscribe when done
socket.emit('unsubscribe:location', 'abc123-def456-ghi789');

Location update payload

When the driver’s location changes, you receive:

{
  "deliveryId": "abc123-def456-ghi789",
  "location": {
    "lat": 6.5244,
    "lon": 3.3792
  },
  "driverId": "driver-123",
  "timestamp": "2025-01-15T10:45:00.000Z"
}

deliveryId

string

The delivery ID you subscribed to

location

object

Show properties

lat

number

Latitude coordinate

lon

number

Longitude coordinate

driverId

string

The driver’s ID (may be null if not yet assigned)

timestamp

string

ISO 8601 timestamp of the location update

Error handling

socket.on('error', (error) => {
  switch (error.message) {
    case 'Authentication required':
      console.error('No API key provided');
      break;
    case 'Invalid API key':
      console.error('API key is invalid or revoked');
      break;
    case 'WebSocket not available in sandbox mode':
      console.error('Use a live API key for WebSocket');
      break;
    case 'Missing location:read permission':
      console.error('API key lacks location:read permission');
      break;
    case 'Delivery not found or not owned by you':
      console.error('Cannot subscribe to this delivery');
      break;
    default:
      console.error('WebSocket error:', error.message);
  }
});

Best practices

Reconnection

Socket.IO handles reconnection automatically. Configure retry settings as needed.

Unsubscribe

Always unsubscribe from deliveries when no longer needed to reduce server load.

Error handling

Handle connection errors gracefully and show appropriate UI feedback.

Fallback

Use the REST API to poll delivery status if WebSocket connection fails.

Installation

Install the Socket.IO client:

npm install socket.io-client

Overview

Pricing

Deliveries

Payments

Webhooks

Real-time

Real-time Location Tracking

Overview

Connection details

Authentication

Security: User-scoped subscriptions

Events

Events to emit (client → server)

Events to listen (server → client)

Connection example

Location update payload

Error handling

Best practices

Reconnection

Unsubscribe

Error handling

Fallback

Installation

Next steps

Get Delivery

Webhooks

Overview

Pricing

Deliveries

Payments

Webhooks

Real-time

​Overview

​Connection details

​Authentication

​Security: User-scoped subscriptions

​Events

​Events to emit (client → server)

​Events to listen (server → client)

​Connection example

​Location update payload

​Error handling

​Best practices

Reconnection

Unsubscribe

Error handling

Fallback

​Installation

​Next steps

Get Delivery

Webhooks

Overview

Connection details

Authentication

Security: User-scoped subscriptions

Events

Events to emit (client → server)

Events to listen (server → client)

Connection example

Location update payload

Error handling

Best practices

Installation

Next steps