Ably Management Skill

Manage and analyze Ably real-time messaging resources including channels, connections, and usage.

API Conventions

Authentication

All API calls use Basic Auth with API key, injected automatically.

Base URL

https://rest.ably.io (REST API) and https://control.ably.net/v1 (Control API)

Core Helper Function

#!/bin/bash

ably_api() {
    local method="$1"
    local endpoint="$2"
    local data="${3:-}"

    if [ -n "$data" ]; then
        curl -s -X "$method" \
            -u "$ABLY_API_KEY" \
            -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
            "https://rest.ably.io${endpoint}" \
            -d "$data"
    else
        curl -s -X "$method" \
            -u "$ABLY_API_KEY" \
            "https://rest.ably.io${endpoint}"
    fi
}

ably_control() {
    local method="$1"
    local endpoint="$2"
    curl -s -X "$method" \
        -H "Authorization: Bearer $ABLY_CONTROL_TOKEN" \
        "https://control.ably.net/v1${endpoint}"
}

Output Rules

• Target ≤50 lines per script output
• Use jq to extract only needed fields
• Never dump full API responses

Phase 1: Discovery

#!/bin/bash
echo "=== Active Channels ==="
ably_api GET "/channels?limit=20" \
    | jq -r '.[] | "\(.channelId)\t\(.status.isActive)\toccupancy:\(.status.occupancy.metrics.connections // 0)"' \
    | column -t | head -20

echo ""
echo "=== App Stats (current hour) ==="
ably_api GET "/stats?unit=hour&limit=1" \
    | jq '.[0] | {
        messages_published: .all.messages.count,
        connections_peak: .all.connections.peak,
        api_requests: .all.apiRequests.succeeded
    }'

echo ""
echo "=== Account Apps ==="
ably_control GET "/accounts/$ABLY_ACCOUNT_ID/apps" \
    | jq -r '.[] | "\(.id)\t\(.name)\t\(.status)\t\(.created[0:10])"' \
    | head -15

Phase 2: Analysis

Channel Health

#!/bin/bash
echo "=== Channel Occupancy ==="
ably_api GET "/channels?limit=50" \
    | jq -r '.[] | select(.status.isActive == true) | "\(.channelId)\tconns:\(.status.occupancy.metrics.connections // 0)\tpresence:\(.status.occupancy.metrics.presenceMembers // 0)"' \
    | sort -t$'\t' -k2 -rn | head -15

echo ""
echo "=== Presence Members (active channels) ==="
ably_api GET "/channels?limit=20" \
    | jq -r '.[] | select(.status.occupancy.metrics.presenceMembers > 0) | .channelId' | while read ch; do
    echo "--- $ch ---"
    ably_api GET "/channels/$(echo $ch | sed 's/:/%3A/g')/presence" \
        | jq -r '.[] | "\(.clientId)\t\(.connectionId[0:12])"' | head -5
done | head -20

Usage Analytics

#!/bin/bash
echo "=== Usage (last 24h, hourly) ==="
ably_api GET "/stats?unit=hour&limit=24" \
    | jq -r '.[] | "\(.intervalId)\tmsgs:\(.all.messages.count)\tconns:\(.all.connections.peak)\tapi:\(.all.apiRequests.succeeded)"' \
    | column -t | head -24

echo ""
echo "=== Monthly Usage Summary ==="
ably_api GET "/stats?unit=month&limit=1" \
    | jq '.[0] | {
        total_messages: .all.messages.count,
        peak_connections: .all.connections.peak,
        api_requests: .all.apiRequests.succeeded,
        api_errors: .all.apiRequests.failed
    }'

Output Format

=== Ably App ===
Active Channels: <n>  Peak Connections: <n>

--- Hourly Stats ---
Messages: <n>  Connections: <n>  API Requests: <n>

--- Channel Health ---
<channel>: <connections> connections, <presence> presence

--- Monthly Usage ---
Messages: <n>  Peak Connections: <n>

Anti-Hallucination Rules

1. NEVER assume resource names — always discover via CLI/API in Phase 1 before referencing in Phase 2.
2. NEVER fabricate metric names or dimensions — verify against the service documentation or --help output.
3. NEVER mix CLI commands between service versions — confirm which version/API you are targeting.
4. ALWAYS use the discovery → verify → analyze chain — every resource referenced must have been discovered first.
5. ALWAYS handle empty results gracefully — an empty response is valid data, not an error to retry.

Counter-Rationalizations

Shortcut	Counter	Why
"I'll skip discovery and check known resources"	Always run Phase 1 discovery first	Resource names change, new resources appear — assumed names cause errors
"The user only asked for a quick check"	Follow the full discovery → analysis flow	Quick checks miss critical issues; structured analysis catches silent failures
"Default configuration is probably fine"	Audit configuration explicitly	Defaults often leave logging, security, and optimization features disabled
"Metrics aren't needed for this"	Always check relevant metrics when available	API/CLI responses show current state; metrics reveal trends and intermittent issues
"I don't have access to that"	Try the command and report the actual error	Assumed permission failures prevent useful investigation; actual errors are informative

Common Pitfalls

• Two APIs: REST API for real-time data, Control API for account management (different auth)
• Channel encoding: Encode : as %3A in channel names in URLs
• Stats intervals: Use unit param: minute, hour, day, month
• Rate limits: 100 requests/second for REST API
• Pagination: Use limit and response Link headers for cursor pagination