After you have initiated the connection if you've hit the correct endpoint server and your UUID & Device ID exists on the platform, ChipChop will respond with a request for a handshake. You will receive a response in JSON format containing the challenge code property
{"status":"handshake","code":"e36a48d24f3","uuid":"ChpChpUsRf5c40b64c03f0b607ae9b51a3803","device_id":"000001"}
This is the step where you need to generate a response code using an MD5 Hash algorithm do create a "message digest" of the combination of your Authentication Code and the received challenge "Code".

An abstract example would be:
response_code = MD5(chipchop_challenge_code + your_auth_code)

You can find your ChipChop Authentication Code in your Development Console in the "My Account" section.

ChipChop will wait no longer than 5 seconds to receive the correct "hashed" response code and if the code is incorrect or the time has lapsed it will close the connection.

Example handshake response from your device
{"api_call":"handshake_response","response_code":"1b3f2356....","uuid":"ChpChpUsRf5c40b64c03f0b607ae9b51a3803","device_id":"000001"}
If everything is correct you will receive a welcoming "Howdy Partner!" message from ChipChop and your connection channel will stay open.
If for any reason you lose your socket connection after some time, wait 5-10 seconds and simply restart the connection process again. It's completely normal and can happen for many reasons and you should implement this re-connecting behavior to happen automatically. Sometimes the connection channel can stay open for days and sometimes it can close few times in a minute.

Handshake success response from ChipChop
{"status":"Howdy Partner!"}