MCP server for Ably — channel history, presence, occupancy, stats, publish, and app management. Hosted by usefulapi: connect it to Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor or any MCP client.
Turn on the Ably connector, then ask in plain words. The AI picks the tools.
For developers who run realtime apps on Ably channels.
The AI lists active channels and reads occupancy for one channel: connections, publishers, subscribers and presence members. You see where users are right now.
The AI lists the members present on a channel now, and reads past enter, leave and update events from the presence history.
The AI reads the history of a channel, newest first, so you can see what was published and debug a message flow.
The AI reads message, connection and channel statistics for one app or for the whole account, bucketed by time. It can sum up trends.
The AI lists your apps, the API keys with their capabilities, channel namespaces and integration rules. You get an overview of how an app is set up.
The AI publishes a message to a channel you name. Every connected subscriber receives it.
Changes dataThe login page asks for your Ably API key.
Optional: Control API token.
Find your API key in Ably → your app → API Keys (full appId.keyId:keySecret). The optional Control API token lives under Account → Control API tokens and powers the management tools (apps, keys, namespaces, queues, rules, account stats). Your credentials are used only to call Ably on your behalf and to derive a private account id; they are never shown to anyone.
Team and Enterprise: an Owner adds the connector for the organization first.
No Add custom MCP server option? It depends on your account or workspace settings: see OpenAI's guide.
Run this command, then run /mcp in Claude Code to log in:
Add to Cursor or add this to ~/.cursor/mcp.json:
{
"mcpServers": {
"ably": {
"url": "https://ably.usefulapi.io/mcp"
}
}
} Add to VS Code or add this to .vscode/mcp.json:
{
"servers": {
"ably": {
"type": "http",
"url": "https://ably.usefulapi.io/mcp"
}
}
} Run these commands. The second one opens the login page:
Windsurf, Cline, Zed and other MCP clients: add this URL as a remote MCP server (Streamable HTTP). The client then opens the login page in your browser.
Add only the URL. Do not add an Authorization header or an API key to the client config. The server signs you in with OAuth: the login page asks for your Ably API key. If the config has such a header, remove it: some clients then send that header instead of the login token, and every call fails with 401.
| Plan | Price | Limit |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 50 tool calls / month |
| Pro | $9/mo · $90/yr | 10,000 tool calls / month |
| Pro+ | $39/mo · $390/yr | 100,000 tool calls / month |
Each paid plan covers this Ably server only. Ask your AI to run ably_upgrade and choose Pro or Pro+, billed monthly or yearly (it returns a Stripe Checkout link). If you already have Pro, ask to change it to Pro+. The change requires your confirmation, keeps your billing interval and charges the price difference for the rest of the period immediately. Cancel any time with ably_cancel_subscription: your paid plan continues to the end of the paid period, with no refund for the current period, and asking to resume the same plan with ably_upgrade before then undoes the cancel. Or write to [email protected].
ably_get_channel_historyably_get_presenceably_get_presence_historyably_get_channel_detailsably_list_channelsably_get_statsably_get_service_timeably_whoamiably_list_appsably_list_keysably_list_namespacesably_list_queuesably_list_rulesably_get_account_statsably_publish_messageably_usage_statusably_request_featureably_upgradeably_cancel_subscriptionCheck which channels have people connected. See who is present on a channel. Read recent messages sent on a channel. Review app and account usage over time. Audit app setup: keys, namespaces and rules. Publish a test message to a channel. See what you can do for the details.
No. usefulapi is an independent service. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by Ably. The server calls the Ably API with your own Ably access, so it sees only the data that your account can see.
Yes. In Claude, add this server's URL as a custom connector. In ChatGPT, add it as a custom MCP server in Plugins. Then log in once. Cursor, VS Code, Claude Code and Codex work too. See the setup steps.
The login page asks for your Ably API key. See Before you connect for where to find it.
No. Add only the URL. Do not add an Authorization header or an API key to the client config. The server signs you in with OAuth: the login page asks for your Ably API key. If the config has such a header, remove it: some clients then send that header instead of the login token, and every call fails with 401.
The login stores them encrypted in the authorization grant of your connection. The server uses them to call the Ably API for you and to derive a private account id for usage metering. usefulapi does not show them on any page or in any reply. To stop all access, remove the connector and change or delete these credentials in Ably.
Yes, if you approve it. 1 of the 15 Ably tools can create or change data. The other 14 are marked read-only. Most MCP clients ask you to approve a tool call before it runs.
The Free plan gives 50 tool calls / month. Pro costs $9/mo or $90/yr, with 10,000 tool calls / month. Pro+ costs $39/mo or $390/yr, with 100,000 tool calls / month. Each subscription covers this Ably server only. Cancel any time: your paid plan then runs to the end of the paid period. Run ably_usage_status to see how many calls you used.
Ask the AI to run ably_upgrade and choose Pro or Pro+, billed monthly or yearly: it returns a Stripe Checkout link. If you already have Pro, ask to change it to Pro+. After you confirm, your existing subscription changes in place, keeps its billing interval and charges the price difference for the rest of the period immediately. To cancel, run ably_cancel_subscription. Your paid plan continues to the end of the paid period.
Tell the AI what you wanted to do. It can send the request with ably_request_feature. We store the text with the server name, the type of AI client and the tool you tried, not with your account, and read every request when we plan new tools. You can send up to 5 requests per day.
Any client that supports remote MCP servers (Streamable HTTP) with OAuth login: Claude (web and desktop), Claude Code, ChatGPT, Codex, Cursor, VS Code, Windsurf and others.
This is a Model Context Protocol endpoint — meant to be connected from an AI client, not opened in a browser. An invalid_token response at the URL is the auth gate working as designed; clients authenticate automatically.
Need a tool this server does not have, or a connection to another system? We build custom integrations and MCP servers.