Why WebSocket collaboration beats WebRTC for interview reliability

Realtime editing matters in a coding interview, but reliability matters more. If the candidate cannot connect, the tool has failed before the interview starts.

WebRTC is attractive because it can reduce backend infrastructure. In practice, it is also the part most likely to hit corporate firewall, VPN, or NAT issues.

The pragmatic default

A WebSocket relay is less clever and more dependable. The browser opens one connection to infrastructure you control, and the room synchronizes through that path.

DiscussCode temporarily disables Yjs collaboration until a production WebSocket server is available. That avoids shipping a product that depends on a public demo relay.

What comes next

The right next step is a room-scoped WebSocket backend, ideally with short-lived room IDs and no required user identity. Presence, cursors, and shared question state can then layer on top.