How to integrate Ably MCP with OpenClaw

OpenClaw is the fastest growing agent harness out there, which can work 24/7 to automate almost any kind of tasks. However, its capabilities are limited to the tools it has access to. Composio allows your OpenClaw to access Ably with authentication management handled for you. You can execute actions on Ably via your favorite OpenClaw interface (Telegram, WhatsApp, TUI, etc), whichever you prefer.

Why use Composio?

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

• Programmatic tool calling allows LLMs to write its code in a remote workbench to handle complex tool chaining. Reduces to-and-fro with LLMs for frequent tool calling.
• Handling Large tool responses out of LLM context to minimize context rot.
• Dynamic just-in-time access to 20,000 tools across 850+ other Apps for cross-app workflows. It loads the tools you need, so LLMs aren't overwhelmed by tools you don't need.

How to install Ably with OpenClaw

Using Composio API Key and Setup Prompt

• Go to dashboard.composio.dev/composio/~/connect/clients/openclaw
• Copy the setup prompt

• Run it in your OpenClaw chat interface.
• Authenticate Ably from the dashboard
• Go back to your OpenClaw interface and start asking questions.

Using OpenClaw/Composio Plugin

1. Install OpenClaw Composio plugin

2. Copy the API Key from dashboard.composio.dev

3. Setup OpenClaw Config

openclaw config set plugins.entries.composio.config.consumerKey "ck_your_key_here"

4. Restart OpenClaw

openclaw gateway restart

5. Go to your chat interface and start asking questions.

6. When prompted, authenticate the app and you're all set.

How It Works

The plugin connects to Composio's MCP server at https://connect.composio.dev/mcp and registers all available tools directly into the OpenClaw agent. Tools are called by name — no extra search or execute steps needed.

If a tool returns an auth error, the agent will prompt you to connect that toolkit at dashboard.composio.dev.

Configuration

{
  "plugins": {
    "entries": {
      "composio": {
        "enabled": true,
        "config": {
          "consumerKey": "ck_your_key_here"
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

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.

Conclusion

You've successfully integrated Ably with OpenClaw using Composio plugin. Now interact with Ably directly from your terminal, Web UI, or any messenger app using natural language commands.

Key benefits of this setup:

• Seamless integration across TUI, Web UIs, and Messenger apps like Telegram, WhatsApp, Slack, etc.
• Natural language commands for Ably operations
• Managed authentication through Composio
• Access to 20,000+ tools across 850+ apps for cross-app workflows
• Programmatic tool calling for complex tool chaining

Next steps:

• Try asking OpenClaw to perform various Ably operations
• Explore cross-app workflows by connecting more toolkits like Calendar, Slack, Notion, etc.
• Build complex automation scripts that leverage OpenClaw's 24/7 running capabilities