Ably MCP server

Connect Ably to Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, Claude Code, Codex, Gemini, GitHub Copilot and any other MCP client, for your whole team. Metorial adds security, governance, and tracing, and gives everyone one Magic MCP URL to connect.

What you can do with the Ably MCP server

Ask your agent in plain language. Each of these maps to a real tool on the server.

  • Use the publish message tool in Ably
  • Use the get channel status tool in Ably
  • Use the revoke tokens tool in Ably
  • Use the manage integration rules tool in Ably
  • Use the get presence tool in Ably
  • Use the manage queues tool in Ably

Supported Tools

publish_message

Publish Message

Publish one or more messages to an Ably channel. Supports publishing a single message to a channel or batch publishing multiple messages to one or more channels simultaneously. Use batch mode by providing multiple channel-message pairs for efficient multi-channel publishing.

get_channel_status

Get Channel Status

Get the status and occupancy details of a specific Ably channel, or list all active channels. Use this to check if a channel is active, how many connections/subscribers/publishers/presence members it has, or to enumerate all active channels with an optional prefix filter.

revoke_tokens

Revoke Tokens

Revoke previously issued Ably tokens matching specified targets. Targets can be client IDs or other token identifiers. All matching tokens issued before the specified time will be revoked.

manage_rules

Manage Integration Rules

List, create, update, or delete Ably integration rules using the Control API. Rules define how events (messages, presence, lifecycle, occupancy) are forwarded to external services like HTTP webhooks, AWS Lambda, Kafka, Amazon Kinesis, SQS, AMQP, and more.

get_presence

Get Presence

Retrieve the current set of members present on an Ably channel. Returns all clients currently "present" with their optional status data. Can be filtered by client ID or connection ID.

manage_queues

Manage Queues

List, create, or delete Ably message queues using the Control API. Queues allow worker servers to consume realtime messages via AMQP or STOMP protocols without managing queueing infrastructure.

get_presence_history

Get Presence History

Retrieve historical presence events from an Ably channel. Returns a log of all presence actions (enter, leave, update) that occurred within the specified time range.

manage_keys

Manage API Keys

List, create, update, or revoke Ably API keys using the Control API. Keys can be created with channel-specific capabilities, allowing fine-grained access control per channel.

request_token

Request Token

Issue a short-lived Ably token with fine-grained capabilities for client authentication. Tokens can be scoped to specific channels, operations, and client identities. Use this to generate tokens for client-side applications instead of exposing your API key.

get_statistics

Get Statistics

Retrieve application-level usage statistics from Ably, including message counts, connections, API requests, and more. Statistics can be aggregated by minute, hour, day, or month.

get_message_history

Get Message History

Retrieve historical messages from an Ably channel. Messages are persisted and can be queried by time range, with pagination support. Useful for retrieving messages missed while disconnected.

manage_apps

Manage Apps

List, create, update, or delete Ably applications using the Control API. Supports listing all apps in an account, creating new apps, updating app settings, and deleting apps.

manage_namespaces

Manage Namespaces

List, create, update, or delete Ably channel namespaces using the Control API. Namespaces define channel-level settings such as message persistence, push notification enablement, and TLS enforcement. A namespace applies to all channels whose name starts with the namespace ID followed by a colon (e.g. namespace "chat" applies to channels "chat:room1", "chat:room2", etc.).

get_service_time

Get Service Time

Retrieve Ably service time in milliseconds since the Unix epoch for clock synchronization and token request diagnostics.

get_control_statistics

Get Control API Statistics

Retrieve usage statistics for an account or app with a Control API token, including the full provider statistics entries.

who_am_i

Get Current Account and Token

Retrieve the Control API token metadata, its user, and its account. Discover the account ID before listing apps with manage_apps.

Connect Ably to your AI client

Every client uses the same Magic MCP URL, and so does any other MCP client. Add it once and sign in with SSO.

  1. Enable Ably in Metorial. In your Metorial portal, enable the Ably MCP server and sign in with the account that owns the data. Access stays governed by your team policies.
  2. Add a custom connector. Open Customize, then Connectors. Select Add, then Custom, then Web.
  3. Paste your Metorial MCP URL. Name it Metorial, paste your Magic MCP URL (<your-magic-mcp-url>) and continue.
  4. Sign in. Select Add and sign in to load Ably tools.

Run Ably through the Metorial gateway

One governed layer for every app your agents reach, not a separate connector per tool.

  • Give Ably and every other app to your whole team through one MCP gateway, behind your SSO.
  • Scope which teams and agents can use Ably tools with role-based access control, and trace every call.
  • Prefer to run it yourself? Metorial is open source and self-hostable.

More integrations teams use with Ably

Google Sheets

Create, read, and update spreadsheets and their cell data. Read and write values to individual cells, ranges, or multiple ranges using A1 notation or named ranges. Apply cell formatting including text styles, backgrounds, borders, number formats, and conditional formatting. Manage sheets (tabs) within a spreadsheet—add, delete, copy, rename, and reorder them. Create and manage embedded charts, pivot tables, filter views, data validation rules, protected ranges, named ranges, and merged cells. Perform batch operations to apply multiple updates atomically.

GitHub

Manage repositories, issues, and pull requests. Create and configure branches, star repositories, review code, and merge changes. Automate CI/CD workflows with GitHub Actions, manage workflow runs, secrets, and artifacts. Track issues with labels, milestones, and assignees. Search across code, repositories, issues, and users. Manage organizations, teams, and memberships. Create and manage projects, gists, packages, deployments, and environments. Access security alerts including code scanning, secret scanning, and Dependabot alerts. Read and write file contents in repositories. Manage webhooks, notifications, and codespaces.

Slack

Slack: connect with bot OAuth or user OAuth to work with messages, conversations, search, files, Canvases, Lists, profiles, reactions, reminders, and workspace productivity settings.

Salesforce

Manage CRM data including Accounts, Contacts, Leads, Opportunities, Cases, and custom objects. Create, read, update, and delete records. Query data using SOQL and search across objects using SOSL. Perform bulk data operations for large-scale imports, exports, and migrations. Execute composite requests to batch multiple operations in a single API call. Access analytics, reports, and dashboards. Manage files and attachments associated with records. Interact with Chatter feeds, posts, and groups for social collaboration. Manage org metadata including custom objects, fields, layouts, and workflows. Query data using GraphQL for precise data retrieval across related objects.

Sharepoint

Manage SharePoint sites, document libraries, lists, and files. Create, read, update, and delete lists and list items with custom columns. Resolve site users to numeric Person/Group LookupId values. Upload, download, move, copy, and version files in document libraries. Search across sites, files, folders, lists, and list items using Microsoft Search. Manage permissions at site, list, and item levels with granular access control. Define and manage content types and site columns. Retrieve site properties and search for sites across Microsoft 365.

Microsoft Outlook

Send, read, reply to, forward, and manage email messages in user mailboxes. Organize messages into folders, apply categories, flags, and importance levels. Manage file and item attachments. Create, update, delete, and respond to calendar events and meetings. Find available meeting times, manage attendees, handle recurrence, and work with shared or delegated calendars. Create, read, update, and delete contacts, organize them into contact folders, and manage contact photos. Manage tasks and task lists via Microsoft To Do, including due dates, reminders, recurrence, and checklist items. Support for Focused Inbox, @-mentions, mail tips, send-on-behalf, and send-as capabilities.

Technical notes for Ably

Publish realtime channel messages, inspect current presence and message or presence history, enumerate active channels, and retrieve usage statistics. Issue and revoke client tokens with scoped capabilities. Manage Ably apps, API keys, integration rules, queues, and namespaces through the Control API, and discover the current account and token metadata.

Frequently asked questions

Common questions about connecting Ably to AI agents with Metorial.

  1. How many tools does the Ably MCP server have?
    The Ably MCP server exposes 16 tools, including Publish Message, Get Channel Status, Revoke Tokens. Each one is governed and traced through Metorial.
  2. Ably exposes tools your agents call on demand; it does not publish event triggers yet. Everything still runs through one governed MCP URL.
  3. Any MCP client, including VS Code, Windsurf, Zed, OpenCode and Grok. Each one reaches the Ably MCP server through the same Metorial URL.
  4. Use role-based access control to decide which teams, users, and agents can use Ably and which of its tools they can call.
  5. Yes. Metorial is open source, so you can run the Ably MCP server yourself or use the hosted gateway.

Connect Ably to production AI agents

See how Metorial gives your team governed access to Ably, with tracing and security controls built in.