# io.usefulapi/ably (remote · ably.usefulapi.io)

MCP server for Ably — channel history, presence, occupancy, stats, publish, and app management.

- Trust score: 74/100 (medium)
- Change this week: +4
- Registry status: active
- Liveness: live
- Owner verified: no
- Last scored: 2026-08-03

## Components

- remote · `ably.usefulapi.io`: 74/100 (this document), [markdown](https://verifymcp.io/servers/io-usefulapi-ably/ably.md), [page](https://verifymcp.io/servers/io-usefulapi-ably/ably)

## Channel facts

- Endpoint: `https://ably.usefulapi.io/mcp`
- Transports: `streamable-http`
- Auth: `none`
- Version: `1.0.1`

## Trust breakdown

How this component scores in each security and reliability category. Every signal is checked automatically against the live server, and we only credit what we can confirm. Scores are 0–100 per category. Scoring method: https://verifymcp.io/docs/scoring (what has changed: https://verifymcp.io/docs/scoring/changelog)

Scored 2026-08-03.

- **Endpoint Security**: 78/100
  - The endpoint's TLS certificate is valid, in date, and uses a strong key.
  - Authorisation is enforced on tool calls, advertised via RFC 9728 protected-resource metadata. Discovery is public, which costs nothing: no tool can be invoked without a token.
  - HTTPS not yet verified: we couldn't determine whether a plaintext access path exists.
  - HSTS check failed: the Strict-Transport-Security header is absent.
  - DNSSEC check failed: this domain isn't protected by DNSSEC.
  - The authorisation server offers only Dynamic Client Registration (RFC 7591), which MCP 2026-07-28 deprecated in favour of Client ID Metadata Documents.
- **Transport & Reachability**: 100/100
  - Verified streamable-http transport via a live MCP handshake.
- **Schema Quality & AI Usability**: 77/100
  - AI-judged instruction clarity (excellent).
  - Tool/resource definitions use about 1261 tokens (~84/item across 15 items; 15 tools + 0 resources), lean.
  - Usage-examples check failed: none of the tools include examples.
- **Stability & Change Management**: 27/100
  - Stability observed for 8 of 30 days with no destabilising changes; credit accrues until the full window elapses.
- **Tool Coverage**: 100/100
  - 100% of tools have a non-trivial description (not blank, and not just the tool's name).
  - 100% of tool parameters carry a description.
- **Capabilities**: 60/100
  - Spec-recency check failed: implements MCP spec 2025-06-18; the latest is 2026-07-28.

## Install

### Claude

```bash
claude mcp add --transport http io-usefulapi-ably https://ably.usefulapi.io/mcp
```

### Codex

```toml
[mcp_servers.io-usefulapi-ably]
url = "https://ably.usefulapi.io/mcp"
```

### opencode

```json
{
  "$schema": "https://opencode.ai/config.json",
  "mcp": {
    "io-usefulapi-ably": {
      "type": "remote",
      "url": "https://ably.usefulapi.io/mcp",
      "enabled": true
    }
  }
}
```

### OpenClaw

```bash
openclaw mcp add io-usefulapi-ably --url https://ably.usefulapi.io/mcp --transport streamable-http
```

### Hermes

```yaml
mcp_servers:
  io-usefulapi-ably:
    url: "https://ably.usefulapi.io/mcp"
```

### Other

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "io-usefulapi-ably": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://ably.usefulapi.io/mcp"
    }
  }
}
```

The mcpServers block is a cross-client convention. Remote transports vary, so check your client's docs.

## Changelog

Every change recorded for this component, newest first. Days that predate change tracking, or that we cannot explain, say so: "we were watching and nothing happened" and "we were not watching" are different claims.

### 2026-08-03 (score 74, +1)

No change was recorded against any check on this day. Stability & Change Management went from 23 to 27. That category is still filling its 30-day observation window: 7 days of observed history at the previous scan, 8 at this one. The score rises as the window fills, whether or not the server changes.

### 2026-08-01 (score 73, +1)

No change was recorded against any check on this day. Stability & Change Management went from 17 to 20. That category is still filling its 30-day observation window: 5 days of observed history at the previous scan, 6 at this one. The score rises as the window fills, whether or not the server changes.

### 2026-07-31 (score 72, 0)

- [functional] We updated how we score, so this day's move reflects our rubric, not a change to the server

### 2026-07-30 (score 72, +1)

No change was recorded against any check on this day. Stability & Change Management went from 10 to 13. That category is still filling its 30-day observation window: 3 days of observed history at the previous scan, 4 at this one. The score rises as the window fills, whether or not the server changes.

### 2026-07-28 (score 71, +1)

No change was recorded against any check on this day. Stability & Change Management went from 3 to 7. That category is still filling its 30-day observation window: 1 days of observed history at the previous scan, 2 at this one. The score rises as the window fills, whether or not the server changes.

### 2026-07-27 (score 70, +1)

- [functional] We updated how we score, so this day's move reflects our rubric, not a change to the server

### 2026-07-26 (score 69)

First indexed and scored.

## MCP tools (15)

### `ably_get_channel_history` (~123 tokens)

Get channel message history

Retrieve historical messages published to a channel, newest-first by default. REST: GET /channels/{channel}/messages.

Input parameters:

- `channel` (string, required): Channel name, e.g. 'chat:room1'.
- `direction` (string): forwards (oldest-first) or backwards (newest-first, default).
- `end` (integer): Latest message time, ms since epoch (inclusive).
- `limit` (integer): Max messages (<=1000). Default 100.
- `start` (integer): Earliest message time, ms since epoch (inclusive).

### `ably_get_presence` (~88 tokens)

Get channel presence set

List the members currently present on a channel (who is online now). REST: GET /channels/{channel}/presence.

Input parameters:

- `channel` (string, required): Channel name.
- `clientId` (string): Filter to a specific clientId.
- `connectionId` (string): Filter to a specific connectionId.
- `limit` (integer): Max members (<=1000). Default 100.

### `ably_get_presence_history` (~108 tokens)

Get channel presence history

Retrieve historical presence events (enter/leave/update) for a channel. REST: GET /channels/{channel}/presence/history.

Input parameters:

- `channel` (string, required): Channel name.
- `direction` (string): forwards or backwards (default backwards).
- `end` (integer): Latest event time, ms since epoch (inclusive).
- `limit` (integer): Max events (<=1000). Default 100.
- `start` (integer): Earliest event time, ms since epoch (inclusive).

### `ably_get_channel_details` (~47 tokens)

Get channel details / occupancy

Get status and occupancy metrics for a single channel (connections, publishers, subscribers, presence members). REST: GET /channels/{channel}.

Input parameters:

- `channel` (string, required): Channel name.

### `ably_list_channels` (~97 tokens)

List active channels

Enumerate channels that are currently active in the app. Requires the API key to have the 'channel-metadata' capability. REST: GET /channels.

Input parameters:

- `by` (string): Return channel ids only ('id', default) or full details ('value').
- `limit` (integer): Max channels per page (<=1000). Default 100.
- `prefix` (string): Only return channels whose name starts with this prefix.

### `ably_get_stats` (~119 tokens)

Get app statistics

Retrieve message/connection/channel usage statistics for the app tied to the API key, bucketed by time. REST: GET /stats.

Input parameters:

- `direction` (string): forwards or backwards (default backwards).
- `end` (integer): End of range, ms since epoch (inclusive).
- `limit` (integer): Max buckets (<=1000). Default 100.
- `start` (integer): Start of range, ms since epoch (inclusive).
- `unit` (string): Bucket size: minute | hour | day | month. Default minute.

### `ably_get_service_time` (~40 tokens)

Get Ably service time

Return the current Ably service time in ms since epoch. Useful for aligning start/end windows to the server clock. REST: GET /time.

### `ably_publish_message` (~125 tokens)

Publish a message to a channel

WRITE: publish a message to a channel. Every connected subscriber receives it in real time. This is a real, outward-facing side effect — confirm the channel and payload before calling. REST: POST /channels/{channel}/messages.

Input parameters:

- `channel` (string, required): Channel name to publish to, e.g. 'chat:room1'.
- `clientId` (string): Optional clientId to attribute the message to.
- `data` (string, required): Message payload (string; send JSON as a stringified value).
- `name` (string): Optional event name for the message.

### `ably_whoami` (~46 tokens)

Get control token / account info

Return details about the configured control token: the account and user it belongs to and its capabilities. Good first call to confirm control-plane access. Control API: GET /me.

### `ably_list_apps` (~74 tokens)

List Ably apps

List all apps in the account (id, name, status, tls-only). Account id is resolved automatically from the control token when ABLY_ACCOUNT_ID is unset. Control API: GET /accounts/{account_id}/apps.

Input parameters:

- `account_id` (string): Override the account id (defaults to the token's account).

### `ably_list_keys` (~56 tokens)

List an app's API keys

List the API keys for an app, including their capabilities (but not the full secret). Control API: GET /apps/{app_id}/keys.

Input parameters:

- `app_id` (string, required): App id (from ably_list_apps).

### `ably_list_namespaces` (~62 tokens)

List an app's channel namespaces

List the channel namespaces (channel-rule prefixes) configured for an app, e.g. persistence and push settings. Control API: GET /apps/{app_id}/namespaces.

Input parameters:

- `app_id` (string, required): App id (from ably_list_apps).

### `ably_list_queues` (~66 tokens)

List an app's queues

List the Ably Queues (AMQP/STOMP message queues) provisioned for an app, with their state and messaging stats. Control API: GET /apps/{app_id}/queues.

Input parameters:

- `app_id` (string, required): App id (from ably_list_apps).

### `ably_list_rules` (~69 tokens)

List an app's integration rules

List the integration rules (reactor rules: webhooks, AWS Lambda/SQS/Kinesis, Kafka, Pulsar, etc.) configured for an app. Control API: GET /apps/{app_id}/rules.

Input parameters:

- `app_id` (string, required): App id (from ably_list_apps).

### `ably_get_account_stats` (~141 tokens)

Get account-level statistics

Retrieve aggregated usage statistics across the whole account, bucketed by time. Account id is resolved from the control token when ABLY_ACCOUNT_ID is unset. Control API: GET /accounts/{account_id}/stats.

Input parameters:

- `account_id` (string): Override the account id (defaults to the token's account).
- `end` (integer): End of range, ms since epoch (inclusive).
- `limit` (integer): Max buckets (<=1000). Default 100.
- `start` (integer): Start of range, ms since epoch (inclusive).
- `unit` (string): Bucket size: minute | hour | day | month. Default minute.

## Diagnostics

Captured diagnostic sections: TLS, DNSSEC, Authorisation, Transports. The full working is on the page: https://verifymcp.io/servers/io-usefulapi-ably/ably#diagnostics

## Score history

- 2026-08-03: 74
- 2026-08-02: 73
- 2026-08-01: 73
- 2026-07-31: 72
- 2026-07-30: 72
- 2026-07-29: 71
- 2026-07-28: 71
- 2026-07-27: 70
- 2026-07-26: 69

## Links

- Remote endpoint: https://ably.usefulapi.io/mcp
- Repository: https://github.com/m190/usefulapi-mcp
- Changelog RSS feed: https://verifymcp.io/servers/io-usefulapi-ably/ably/changelog.xml
- Changelog JSON feed: https://verifymcp.io/servers/io-usefulapi-ably/ably/changelog.json
- HTML version of this page: https://verifymcp.io/servers/io-usefulapi-ably/ably