• LIVE
  • HISTORY
  • BATCH
  • HUMAN

How to monitor user presence and activity with your AI

Connect Ably to your AI client to track who is online and how their status has changed. You can query specific channels or groups to get immediate answers about user availability.

Ask AI about this page

Short answer

How can I track user presence and activity with my AI?

Your AI uses Ably to pull live presence data and historical status logs. You can ask about specific users or entire channels to see who is active or how availability has shifted. You'll get a clear breakdown of these status changes.

Presence outcomes.

Where your data lands.

The AI processes Ably presence data into these specific views.

LIVE

Current availability

The AI checks who is currently connected to a channel. You get a list of active users and their current status.

HISTORY

Status timelines

The AI pulls past presence changes to show how availability has moved. This helps you spot patterns in user activity.

BATCH

Grouped status

The AI checks multiple users at once. This lets you quickly audit the status of a specific group of people.

HUMAN

Manual actions

The AI cannot change a user's status or send them messages. You'll need to handle any direct communication yourself.

The workflow

What your AI does when presence data arrives.

The AI acts as the bridge between your questions and Ably's real-time streams.

  1. Check live status

    The AI identifies which users are currently connected to a specific channel.

    get_presence

  2. Analyze activity trends

    The AI reviews past presence changes to find patterns in how users come and go.

    get_presence_history

  3. Audit user groups

    The AI pulls presence data for a set of users in a single request.

    batch_presence

  4. Report status

    The AI summarizes the current presence state of a channel into a readable format.

    get_presence

Try it

Copy these to start.

Use these prompts to begin interacting with your Ably data.

Starting points

These are opening lines. Swap out the channel names and user IDs for your own Ably data.

Ably Connector

You're all set. Choose your MCP client and follow the setup instructions.

Connector linkhttps://edge.vinkius.com/vk_preview_7FhLG86kkySnDPZ823hCqylyJCaovl8f3hyGPw7a/mcp

Claude Desktop

Follow the steps below to connect in seconds.

  1. 1In Claude Desktop, open Settings → Connectors.
  2. 2Click “Add custom connector” and paste the connector link above as the remote MCP server URL.
  3. 3Click Add and start a new chat — Ably capabilities are ready to use.
Configuration · claude_desktop_config.jsonCopy
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "ably-mcp": {
      "url": "https://edge.vinkius.com/vk_preview_7FhLG86kkySnDPZ823hCqylyJCaovl8f3hyGPw7a/mcp"
    }
  }
}
Copy into chat04

  • Who is currently online in the 'support-chat' channel?

  • Show me the presence history for the 'marketing-feed' channel from the last hour.

  • Check the presence for users 'user_99' and 'user_102' in the 'lobby' channel.

  • What is the current status of everyone in the 'admin-room' channel?

  • Claude
  • ChatGPT
  • Cursor
  • VS Code
  • Windsurf
  • Claude Code
  • JetBrains
  • Cline

Start here

Connect Ably once, then ask.

One link connects your account. Your login stays encrypted on our side, and you can immediately start asking your AI about your Ably channels.

Connect Ably to your AI

FAQ

How this task behaves.

  • 01

    Can the AI change a user's status?

    No. The AI can only read presence data. It cannot modify a user's status or force them to appear online.

  • 02

    Can the AI send messages to users?

    No. This MCP is built for monitoring presence and history, not for sending messages or interacting with users.

  • 03

    Can the AI see all my Ably channels?

    The AI can access any channel you specifically ask it to check using the provided tools.

  • 04

    How does the AI know who is online?

    The AI uses Ably's presence features to pull the current list of connected users for a specific channel.

  • 05

    Can the AI delete presence history?

    No. The AI only has tools to read presence and history; it cannot delete or modify any data in Ably.

  • More questions about Ably? See everything the Ably Connector can do

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