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How to connect Ably to Claude

Connect Claude Web, Desktop and Cowork to Ably MCP. List all active channels and their details, get message history from 'support-chat' channel, and more using natural language, with authentication handled for you.

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Ably is a real-time messaging platform for live chat and data sync in modern apps. It offers global scale and rock-solid reliability for seamless, instant experiences.

25 Tools

Introduction

Claude is Anthropic's AI assistant, available on the web, in the desktop app, and on mobile. Cowork is its agent for knowledge work, and it runs on all of those surfaces too. Connected to your apps, Claude can work with your files and services to accomplish complex tasks on your behalf.

This guide walks you through the easiest and most secure way to connect your Ably account to Claude via Composio Connect, enabling it to list all active channels and their details, get message history from 'support-chat' channel, show presence history for 'live-event' channel, and more such actions on your behalf without compromising your account security.

Setup is the same on Claude Web, Desktop, and Cowork, and you only need to do it once. The connector is tied to your account, so it's available in all three.

Also integrate Ably with

OpenAI Agents SDKClaude Agent SDKClaude CodeCodexOpenClawHermesGoogle ADKLangChainVercel AI SDKMastra AILlamaIndexCrewAIPydantic AIAutoGen

Connecting Ably to Claude Web, Desktop, and Cowork

1. Open Customize

In Claude Desktop, click Customize in the left sidebar, then select Connectors and click the + icon at the top.

Claude Desktop connectors screen with Add custom connector selected

2. Add the Composio MCP server

Click Add custom connector and paste in the Composio MCP server URL:

bash
https://connect.composio.dev/mcp
Add custom connector dialog with Composio MCP server URL

3. Authorize in your browser

Click Connect. You'll be redirected to a browser window where you can authorize Composio to continue.

Composio authorization screen for Claude Web, Desktop, and Cowork

4. Connect your Ably account

Back in Claude, ask it to connect to Ably or give it any Ably-related task.

For example, ask Claude to:

  • "List all active channels and their details"
  • "Get message history from 'support-chat' channel"
  • "Show presence history for 'live-event' channel"

It will prompt you to authenticate and authorize access.

That's it. Composio's tools are now available in Claude, and your Ably account is ready to use.

What is the Ably Claude Connector, and what's possible with it?

The Ably MCP server is an implementation of the Model Context Protocol that connects your AI agent and assistants like Claude, Cursor, etc directly to your Ably account. It provides structured and secure access to your real-time messaging infrastructure, so your agent can manage channels, monitor presence, analyze usage, and handle messaging workflows for your applications.

  • Channel management and creation: Seamlessly create, initialize, or retrieve real-time messaging channels so your agent can orchestrate chat, data sync, and collaboration features on demand.
  • Presence tracking and analytics: Ask your agent to query current presence states or review historical presence data across multiple channels, gaining insights into user activity and engagement patterns.
  • Message history and audit: Retrieve detailed message histories from any channel, enabling your agent to audit communication, recover missed messages, or analyze message flows for debugging and compliance.
  • Push notification subscription management: Let your agent list, manage, or unsubscribe devices from push notification channels, ensuring targeted and controlled delivery of real-time alerts to clients.
  • Application statistics and monitoring: Have your agent fetch in-depth usage metrics—like message counts, channel activity, and API request stats—so you can monitor health, optimize performance, and manage resources with confidence.

Troubleshooting

1. Why does Claude not use the Composio connector for Ably?

The connector can show as connected, but Claude must use it in each Ably conversation.

  • Click + at the lower left of the chat, or type /.
  • Hover Connectors.
  • Turn on Composio.
  • Ask Claude to connect to Ably again.

2. Why does Claude show an MCP server error before Ably connects?

Claude can show Couldn't reach the MCP server or Authorization with the MCP server failed when you add the connector for Ably.

  • Check that the connector URL is https://connect.composio.dev/mcp.
  • Connectors run from Anthropic's cloud, so your device network is usually not the problem.
  • Add the connector again from Customize > Connectors, then ask Claude to connect Ably.
  • If it fails again, send the error and the ofid_ reference id to support@composio.dev.

3. Why does the Ably authorization link not work?

The Composio connector is one server. Your Ably account connects separately when Claude asks for it.

  • If the browser does not open, or the link expires, ask Claude to retry the Ably connection.
  • Composio creates a fresh Ably authorization link.
  • Open that link in your browser and finish the Ably sign-in.

4. Why do Ably actions fail after they worked before?

The Ably connection can expire or lose permission.

  • Ask Claude to inspect the Ably connection.
  • If the connection is unhealthy, disconnect it when Claude prompts you.
  • Reconnect the Ably account and retry the action.
  • If Claude shows a permission prompt, approve it before Claude changes data in Ably.
  • If the action still fails with a permission error, check that the connected account has that permission in Ably itself.

5. How do I switch to a different Ably account?

Claude can manage the Ably connection for you.

  • Ask Claude to disconnect or delete the current Ably account.
  • Ask Claude to connect Ably again.
  • Open the new Composio authorization link for Ably.
  • Sign in with the other Ably account in the browser.
  • After the account connects, ask Claude to retry the Ably task.

6. Why is my Ably connection missing in Claude Desktop or on a Team plan?

The connector belongs to your Claude account, so your Ably connection works in Claude Web, Desktop, and Cowork.

  • In Claude Desktop, open Customize > Connectors.
  • Next to Composio, click ⋮ and click Clear cache.
  • If Ably tools still do not appear, click ⋮, disconnect, remove the connector, and add it again.
  • On Team or Enterprise, an Owner or Primary Owner must enable the connector before you can connect Ably.
TOOLS

Supported Tools

Every Ably action and event your agent gets out of the box.

Query Batch Presence

This tool enables querying the presence states of multiple channels in a single API request.

Query Batch Presence History

This tool enables querying presence history for multiple channels in a single API request.

Delete Channel Subscription

This tool allows you to unsubscribe devices or clients from push notifications for specific channels.

Get Channel Details

This tool retrieves metadata and details for a specific channel in Ably.

Get Channel History

This tool retrieves the message history for a specified Ably channel.

Get Channel Presence

Tool to obtain the set of members currently present for a channel.

Get Message Versions

Tool to retrieve all historical versions of a specific message from an Ably channel.

Get Channel Presence History

This tool retrieves the history of presence messages for a specified channel in Ably.

Get Push Device Registration

Tool to get the full details of a device registration for push notifications.

Get Ably Service Time

This tool retrieves the current server time from Ably's service in milliseconds since the epoch.

Get Application Stats

This tool retrieves your application's usage statistics from Ably.

List Channels

Tool to enumerate all active channels in the Ably application.

List Push Channels

Tool to list all channels with at least one subscribed device.

List Push Channel Subscriptions

This tool retrieves a list of all push notification channel subscriptions.

List Registered Push Devices

Tool to list all devices registered for receiving push notifications in your Ably application.

Patch Push Device Registration

Tool to partially update specific attributes of an existing device registration in Ably's push notification system.

Batch Publish Messages

Tool to batch publish messages to multiple channels in parallel.

Publish Message to Channel

This tool will allow users to publish a message to a specified Ably channel using a POST request.

Publish Push Notification

Tool to publish a push notification directly to device(s) via Ably's Push Notifications API.

Batch Publish Push Notifications

Tool to batch publish push notifications directly to specific recipients.

Register Push Device

Tool to register a device for receiving push notifications in Ably.

Request Access Token

Request an access token for Ably authentication.

Unregister All Push Devices

Tool to unregister matching devices for push notifications.

Unregister Push Device

Tool to unregister a single device from push notifications in Ably.

Update Push Device Registration

Tool to update (upsert) a device registration for push notifications in Ably.

FRAMEWORKS

How to build Ably MCP Agent with another framework

OpenAI Agents SDK logo

OpenAI Agents SDK

Use Ably MCP with OpenAI Agents SDK

Claude Agent SDK logo

Claude Agent SDK

Use Ably MCP with Claude Agent SDK

Claude Code logo

Claude Code

Use Ably MCP with Claude Code

Codex logo

Codex

Use Ably MCP with Codex

OpenClaw logo

OpenClaw

Use Ably MCP with OpenClaw

Hermes logo

Hermes

Use Ably MCP with Hermes

Google ADK logo

Google ADK

Use Ably MCP with Google ADK

LangChain logo

LangChain

Use Ably MCP with LangChain

Vercel AI SDK logo

Vercel AI SDK

Use Ably MCP with Vercel AI SDK

Mastra AI logo

Mastra AI

Use Ably MCP with Mastra AI

LlamaIndex logo

LlamaIndex

Use Ably MCP with LlamaIndex

CrewAI logo

CrewAI

Use Ably MCP with CrewAI

Pydantic AI logo

Pydantic AI

Use Ably MCP with Pydantic AI

AutoGen logo

AutoGen

Use Ably MCP with AutoGen

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

With a standalone Ably MCP server, the agents and LLMs can only access a fixed set of Ably tools tied to that server. However, with the Composio Tool Router, agents can dynamically load tools from Ably and many other apps based on the task at hand, all through a single MCP endpoint.

Yes, you can. Claude Cowork fully supports MCP integration. You get structured tool calling, message history handling, and model orchestration while Tool Router takes care of discovering and serving the right Ably tools.

Yes, absolutely. You can configure which Ably scopes and actions are allowed when connecting your account to Composio. You can also bring your own OAuth credentials or API configuration so you keep full control over what the agent can do.

All sensitive data such as tokens, keys, and configuration is fully encrypted at rest and in transit. Composio is SOC 2 Type 2 compliant and follows strict security practices so your Ably data and credentials are handled as safely as possible.

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