diff --git a/internal/websocket/manager.go b/internal/websocket/manager.go
index ac9b3656..083efd4b 100644
--- a/internal/websocket/manager.go
+++ b/internal/websocket/manager.go
@@ -23,6 +23,16 @@ const pingPeriod = 10 * time.Second
 // period for sending inactive cursor messages
 const inactiveCursorsPeriod = 750 * time.Millisecond
 
+// events that are not logged in debug mode
+var nologEvents = []string{
+	// don't log twice
+	event.SYSTEM_LOGS,
+	// don't log heartbeat
+	event.SYSTEM_HEARTBEAT,
+	// don't log every cursor update
+	event.SESSION_CURSORS,
+}
+
 func New(
 	sessions types.SessionManager,
 	desktop types.DesktopManager,
@@ -301,7 +311,8 @@ func (manager *WebSocketManagerCtx) handle(connection *websocket.Conn, peer type
 				break
 			}
 
-			if data.Event != event.SYSTEM_LOGS {
+			// log events if not ignored
+			if ok, _ := utils.ArrayIn(data.Event, nologEvents); !ok {
 				logger.Debug().
 					Str("address", connection.RemoteAddr().String()).
 					Str("event", data.Event).
diff --git a/internal/websocket/peer.go b/internal/websocket/peer.go
index 6d5b1d1a..52dacf06 100644
--- a/internal/websocket/peer.go
+++ b/internal/websocket/peer.go
@@ -75,6 +75,13 @@ func (peer *WebSocketPeerCtx) Ping() error {
 		return errors.New("peer connection not found")
 	}
 
+	// application level heartbeat
+	if err := peer.connection.WriteJSON(types.WebSocketMessage{
+		Event: event.SYSTEM_HEARTBEAT,
+	}); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
 	return peer.connection.WriteMessage(websocket.PingMessage, nil)
 }
 
diff --git a/pkg/types/event/events.go b/pkg/types/event/events.go
index 3e773a9c..5a3f37dc 100644
--- a/pkg/types/event/events.go
+++ b/pkg/types/event/events.go
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ const (
 	SYSTEM_SETTINGS   = "system/settings"
 	SYSTEM_LOGS       = "system/logs"
 	SYSTEM_DISCONNECT = "system/disconnect"
+	SYSTEM_HEARTBEAT  = "system/heartbeat"
 )
 
 const (
diff --git a/pkg/types/websocket.go b/pkg/types/websocket.go
index 213d3af7..a99dc344 100644
--- a/pkg/types/websocket.go
+++ b/pkg/types/websocket.go
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ import (
 
 type WebSocketMessage struct {
 	Event   string          `json:"event"`
-	Payload json.RawMessage `json:"payload"`
+	Payload json.RawMessage `json:"payload,omitempty"`
 }
 
 type WebSocketHandler func(Session, WebSocketMessage) bool