Need help with your APIs? I offer API discovery, governance & evangelism services. Explore services →
API Evangelist API Evangelist
Discovery
Learnings
Guidance
Toolbox
Alignment
API Evangelist LLC
Ably website screenshot

Ably

Ably is a realtime messaging platform offering pub/sub, presence, push notifications, chat, LiveSync, and integrations over WebSocket and HTTP. Ably publishes its OpenAPI specifications publicly via the ably/open-specs GitHub repository, with separate specs for the Platform API (REST messaging surface) and the Control API (account, app, and key management).

agent ready

Real signal across most facets with visible, nameable gaps — the contract exists but is thin, or the portal is good while governance and commercial terms are absent.

Kin Score

API Evangelist profiles Ably the way a machine reads it — 108 machine-readable artifacts across 12 APIs, pulled from the provider's own public surface and indexed so a developer, an analyst, or an AI agent can evaluate it against every other provider on the network.

Every provider in the network is reduced to the same set of machine-readable artifacts — OpenAPI contracts, event specifications, GraphQL schemas, runnable collections, pricing and rate-limit signals, security posture, OAuth scopes, and the agent surfaces (MCP servers and skills) that let software drive the API on its own. We profile them because the interface is the part of a company you can actually inspect: it is a truer signal of what a provider does than any marketing page. From those artifacts we compute the Kin Score — Ably scores 57.4/100 (developing), with a separate agent-readiness read of 54/100 (agent ready). The full breakdown is below, followed by every artifact we hold — each card links through to its machine-readable definition on apis.io.

Kin Score

This is the API Evangelist rating — a single, repeatable read computed from the artifacts on this page. Green fill is points earned; the red track is points possible, so every bar shows earned-versus-possible at a glance.

Kin Score Kin Score How this is scored →
scored 2026-07-27 · rubric v0.5
Composite quality — 57.4/100 · developing
Contract Quality 15.7 / 25
Developer Ergonomics 6.1 / 20
Commercial Clarity 11.6 / 20
Operational Transparency 6.8 / 13
Governance 7.3 / 12
Discoverability 10.0 / 10
Agent readiness — 54/100 · agent ready
Machine-Readable Contract 18 / 18
Agentic Access Contract 15 / 15
MCP Server 0 / 12
Machine-Readable Auth 10 / 10
Idempotency 0 / 9
Stable Error Semantics 0 / 8
Request/Response Examples 0 / 7
Rate-Limit Signaling 7 / 7
Typed Event Surface 6 / 6
Agent Skills 0 / 5
Well-Known Catalog 0 / 4
Consent & Bot Identity 0 / 3

How we profile Ably

Each block below is one kind of artifact we hold for Ably. For each we say what it is and why it earns a place in the profile, then list every one we've indexed — capped at two rows, scroll within the panel for the rest.

APIs 12

Each API is captured as its own OpenAPI definition — every operation, parameter, and response. This is the single most useful machine-readable description of what an API does, and it's what lets us score, lint, mock, and generate against it without asking the provider for anything.

Individual APIs this provider publishes, each with its own machine-readable definition.

Ably apps API

The apps API from Ably — 3 operation(s) for apps.

Ably Authentication API

The Authentication API from Ably — 1 operation(s) for authentication.

Ably History API

The History API from Ably — 2 operation(s) for history.

Ably keys API

The keys API from Ably — 3 operation(s) for keys.

Ably namespaces API

The namespaces API from Ably — 2 operation(s) for namespaces.

Ably Publishing API

The Publishing API from Ably — 1 operation(s) for publishing.

Ably Push API

The Push API from Ably — 6 operation(s) for push.

Ably queues API

The queues API from Ably — 2 operation(s) for queues.

Ably rules API

The rules API from Ably — 2 operation(s) for rules.

Ably Stats API

The Stats API from Ably — 2 operation(s) for stats.

Ably Status API

The Status API from Ably — 3 operation(s) for status.

Ably tokens API

The tokens API from Ably — 1 operation(s) for tokens.

Scroll within the panel for all 12 ·

Open Collections 2

Open, tool-agnostic collections carry the same runnable value as Postman without locking you to one client — the portable, forkable form of the same exercise.

Open, tool-agnostic API collections (OpenAPI-derived and Bruno).

Control API v1

OPEN COLLECTION

Platform API

OPEN COLLECTION

GraphQL 1

Where a provider ships GraphQL, the schema is the contract. We profile it alongside the REST surface so the whole interface is legible in one place.

GraphQL schemas published by this provider.

Ably GraphQL Schema

Conceptual GraphQL schema for the [Ably](https://ably.com/) realtime messaging platform.

GRAPHQL

Pricing Plans 1

Pricing is part of the interface. Machine-readable plans tell you what a tier costs and includes before you commit — one of the six things the Kin Score reads for commercial clarity.

Published pricing tiers and plan structures.

Ably Plans Pricing

5 plans

PLANS

Rate Limits 1

Rate limits are the difference between a demo that works and a production integration that doesn't fall over. Publishing them is an operational-transparency signal — and a hard requirement for any agent that plans its own throughput.

Documented rate limits and quota policies.

Ably Rate Limits

8 limits

RATE LIMITS

FinOps 1

Cost, billing, and metering signals let a buyer model the financial operations of an API before it's live. We profile them for the same reason we profile pricing: the money is part of the contract.

Cost, billing, and metering signals for API financial operations.

Ably Finops

FINOPS

Event Specifications 1

Not every API is request/response. AsyncAPI describes the event-driven and streaming side — the webhooks and channels — so the asynchronous half of the interface is documented the same way the synchronous half is.

AsyncAPI definitions for this provider's event-driven and streaming APIs.

Ably Realtime Protocol

AsyncAPI 3.0 description of the Ably realtime messaging surface. Ably exposes pub/sub channels, presence, push notifications, and history over a native WebSocket-based protocol,...

ASYNCAPI

Spectral Rules 2

Governance rulesets we run against this provider's specs — the automated checks behind parts of the score. Profiling them makes the quality bar explicit and re-runnable, not a matter of opinion.

Ably API Rules

9 rules · 1 errors · 7 warnings

SPECTRAL

Ably API Rules

5 rules · 3 warnings

SPECTRAL

JSON Schema 79

Standalone JSON Schema definitions describe the data models behind the API. We profile them so the shapes are validatable on their own — useful long after a single request is forgotten.

Standalone JSON Schema definitions for this provider's data models.

amqp_external_rule_patch

5 properties

JSON SCHEMA

amqp_external_rule_post

4 properties

JSON SCHEMA

amqp_external_rule_response

11 properties

JSON SCHEMA

amqp_rule_patch

5 properties

JSON SCHEMA

amqp_rule_post

5 properties

JSON SCHEMA

amqp_rule_response

11 properties

JSON SCHEMA

app_patch

9 properties

JSON SCHEMA

app_pkcs12

2 properties

JSON SCHEMA

app_post

9 properties

JSON SCHEMA

app_response

7 properties

JSON SCHEMA

aws_access_keys_response

2 properties

JSON SCHEMA

aws_access_keys

3 properties

JSON SCHEMA

aws_assume_role

2 properties

JSON SCHEMA

aws_kinesis_rule_patch

5 properties

JSON SCHEMA

aws_kinesis_rule_post

5 properties

JSON SCHEMA

aws_kinesis_rule_response

11 properties

JSON SCHEMA

aws_lambda_rule_patch

5 properties

JSON SCHEMA

aws_lambda_rule_post

5 properties

JSON SCHEMA

aws_lambda_rule_response

11 properties

JSON SCHEMA

aws_sqs_rule_patch

5 properties

JSON SCHEMA

aws_sqs_rule_post

5 properties

JSON SCHEMA

aws_sqs_rule_response

11 properties

JSON SCHEMA

azure_function_rule_patch

5 properties

JSON SCHEMA

azure_function_rule_post

5 properties

JSON SCHEMA

azure_function_rule_response

11 properties

JSON SCHEMA

ChannelDetails

4 properties

JSON SCHEMA

ChannelStatus

2 properties

JSON SCHEMA

cloudflare_worker_rule_patch

5 properties

JSON SCHEMA

cloudflare_worker_rule_post

5 properties

JSON SCHEMA

cloudflare_worker_rule_response

11 properties

JSON SCHEMA

DeviceDetails

8 properties

JSON SCHEMA

error

5 properties

JSON SCHEMA

Extras

1 properties

JSON SCHEMA

google_cloud_function_rule_patch

5 properties

JSON SCHEMA

google_cloud_function_rule_post

4 properties

JSON SCHEMA

google_cloud_function_rule_response

11 properties

JSON SCHEMA

http_rule_patch

5 properties

JSON SCHEMA

http_rule_post

5 properties

JSON SCHEMA

http_rule_response

11 properties

JSON SCHEMA

ifttt_rule_patch

5 properties

JSON SCHEMA

ifttt_rule_post

5 properties

JSON SCHEMA

ifttt_rule_response

11 properties

JSON SCHEMA

ingress_postgres_outbox_rule_patch

3 properties

JSON SCHEMA

ingress_postgres_outbox_rule_post

3 properties

JSON SCHEMA

ingress_postgres_outbox_rule_response

9 properties

JSON SCHEMA

kafka_rule_patch

5 properties

JSON SCHEMA

kafka_rule_post

5 properties

JSON SCHEMA

kafka_rule_response

11 properties

JSON SCHEMA

key_patch

2 properties

JSON SCHEMA

key_post

2 properties

JSON SCHEMA

key_response

8 properties

JSON SCHEMA

me

3 properties

JSON SCHEMA

Message

8 properties

JSON SCHEMA

namespace_patch

9 properties

JSON SCHEMA

namespace_post

10 properties

JSON SCHEMA

namespace_response

12 properties

JSON SCHEMA

Notification

5 properties

JSON SCHEMA

Occupancy

5 properties

JSON SCHEMA

PresenceMessage

8 properties

JSON SCHEMA

pulsar_rule_patch

5 properties

JSON SCHEMA

pulsar_rule_post

5 properties

JSON SCHEMA

pulsar_rule_response

11 properties

JSON SCHEMA

pulsar_token_auth

2 properties

JSON SCHEMA

Push

5 properties

JSON SCHEMA

queue_response

13 properties

JSON SCHEMA

queue

4 properties

JSON SCHEMA

Recipient

6 properties

JSON SCHEMA

rule_patch

0 properties

JSON SCHEMA

rule_post

0 properties

JSON SCHEMA

rule_response

0 properties

JSON SCHEMA

rule_source_patch

2 properties

JSON SCHEMA

rule_source

2 properties

JSON SCHEMA

SignedTokenRequest

0 properties

JSON SCHEMA

TokenDetails

5 properties

JSON SCHEMA

TokenRequest

5 properties

JSON SCHEMA

unsupported_rule_response

11 properties

JSON SCHEMA

zapier_rule_patch

5 properties

JSON SCHEMA

zapier_rule_post

5 properties

JSON SCHEMA

zapier_rule_response

11 properties

JSON SCHEMA

Scroll within the panel for all 79 ·

JSON Structure 1

JSON Structure captures the data shapes in a form built for tooling — a complement to JSON Schema that keeps the model machine-legible.

JSON Structure definitions describing this provider's data shapes.

Ably Structure

0 properties

JSON STRUCTURE

Examples 2

Real request and response payloads are what turn a spec from abstract into obvious — and they're one of the twelve things an agent needs to call an API correctly on the first try.

Example request and response payloads for these APIs.

Security Posture 4

Authentication, domain security, vulnerability disclosure, and trust-center signals — the evidence that a provider takes security seriously enough to document it. We profile it because you can't govern what you can't see.

Authentication, domain security, vulnerability disclosure, and trust-center signals.

Ably Authentication

http · 2 schemes

SECURITY

Ably Domain Security

TLSv1.3 · HSTS · DNSSEC · DMARC

SECURITY

Ably Vulnerability Disclosure

security.txt · contact published

SECURITY

Ably Trust Center

SOC 2, GDPR

SECURITY

Agentic Access 1

An x-agentic-access contract marks which operations are safe for an agent to run on its own and which need a human in the loop. It is the difference between an API an agent can use and one it can use safely.

Recommended x-agentic-access execution contracts for AI agents.

Ably Agentic Access

44 operations · 25 acting · 1 human-in-the-loop

44 operations · 25 acting

AGENTIC

Resources

Every other property we hold for Ably — documentation, portals, status pages, policies, and corporate surface — grouped by the job it does, following the integrator's arc from getting started to running in production.

Get Started 1

Portal, sign-up, and the first successful call

Documentation 1

Reference material describing how the API behaves

Agent Surfaces 2

MCP servers, agent skills, and machine-readable catalogs

Build 1

SDKs, sample code, and the tooling you integrate with

Operate 2

Status, limits, changes, and where to get help

Commercial 3

Pricing, plans, and the legal terms of use

Company 2

The organization behind the API

← All providers · Data indexed from github.com/api-evangelist/ably · machine-readable index on apis.io