OKX WebSocket port 8443 is retired: fixing Node.js connections

OKX stopped accepting WebSocket connections on port 8443 on 31 October 2026 (Colo follows on 16 November). If your Node.js app still connects to wss://ws.okx.com:8443/..., the connection now fails. REST calls keep working, so a service can look healthy while its price feed has stopped.

The fix

Only the port changes. The host and path stay the same, and wss:// uses 443 by default.

wss://ws.okx.com:8443/ws/v5/public -> wss://ws.okx.com/ws/v5/public wss://ws.okx.com:8443/ws/v5/private -> wss://ws.okx.com/ws/v5/private wss://ws.okx.com:8443/ws/v5/business -> wss://ws.okx.com/ws/v5/business wss://wspap.okx.com:8443/ws/v5/public -> wss://wspap.okx.com/ws/v5/public (demo) 

The same applies to the EEA and US hosts (wseea.okx.com, wsus.okx.com and their demo versions).

Look for leftovers in config, env vars and deploy scripts:

grep -rn ":8443" . 

Check it's really fixed

Getting connected isn't enough. Confirm that subscriptions are acknowledged and that updates keep arriving:

import WebSocket from 'ws'; const ws = new WebSocket('wss://ws.okx.com/ws/v5/public'); ws.on('open', () => { ws.send(JSON.stringify({ op: 'subscribe', args: [{ channel: 'tickers', instId: 'BTC-USDT' }], })); setInterval(() => ws.send('ping'), 25_000); }); ws.on('message', (raw) => { const text = raw.toString(); if (text === 'pong') return; console.log(JSON.parse(text)); }); 

If you use an SDK

Check which version you have installed and whether it hard-codes a port. The OKX JavaScript SDK (okx-api) connects on the default port and has no :8443 in its endpoints. It also defaults REST to OKX's newer https://openapi.okx.com domain. The OKX JavaScript tutorial covers reconnects and private streams.

Source: OKX port 8443 announcement.