How to integrate Ably MCP with Codex

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Introduction

Codex is one of the most popular coding harnesses out there. And MCP makes the experience even better. With Ably MCP integration, you can draft, triage, summarise emails, and much more, all without leaving the terminal or the app, whichever you prefer.

Also integrate Ably with

Why use Composio?

Apart from a managed and hosted MCP server, you will get:

  • CodeAct: A dedicated workbench that allows GPT to write its code to handle complex tool chaining. Reduces to-and-fro with LLMs for frequent tool calling.
  • Large tool responses: Handle them to minimise context rot.
  • Dynamic just-in-time access to 20,000 tools across 1000+ other Apps for cross-app workflows. It loads the tools you need, so GPTs aren't overwhelmed by tools you don't need.

How to install Ably MCP in Codex

Run the setup command

Run this command in your terminal to add the Composio MCP server to Codex.

Terminal

It will initiate the authentication in a browser window, authorize Codex to access your Composio account.

Composio authentication page

(Optional) Authenticate with OAuth

To authenticate manually, run the login command to open a browser window and authorize Codex to access your Composio account.

bash
codex mcp login composio

Verify the connection

Run codex mcp list to confirm Composio appears as a registered MCP server.

bash
codex mcp list

Codex App

Codex App follows the same approach as VS Code.

  1. Click ⚙️ on the bottom left → MCP Servers → + Add servers → Streamable HTTP:
  2. Fill the header and Key fields with { "x-consumer-api-key" = "ck_*******" }.
  3. The Key is the Composio API key, that you can find on dashboard.composio.dev
  4. Click on Authenticate and authorize Codex to your Composio account and you're all set.
Codex App MCP setup
  1. Restart and verify if it's there in .codex/config.toml
bash
[mcp_servers.composio]
url = "https://connect.composio.dev/mcp"
http_headers = { "x-consumer-api-key" = "ck_*******" }

What is the Ably MCP server, 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.

Supported Tools & Triggers

Tools
Query Batch PresenceThis tool enables querying the presence states of multiple channels in a single API request.
Query Batch Presence HistoryThis tool enables querying presence history for multiple channels in a single API request.
Delete Channel SubscriptionThis tool allows you to unsubscribe devices or clients from push notifications for specific channels.
Get Channel DetailsThis tool retrieves metadata and details for a specific channel in Ably.
Get Channel HistoryThis tool retrieves the message history for a specified Ably channel.
Get Channel PresenceTool to obtain the set of members currently present for a channel.
Get Message VersionsTool to retrieve all historical versions of a specific message from an Ably channel.
Get Channel Presence HistoryThis tool retrieves the history of presence messages for a specified channel in Ably.
Get Push Device RegistrationTool to get the full details of a device registration for push notifications.
Get Ably Service TimeThis tool retrieves the current server time from Ably's service in milliseconds since the epoch.
Get Application StatsThis tool retrieves your application's usage statistics from Ably.
List ChannelsTool to enumerate all active channels in the Ably application.
List Push ChannelsTool to list all channels with at least one subscribed device.
List Push Channel SubscriptionsThis tool retrieves a list of all push notification channel subscriptions.
List Registered Push DevicesTool to list all devices registered for receiving push notifications in your Ably application.
Patch Push Device RegistrationTool to partially update specific attributes of an existing device registration in Ably's push notification system.
Batch Publish MessagesTool to batch publish messages to multiple channels in parallel.
Publish Message to ChannelThis tool will allow users to publish a message to a specified Ably channel using a POST request.
Publish Push NotificationTool to publish a push notification directly to device(s) via Ably's Push Notifications API.
Batch Publish Push NotificationsTool to batch publish push notifications directly to specific recipients.
Register Push DeviceTool to register a device for receiving push notifications in Ably.
Request Access TokenRequest an access token for Ably authentication.
Unregister All Push DevicesTool to unregister matching devices for push notifications.
Unregister Push DeviceTool to unregister a single device from push notifications in Ably.
Update Push Device RegistrationTool to update (upsert) a device registration for push notifications in Ably.

Conclusion

You've successfully integrated Ably with Codex using Composio's MCP server. Now you can interact with Ably directly from your terminal, VS Code, or the Codex App using natural language commands.

Key benefits of this setup:

  • Seamless integration across CLI, VS Code, and standalone app
  • Natural language commands for Ably operations
  • Managed authentication through Composio
  • Access to 20,000+ tools across 1000+ apps for cross-app workflows
  • CodeAct workbench for complex tool chaining

Next steps:

  • Try asking Codex to perform various Ably operations
  • Explore cross-app workflows by connecting more toolkits
  • Build automation scripts that leverage Codex's AI capabilities

How to build Ably MCP Agent with another framework

FAQ

What are the differences in Tool Router MCP and Ably MCP?

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.

Can I use Tool Router MCP with Codex?

Yes, you can. Codex 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.

Can I manage the permissions and scopes for Ably while using Tool Router?

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.

How safe is my data with Composio Tool Router?

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.

Used by agents from

Context
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HubSpot
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Context
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Agent.ai
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