Ably REST API
Agent-ready OpenAPI document · curated by JenticCommunicationsChat Messagingbasic, bearer8 EndpointsREST
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For Agents
Publish messages to Ably channels, fetch history, manage tokens, and read application statistics over HTTP. Use it for server-side realtime publishing without a WebSocket connection.
Use for: I need to publish a notification to a channel, Fetch the last 100 messages on channel 'orders', Check who is currently present on a chat channel, List every active channel in the application
Not supported: Does not handle WebSocket connections, app provisioning, or push-notification delivery - use for HTTP publishing, history, presence, and token issuance only.
Jentic publishes the only available OpenAPI specification for Ably REST API, keeping it validated and agent-ready. The Ably REST API is the request/response interface to Ably's realtime messaging platform. It covers publishing messages to channels, retrieving message and presence history, listing active channels, requesting tokens for client authentication, and pulling application statistics. The eight endpoints are gated by HTTP Basic auth (with the API key) or a bearer token issued by /keys/{keyName}/requestToken, and complement Ably's realtime SDKs when a server-side workflow is enough.
Install Jentic One Beta
Connect the Ably REST API to your agent
Jentic One is a self-hosted execution layer for AI agents. It lets your agent call the Ably REST API, or any other public or private API you need. You set the rules, the agent never sees your credentials, and every call is logged.
Two steps, two machines. Install the instance in a safe environment, then register your agent from wherever it runs.
1
Step 1: Jentic One Host machine
# On the machine that will host your Jentic One instance:
curl -fsSL "https://jentic.com/install.sh?src=apis&api=%2Fapis%2Fably.com%2Fably" | sh2
Step 2: Agent machine
# On the machine where your agent runs (keep this separate from the instance):
curl -fsSL "https://jentic.com/install.sh?src=apis&api=%2Fapis%2Fably.com%2Fably" | sh
jentic register # connects your agent to your Jentic One instanceJentic One is in public beta. The setup above keeps your agent separate from the instance, which is what you want before using real credentials: an agent running as the same OS user as Jentic One can read its stored keys directly. Just evaluating? A single local install is fine to start. See the secure deployment guide for the tiers.
Capabilities
What an agent can do with Ably REST API.
Publish a message to a named Ably channel
Pull message history for a channel with paging and filters
Read the current presence set on a channel and its presence history
List active channels in the application for monitoring
Get channel metadata and current status
Request an Ably token for short-lived, scoped client auth
Retrieve application-level statistics (messages, peak connections)
Use Cases
Patterns agents use Ably REST API for, with concrete tasks.
★ Server-Side Event Publishing
Backend services need to push realtime events (order updates, dashboard refreshes, alerts) without holding a persistent WebSocket. POST /channels/{channelId}/messages publishes from a server process to all connected subscribers, with delivery handled by Ably's global edge network. This is the simplest way to broadcast events from a job queue or webhook handler.
Publish a JSON message {orderId: 'A123', status: 'shipped'} to channel 'orders'
Token-Based Client Auth
Browser and mobile clients should never embed a long-lived Ably API key. POST /keys/{keyName}/requestToken issues short-lived tokens scoped to the operations the client needs, so the front end connects with reduced blast radius if the token leaks. Pair with Ably realtime SDKs for the actual WebSocket connection.
Request an Ably token for keyName 'frontend' with capability {chat: ['publish','subscribe']} and a TTL of 600 seconds
Message History and Auditing
Compliance and audit workflows replay or re-export realtime events. GET /channels/{channelId}/messages returns historical messages with paging, while GET /channels/{channelId}/presence/history reconstructs who was on the channel at any time. Application stats from /stats round out the picture for usage reporting.
Fetch the last 100 messages on channel 'orders' between 09:00 and 10:00 UTC for the audit log
Agent-Driven Realtime Publishing via Jentic
AI agents can drive Ably without standing up SDK plumbing. Through Jentic, an agent searches for the publish intent, loads POST /channels/{channelId}/messages, and executes with the API key from your Jentic One instance. The same flow covers token issuance and history retrieval when an agent needs to reason about recent activity.
Search Jentic for 'publish a realtime message', load the Ably schema, and execute the call with channel and message body
Key Endpoints
8 endpoints — jentic publishes the only available openapi specification for ably rest api, keeping it validated and agent-ready.
METHOD
PATH
DESCRIPTION
POST
/channels/{channelId}/messages
Publish a message to a channel
GET
/channels/{channelId}/messages
Get message history for a channel
GET
/channels/{channelId}/presence
Get the current presence set
GET
/channels
List active channels
POST
/keys/{keyName}/requestToken
Request a short-lived Ably token
GET
/stats
Get application statistics
POST
/channels/{channelId}/messages
Publish a message to a channel
GET
/channels/{channelId}/messages
Get message history for a channel
GET
/channels/{channelId}/presence
Get the current presence set
GET
/channels
List active channels
POST
/keys/{keyName}/requestToken
Request a short-lived Ably token
GET
/stats
Get application statistics
Why Jentic?
What agents get from Jentic-routed access to this vendor.
Setup
Wiring the Ably REST API by hand means managing its key with either HTTP Basic or bearer token auth, targeting the rest.ably.io host, and shaping message, presence, and token-request payloads yourself. Through Jentic you install once, import the Ably REST API from the API Directory, store the key once, and your agent calls it.
Permission scoping
Ably puts the channel id in the URL path (/channels/{channelId}/messages), so a rule can pin your agent to one channel: it can publish and read history and presence for that channel and nothing else. You choose the operations it may call, so token issuance is not included unless you add it.
Credential isolation
Your Ably API key is stored once, encrypted, by your own Jentic One instance and injected at execution time. It never enters the agent's prompt, logs, or context.
Intent-based discovery
Agents search Jentic by intent such as 'publish a realtime message' or 'read a channel's message history', and Jentic returns the matching Ably REST operation with its input schema so the agent calls the right endpoint without browsing the reference docs.
Related APIs
Alternatives and complements available in the Jentic catalogue.
FAQs
Specific to using Ably REST API through Jentic.
Why is there no official OpenAPI spec for Ably REST API?
Ably publishes reference docs at ably.com/docs/api/rest-api but does not host a single discoverable OpenAPI specification for that surface. Jentic generates and maintains this spec so that AI agents and developers can call Ably REST API via structured tooling. It is validated against the live API and kept up to date. Get started with Jentic One, the self-hosted execution layer.
What authentication does the Ably REST API use?
The API supports HTTP Basic auth using the Ably API key as the username, or bearer token auth using a token issued by POST /keys/{keyName}/requestToken. Through Jentic, both schemes are stored in the vault and applied at execution time, so neither value enters the agent's context.
Can I publish messages to a channel with the Ably REST API?
Yes. POST /channels/{channelId}/messages publishes one or more messages to the named channel. The body accepts a single message or an array, and Ably distributes the payload to all connected subscribers via its realtime fabric.
How do I fetch channel history through Jentic?
Search Jentic for 'get channel history' to find GET /channels/{channelId}/messages, load the schema, and execute the call with the channel ID and time bounds. The response is paged and returns messages in newest-first order by default.
What are the rate limits for the Ably REST API?
The OpenAPI spec does not encode rate limits; Ably enforces them per account based on the active plan. Read GET /stats for live message counts and check the Ably account dashboard for the current limit. On 429s, back off and retry with jitter.
How do I issue a short-lived token for a browser client?
Call POST /keys/{keyName}/requestToken with the desired capability JSON and TTL. The response is an Ably token request the front end can use to connect via the realtime SDK without ever holding the long-lived API key.
Can I limit what my agent is allowed to do with the Ably REST API?
Yes. Because you run Jentic One yourself, your own rules decide which Ably operations and credentials the agent may use. Since Ably puts the channel id in the URL path (/channels/{channelId}/messages), you can pin the agent to a single channel so it only publishes and reads history and presence for that channel and nothing else. You also pick the operations it may call, so token issuance via POST /keys/{keyName}/requestToken is excluded unless you explicitly allow it.
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