Server-Sent Events nodejs example. This shows how to detect the client disconnection.

sse-serverside-example.js

var express = require('express');
var app = express();

// response header for sever-sent events
const SSE_RESPONSE_HEADER = {
  'Connection': 'keep-alive',
  'Content-Type': 'text/event-stream',
  'Cache-Control': 'no-cache',
  'X-Accel-Buffering': 'no'
};

// Connected users (request object of each user) :
var users = {};

// SSE starting endpoint
// You can access url `http://localhost:3000/sse/<userId>`
//
// Caution:
// This example exposes <userId> as URI parameter for testing purpose.
// In reality, you should use one stored in req.session. 
app.get('/sse/:userId', function(req, res) {

  let userId = getUserId(req);

  // data for sending
  let data;

  // Stores this connection
  users[userId] = req;

  // Writes response header.
  res.writeHead(200, SSE_RESPONSE_HEADER);

  // Interval loop
  let intervalId = setInterval(function() {
    console.log(`*** Interval loop. userId: "${userId}"`);
    // Creates sending data:
    data = {
      userId,
      users: Object.keys(users).length,
      // memoryUsage: process.memoryUsage()
      time: new Date().getTime(),
    };
    // Note: 
    // For avoidance of client's request timeout, 
    // you should send a heartbeat data like ':\n\n' (means "comment") at least every 55 sec (30 sec for first time request)
    // even if you have no sending data:
    if (!data)
      res.write(`:\n\n`);
    else
      res.write(`data: ${JSON.stringify(data)}\n\n`);
  }, 3000);

  // Note: Heatbeat for avoidance of client's request timeout of first time (30 sec) 
  res.write(`:\n\n`);

  req.on("close", function() {
    let userId = getUserId(req);
    console.log(`*** Close. userId: "${userId}"`);
    // Breaks the interval loop on client disconnected
    clearInterval(intervalId);
    // Remove from connections
    delete users[userId];
  });

  req.on("end", function() {
    let userId = getUserId(req);
    console.log(`*** End. userId: "${userId}"`);
  });

});

function getUserId(req) {
  // Note: 
  // In reality, you should use userId stored in req.session, 
  // but not URI parameter. 
  return req.params.userId;
}

app.listen(3000, function() {
  console.log('Example app listening on port 3000!');
});

Thanks for the example.
@arnaudambro, I have a similar requirement as yours as I need to push notifications to specific users on some of my API calls. How did you end up managing it? Did you store all the res in some data structure? Thanks :)

Hi @abhinavchawla13
You can check this post, you'll find the answer :)
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/58822916/using-server-sent-events-how-to-store-a-connection-to-a-client

@arnaudambro, thanks 😄