# Ably MCP for AI Agents MCP > Ably MCP lets your AI agent manage real-time communication streams using natural language commands. You can publish messages to multiple channels at once, track who is currently online across various groups, and send push notifications directly to client devices. This gives you granular control over the entire messaging infrastructure. ## Overview - **Category:** communication-messaging - **Price:** Free - **Tags:** pub-sub, real-time-messaging, push-notifications, websocket, event-driven, api-integration ## Description Need to build an app that feels truly real-time? This MCP connects your agent directly to Ably’s full API suite for robust communication orchestration. Instead of writing complex boilerplate code every time you want to check status or send a broadcast, you just ask your AI client to do it. Think about the sheer complexity of managing presence data across dozens of channels, or updating historical messages after an event. With this MCP, your agent handles all that API interaction for you. You can publish new messages, retrieve message history instantly, and even monitor who is active right now—all by simply asking it to 'check presence' or 'get channel status.' It’s like having a dedicated backend developer sitting next to your IDE, ready to run any comms query on demand. Because Vinkius hosts this MCP, you connect once from Claude, Cursor, or any compatible client and get immediate access to all these real-time communication tools. ## Tools ### batch_presence Checks and returns the current online status of users across several different channels at once. ### batch_publish Sends a message to multiple designated communication channels with one single call. ### batch_push_publish Publishes several direct push notifications simultaneously to various clients. ### get_channel_metadata Fetches details about a specific channel, like its creation date or current status. ### get_message Retrieves the full content of one message using its unique serial identifier. ### get_messages Fetches a chronological list of messages that were posted to a particular channel. ### get_presence_history Provides an audit log detailing who was online and when within a specific chat room. ### get_presence Gets the immediate list of all active, currently connected members for a given channel. ### get_stats Retrieves usage statistics about your entire Ably application's performance over time. ### list_channels Lists every active channel configured within the connected Ably account. ### publish_message Sends a new message to one specified channel, making it visible instantly. ### push_publish Sends a direct push notification payload to a target device or client ID. ### revoke_tokens Immediately invalidates an Ably API token before its expiration date for security reasons. ### update_message Allows you to edit, delete, or append new content to a message that already exists in a channel. ## Prompt Examples **Prompt:** ``` What's the current user list and activity in the 'marketing-team' channel? ``` **Response:** ``` **# Marketing Team Status** * 🟢 **Active Members (3):** jsmith, klee, opsadmin * 📜 **Recent Activity:** * `jsmith`: Sent message about Q3 goals (2 minutes ago) * `opsadmin`: Updated channel metadata: 'New lead intake protocol active.' (1 hour ago) * **Channel Metadata:** Created 2024-01-15. Usage Level: High. ``` **Prompt:** ``` Publish an urgent announcement to the #all-staff channel and send a push notification to my mobile device. ``` **Response:** ``` ✅ **Status Update:** * Message successfully published to `#all-staff`. * 🚀 **Push Notification Sent:** Alert sent to your primary device ID. Check for 'System Maintenance Tonight' in 3 seconds. ``` **Prompt:** ``` I need the message history and who was online yesterday in #support. ``` **Response:** ``` **# Support Channel Activity** * **Presence History:** Users seen active: (alex, ryan, sarah). Peak activity at 2 PM EST. * **Message Summary:** Retrieved 47 messages since yesterday. Key topics included 'billing issue' and 'API connection error.' The latest message was about a payment gateway update. ``` ## Capabilities ### Sending Messages Send messages to single channels or multiple channels simultaneously, and retrieve the message history. ### Tracking Presence Status Get a real-time list of active members in any channel, and review historical presence records for auditing. ### Sending Notifications Fire off direct push notifications to specific devices or client IDs for immediate mobile/web alerts. ### Managing Channels List all active communication channels and fetch detailed metadata or usage statistics for any given channel. ### Updating Records Modify, delete, or append data to existing messages within a channel. ## Use Cases ### Debugging a New Feature Release A Product Engineer needs to verify that the 'support' channel is receiving messages correctly after a deployment. They ask their agent to use `get_messages` and confirm if the expected event was published, getting immediate verification of message flow. ### System-Wide Alerting A DevOps Engineer needs to alert all development teams that an outage occurred. Instead of logging into multiple systems, they ask their agent to use `batch_push_publish` across three different client IDs for simultaneous alerts. ### Monitoring Critical Stakeholders A Project Manager needs to know who is available in the 'executives' channel right now. They query the MCP using `get_presence`, getting a clean list of active users without clicking through status boards. ### Updating Outdated Records A developer discovers that an important announcement was posted incorrectly. They use the agent to execute `update_message` on the specific message serial, fixing the error and appending the correct information for everyone. ## Benefits - Audit message history instantly: Use `get_messages` or `get_message` to retrieve specific content, eliminating manual database lookups. - Monitor active users in real time: The `get_presence` tool shows you exactly who is online right now without needing a live dashboard view. - Scale communication efforts: With `batch_publish` and `batch_push_publish`, you can send messages or notifications to dozens of groups simultaneously. - Maintain security integrity: Use `revoke_tokens` whenever an API key needs to be shut down immediately, keeping your comms infrastructure locked down. - Understand usage trends: The `get_stats` tool gives you application-wide metrics, letting product engineers track message volumes and connection peaks. ## How It Works The bottom line is you get full access to Ably's real-time messaging functionality without ever writing an API call yourself. 1. Subscribe to the Ably MCP and enter your API key credentials into Vinkius. 2. Tell your AI agent exactly what you need: 'Check presence in the #alerts channel' or 'Publish a message about X.' 3. Your agent runs the necessary commands through this MCP, and it returns structured data—like current member lists or successful messages—directly back to your chat window. ## Frequently Asked Questions **How do I check who is currently online using the Ably MCP for AI Agents?** You ask your agent to get presence data for a specific channel. It instantly returns a list of every active member, letting you know exactly who's available without manually checking status dashboards. **Can I send out announcements to multiple teams at the same time with Ably MCP for AI Agents?** Yes. You can use batch publishing tools to send the exact same message or notification simultaneously to dozens of different channels, making large-scale communication simple. **What is the best way to audit who was online in a channel over time with Ably MCP for AI Agents?** The agent handles this by retrieving the presence history. This gives you a detailed record of user activity, showing when members were active and inactive, which is great for compliance checks. **Does Ably MCP for AI Agents let me update old messages?** Absolutely. If an announcement was posted with bad data, you can use the agent to retrieve the message by serial number and then update or append new information right into the thread. **Is this tool better than just using a standard chat client for tracking status?** Yes. This MCP connects directly to Ably's underlying API, giving you structured data (like usage stats and historical logs) that goes far beyond what a simple user interface can provide.