diff --git a/backend/app/api/handlers/v1/controller.go b/backend/app/api/handlers/v1/controller.go
index 25f6aab..eb60212 100644
--- a/backend/app/api/handlers/v1/controller.go
+++ b/backend/app/api/handlers/v1/controller.go
@@ -2,8 +2,9 @@
 package v1
 
 import (
-	"fmt"
+	"encoding/json"
 	"net/http"
+	"time"
 
 	"github.com/google/uuid"
 	"github.com/hay-kot/homebox/backend/internal/core/services"
@@ -144,6 +145,10 @@ func (ctrl *V1Controller) HandleCurrency() errchain.HandlerFunc {
 }
 
 func (ctrl *V1Controller) HandleCacheWS() errchain.HandlerFunc {
+	type eventMsg struct {
+		Event string `json:"event"`
+	}
+
 	m := melody.New()
 
 	m.HandleConnect(func(s *melody.Session) {
@@ -159,9 +164,15 @@ func (ctrl *V1Controller) HandleCacheWS() errchain.HandlerFunc {
 				return
 			}
 
-			jsonStr := fmt.Sprintf(`{"event": "%s"}`, e)
+			msg := &eventMsg{Event: e}
 
-			_ = m.BroadcastFilter([]byte(jsonStr), func(s *melody.Session) bool {
+			jsonBytes, err := json.Marshal(msg)
+			if err != nil {
+				log.Log().Msgf("error marshling event data %v: %v", data, err)
+				return
+			}
+
+			_ = m.BroadcastFilter(jsonBytes, func(s *melody.Session) bool {
 				groupIDStr, ok := s.Get("gid")
 				if !ok {
 					return false
@@ -177,6 +188,25 @@ func (ctrl *V1Controller) HandleCacheWS() errchain.HandlerFunc {
 	ctrl.bus.Subscribe(eventbus.EventLocationMutation, factory("location.mutation"))
 	ctrl.bus.Subscribe(eventbus.EventItemMutation, factory("item.mutation"))
 
+	// Persistent asynchronous ticker that keeps all websocket connections alive with periodic pings.
+	go func() {
+		const interval = 10 * time.Second
+
+		ping := time.NewTicker(interval)
+		defer ping.Stop()
+
+		for range ping.C {
+			msg := &eventMsg{Event: "ping"}
+
+			pingBytes, err := json.Marshal(msg)
+			if err != nil {
+				log.Log().Msgf("error marshaling ping: %v", err)
+			} else {
+				_ = m.Broadcast(pingBytes)
+			}
+		}
+	}()
+
 	return func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) error {
 		return m.HandleRequest(w, r)
 	}
diff --git a/backend/go.mod b/backend/go.mod
index 229365d..9db2818 100644
--- a/backend/go.mod
+++ b/backend/go.mod
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ module github.com/hay-kot/homebox/backend
 go 1.21
 
 require (
-	ariga.io/atlas v0.18.0
+	ariga.io/atlas v0.19.0
 	entgo.io/ent v0.12.5
 	github.com/ardanlabs/conf/v3 v3.1.7
 	github.com/containrrr/shoutrrr v0.8.0
@@ -13,13 +13,13 @@ require (
 	github.com/google/uuid v1.6.0
 	github.com/gorilla/schema v1.2.1
 	github.com/hay-kot/httpkit v0.0.5
-	github.com/mattn/go-sqlite3 v1.14.20
+	github.com/mattn/go-sqlite3 v1.14.22
 	github.com/olahol/melody v1.1.4
 	github.com/pkg/errors v0.9.1
-	github.com/rs/zerolog v1.31.0
+	github.com/rs/zerolog v1.32.0
 	github.com/stretchr/testify v1.8.4
 	github.com/swaggo/http-swagger v1.3.4
-	github.com/swaggo/swag v1.16.2
+	github.com/swaggo/swag v1.16.3
 	github.com/yeqown/go-qrcode/v2 v2.2.2
 	github.com/yeqown/go-qrcode/writer/standard v1.2.2
 	golang.org/x/crypto v0.18.0
diff --git a/backend/go.sum b/backend/go.sum
index 267fa07..14a903a 100644
--- a/backend/go.sum
+++ b/backend/go.sum
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 ariga.io/atlas v0.18.0 h1:LiSG7WYBQKUejvk5iAFE87lagQgOHn6kN+Us9xJ/Dsc=
 ariga.io/atlas v0.18.0/go.mod h1:uj3pm+hUTVN/X5yfdBexHlZv+1Xu5u5ZbZx7+CDavNU=
+ariga.io/atlas v0.19.0 h1:gilVpXabeiGhGI9lj/rQURkXBemnloc41RGOtwVLNc4=
+ariga.io/atlas v0.19.0/go.mod h1:uj3pm+hUTVN/X5yfdBexHlZv+1Xu5u5ZbZx7+CDavNU=
 entgo.io/ent v0.12.5 h1:KREM5E4CSoej4zeGa88Ou/gfturAnpUv0mzAjch1sj4=
 entgo.io/ent v0.12.5/go.mod h1:Y3JVAjtlIk8xVZYSn3t3mf8xlZIn5SAOXZQxD6kKI+Q=
 github.com/DATA-DOG/go-sqlmock v1.5.0 h1:Shsta01QNfFxHCfpW6YH2STWB0MudeXXEWMr20OEh60=
@@ -113,6 +115,10 @@ github.com/mattn/go-isatty v0.0.20 h1:xfD0iDuEKnDkl03q4limB+vH+GxLEtL/jb4xVJSWWE
 github.com/mattn/go-isatty v0.0.20/go.mod h1:W+V8PltTTMOvKvAeJH7IuucS94S2C6jfK/D7dTCTo3Y=
 github.com/mattn/go-sqlite3 v1.14.20 h1:BAZ50Ns0OFBNxdAqFhbZqdPcht1Xlb16pDCqkq1spr0=
 github.com/mattn/go-sqlite3 v1.14.20/go.mod h1:Uh1q+B4BYcTPb+yiD3kU8Ct7aC0hY9fxUwlHK0RXw+Y=
+github.com/mattn/go-sqlite3 v1.14.21 h1:IXocQLOykluc3xPE0Lvy8FtggMz1G+U3mEjg+0zGizc=
+github.com/mattn/go-sqlite3 v1.14.21/go.mod h1:Uh1q+B4BYcTPb+yiD3kU8Ct7aC0hY9fxUwlHK0RXw+Y=
+github.com/mattn/go-sqlite3 v1.14.22 h1:2gZY6PC6kBnID23Tichd1K+Z0oS6nE/XwU+Vz/5o4kU=
+github.com/mattn/go-sqlite3 v1.14.22/go.mod h1:Uh1q+B4BYcTPb+yiD3kU8Ct7aC0hY9fxUwlHK0RXw+Y=
 github.com/mitchellh/go-wordwrap v1.0.1 h1:TLuKupo69TCn6TQSyGxwI1EblZZEsQ0vMlAFQflz0v0=
 github.com/mitchellh/go-wordwrap v1.0.1/go.mod h1:R62XHJLzvMFRBbcrT7m7WgmE1eOyTSsCt+hzestvNj0=
 github.com/niemeyer/pretty v0.0.0-20200227124842-a10e7caefd8e/go.mod h1:zD1mROLANZcx1PVRCS0qkT7pwLkGfwJo4zjcN/Tysno=
@@ -133,6 +139,8 @@ github.com/rogpeppe/go-internal v1.11.0/go.mod h1:ddIwULY96R17DhadqLgMfk9H9tvdUz
 github.com/rs/xid v1.5.0/go.mod h1:trrq9SKmegXys3aeAKXMUTdJsYXVwGY3RLcfgqegfbg=
 github.com/rs/zerolog v1.31.0 h1:FcTR3NnLWW+NnTwwhFWiJSZr4ECLpqCm6QsEnyvbV4A=
 github.com/rs/zerolog v1.31.0/go.mod h1:/7mN4D5sKwJLZQ2b/znpjC3/GQWY/xaDXUM0kKWRHss=
+github.com/rs/zerolog v1.32.0 h1:keLypqrlIjaFsbmJOBdB/qvyF8KEtCWHwobLp5l/mQ0=
+github.com/rs/zerolog v1.32.0/go.mod h1:/7mN4D5sKwJLZQ2b/znpjC3/GQWY/xaDXUM0kKWRHss=
 github.com/sergi/go-diff v1.0.0 h1:Kpca3qRNrduNnOQeazBd0ysaKrUJiIuISHxogkT9RPQ=
 github.com/sergi/go-diff v1.0.0/go.mod h1:0CfEIISq7TuYL3j771MWULgwwjU+GofnZX9QAmXWZgo=
 github.com/stretchr/objx v0.1.0/go.mod h1:HFkY916IF+rwdDfMAkV7OtwuqBVzrE8GR6GFx+wExME=
@@ -152,6 +160,8 @@ github.com/swaggo/http-swagger v1.3.4 h1:q7t/XLx0n15H1Q9/tk3Y9L4n210XzJF5WtnDX64
 github.com/swaggo/http-swagger v1.3.4/go.mod h1:9dAh0unqMBAlbp1uE2Uc2mQTxNMU/ha4UbucIg1MFkQ=
 github.com/swaggo/swag v1.16.2 h1:28Pp+8DkQoV+HLzLx8RGJZXNGKbFqnuvSbAAtoxiY04=
 github.com/swaggo/swag v1.16.2/go.mod h1:6YzXnDcpr0767iOejs318CwYkCQqyGer6BizOg03f+E=
+github.com/swaggo/swag v1.16.3 h1:PnCYjPCah8FK4I26l2F/KQ4yz3sILcVUN3cTlBFA9Pg=
+github.com/swaggo/swag v1.16.3/go.mod h1:DImHIuOFXKpMFAQjcC7FG4m3Dg4+QuUgUzJmKjI/gRk=
 github.com/yeqown/go-qrcode/v2 v2.2.2 h1:0comk6jEwi0oWNhKEmzx4JI+Q7XIneAApmFSMKWmSVc=
 github.com/yeqown/go-qrcode/v2 v2.2.2/go.mod h1:2Qsk2APUCPne0TsRo40DIkI5MYnbzYKCnKGEFWrxd24=
 github.com/yeqown/go-qrcode/writer/standard v1.2.2 h1:gyzunKXgC0ZUpKqQFUImbAEwewAiwNCkxFEKZV80Kt4=
diff --git a/docs/requirements.txt b/docs/requirements.txt
index 8a97be7..4498336 100644
--- a/docs/requirements.txt
+++ b/docs/requirements.txt
@@ -1 +1 @@
-mkdocs-material==9.5.5
\ No newline at end of file
+mkdocs-material==9.5.8
\ No newline at end of file