Flaw in disconnect path of the library

sanjayssk

KiteConnect Node.js ticker has a serious design flaw in the disconnect path.

If I want to behave like a good citizen and want to disconnect a ticker after use (for example after completing tracking of a Nifty options contract), the library terminates the entire Node.js process unexpectedly. The issue comes from this flow:

• disconnect()` sets `should_reconnect = false`
  
• websocket closes normally
  
• triggerDisconnect()` still calls `attemptReconnection()`
  
• attemptReconnection()` checks `!should_reconnect`
  
• library calls `process.exit(1)`
  

This means a normal manual disconnect call from the App is treated as a fatal application failure. A library should never terminate the host process internally. That decision must belong to the application layer.

Current code:

if (
    (current_reconnection_count > reconnect_max_tries)
    || !should_reconnect
) {
    trigger('noreconnect');
    process.exit(1);
}

Suggested fix:

if (!should_reconnect) {
    // Manual disconnect requested.
    // Do not reconnect.
    // Do not terminate process.

    trigger('noreconnect');
    return;
}

if (current_reconnection_count > reconnect_max_tries) {
    trigger('noreconnect');
    return;
}

This problem can unexpectedly terminate long-running trading systems that dynamically create and destroy tickers/contracts during live trading.

Anyone listening?
I now also have a small test script to demonstrate this. If I create a KiteTicker object with reconnect set to false, there is no problem disconnecting the ticker. But if I set it to true, process dies as soon as I disconnect. A normal trade app is supposed to subscribe to multiple tickers during its normal course of operation and it also wants the reconnect feature. But if the app performs the "good programming practice" of cleaning up by disconnecting the ticker after use is over, it dies. This is a library design fault. Don't point me to previous tickets as I have seen them. One must be able to use reconnect feature and at the same time disconnect and connect as many times in the App lifetime as needed.