The specification just says "alwaysNegotiateDataChannels defines a way for the application to negotiate data channels in the SDP offer before creating a datachannel". I'm finding it a bit hard to reason about what this means for me as a developer. I.e. when should I set it and how does this change the connection? Does this mean that a data channel will be negotiated without calling createDataChannel? Will that requested datachannel result in a datachannel event or does my code still need to call createDataChannel? If the latter, is this a performance optimization? Would I choose this when data is more important to connect first rather than e.g. voice / video?
The linked tracking bug <https://issues.chromium.org/433898678> appears to be a chrome-only bug report with a particular demo that doesn't use the alwaysNegotiateDataChannels attribute and works on Firefox. I don't quite understand what the new configuration extension has to do with the original bug report. On Wed, Jan 21, 2026 at 6:31 AM 'Philipp Hancke' via blink-dev < [email protected]> wrote: > *tContact emails* > [email protected], [email protected] > > *Specification* > https://w3c.github.io/webrtc-extensions/#always-negotiating-datachannels > > *Summary* > Implement > https://w3c.github.io/webrtc-extensions/#always-negotiating-datachannels > > *Blink component* > Blink>WebRTC > <https://issues.chromium.org/issues?q=customfield1222907:%22Blink%3EWebRTC%22> > > *Web Feature ID* > Missing feature > > *TAG review status* > Not applicable (incremental addition to WebRTC) > > *Risks* > *Interoperability and Compatibility* > *No information provided* > > *Gecko*: No signal ( > https://github.com/mozilla/standards-positions/issues/1335) > > *WebKit*: No signal ( > https://github.com/WebKit/standards-positions/issues/599) > > *Web developers*: No signals > > > *Will this feature be supported on all six Blink platforms (Windows, Mac, > Linux, ChromeOS, Android, and Android WebView)?* > Yes > > *Is this feature fully tested by web-platform-tests > <https://chromium.googlesource.com/chromium/src/+/main/docs/testing/web_platform_tests.md>?* > Yes, a WPT is part of > https://chromium-review.googlesource.com/c/chromium/src/+/7080041 > > *Rollout plan* > Will ship enabled for all users > > *Requires code in //chrome?* > False > > *Tracking bug* > https://issues.chromium.org/issues/433898678 > > *Estimated milestones* > Shipping on desktop 146 > > *Link to entry on the Chrome Platform Status* > https://chromestatus.com/feature/5113419982307328?gate=6516338099093504 > > This intent message was generated by Chrome Platform Status > <https://chromestatus.com/>. > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "blink-dev" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To view this discussion visit > https://groups.google.com/a/chromium.org/d/msgid/blink-dev/CADxkKiKuE79-xWUFiO9NCy%2Big9Pvn1oi6fVbkdomFLo4--bJQw%40mail.gmail.com > <https://groups.google.com/a/chromium.org/d/msgid/blink-dev/CADxkKiKuE79-xWUFiO9NCy%2Big9Pvn1oi6fVbkdomFLo4--bJQw%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "blink-dev" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/a/chromium.org/d/msgid/blink-dev/CAJh39TPTxV5evdFUMnmfQE3aP2siNXNSZVpBr8wBitT56-nFCQ%40mail.gmail.com.
