Simple example of getting Websockets broadcast data into Max?

Tearing my hair out here...

I have a standalone node.js server accepting incoming GET requests from web apps (just simple UIs for now, sliders, buttons, etc). Works great and I've gotten it to broadcast to p5.js and Unity via Websockets.

I've tried everything I can think of in Max but no luck. Don't want to use MXJ because I'll need to change how the server sends data (correct?) -- also don't want to rely on Java being installed on a target computer.

I get this error when I do "script start" in the Max Console (5 times):

node.script: Node child process quit, will restart

I also get 6 pairs of

Client connected
Client disconnected

in my node.js console.

Anybody seen this? Anyone have a super-simple setup that works? Thanks!

Tried to attach files but it's not allowed. Below is the js code inside Max:

// Max WebSocket Client Script to receive data

const WebSocket = require('ws');

// Replace 'ws://localhost:3000' with your Node.js WebSocket server address

const ws = new WebSocket('ws://localhost:3000');

// When connection opens

ws.on('open', () => {

  post('Connected to Node.js server\n');

});

// When data is received from Node.js

ws.on('message', (data) => {

  post('Received from Node.js: ' + data + '\n');

  outlet(0, data); // Send data to Max/MSP patch

});

// Handle connection errors

ws.on('error', (error) => {

  post('WebSocket error: ' + error + '\n');

});

// When connection closes

ws.on('close', () => {

  post('Disconnected from Node.js server\n');

});