About this demo
This auction demo shows how you can use PubNub's JavaScript SDK with Red5 Pro to build a fully serverless live auction experience with real-time bidding, chat, and ultra-low latency video streaming.
PubNub handles all data synchronization, messaging, and presence with no backend server required — while Red5 Pro delivers sub-second latency video so remote bidders can participate as if they were in the room.
Demo Features
Real-Time Presence - Track live viewer counts with hereNow() and presence events
Live Bid Tracking - Instant bid updates delivered to all participants via Pub/Sub
Instant Bid Publishing - One-tap bidding with pubnub.publish()
Message History & Backfill - Late joiners catch up instantly with Message Persistence
Real-Time Chat - Live chat between bidders and the auctioneer
Phase Announcements - Synchronized "Going Once / Going Twice / Sold" across all clients
Metadata Storage (App Context) - Auction and item catalogs stored as PubNub Channel Metadata
Auction Control Events - Auctioneer drives the auction state machine via control messages
Broadcast Announcements - Auctioneer sends real-time text announcements to all bidders
Real-Time Bid Stream - Auctioneer sees every bid as it arrives
Ultra-Low Latency Video - Red5 Pro WebRTC streaming with sub-second delay
WHEP Subscriber - Bidders watch the auctioneer via WebRTC-HTTP Egress Protocol
WHIP Publisher - Auctioneer broadcasts camera via WebRTC-HTTP Ingestion Protocol
Camera & Media Controls - Mute, toggle camera, switch devices, and screen share
