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I'm trying to implement a simple SSE engine using php. I've got a simple php program, that uses an infinite loop polling my SQL database, that sends the events. Executing the program '/usr/bin/php livetest.php' works perfectly. The problem is when accessing it via browser javascript to Hiawatha/php-fpm, it appears to be buffering. Until it reaches a CGI timeout - and I'm not sure what to change as this should be a relatively long time for proper operation (I'd like at least 10 minutes). Restarting php-fpm can sometimes "shake things loose" and give me my output - obviously not the right solution!

If I change the php program to end after each event then it works - but results in the client constantly re-connecting. Which is a form of polling and the opposite of what SSE is supposed to be about.

Is there something simple I'm missing to implement this properly?

You are looking for the TimeForCGI setting. But this doesn't allow you to run a CGI indefinitely. I advice to look for another approach.

Well... TimeForCGI should let me run the script for a while...but that doesn't fix my problem of being the responses. How can i have the php be sent immediately without being buffered?

What other approach would you suggest?

Hiawatha buffers CGI output to improve network performance. A CGI cannot influence that.

The right approach depends on what you try to achieve. But whatever you do, don't let the CGI wait and do polling. A CGI process should be a single short run which, at the end of the run, terminates. That's how the usage of web applications were designed in the first place.