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Ably

INFRA · APIS
Velocity7.5

Ably's AI Transport hits 1.0 and plugs straight into Vercel's useChat with resumable streams.

ai transportrealtime messagingagentsmau-billingsdk
◆Current state
Ably is repositioning its realtime pub/sub network as the transport layer for AI agent output. AI Transport JS 1.0 runs on ordinary Pub/Sub channels and ships adaptors for the Vercel AI SDK, OpenAI Responses API and AG-UI, plus a useChat transport that resumes a stream after a reload. It lands a week after the switch to monthly-active-user pricing and breaking SDK majors that split every client into device and server packages.
◆Where it's heading
The November releases fit one plan: split clients so MAU billing can count end users, then make the AI layer a thin adaptor on top of the same channels used for chat, presence and LiveObjects. Server-side additions in Java and JS (HTTP LiveObjects, channel pools, a Temporal plugin) point at agent backends as the intended publisher.
◆Prediction
Expect more agent framework adaptors and server SDKs reaching AI Transport parity, with Chat and LiveObjects examples built around agents joining human conversations.

◆Recent moves

  1. 1d ago

    AI Transport 1.0 makes Ably a resumable transport for AI chat

    ⚡ SPARK

    AI Transport 1.0 is the payoff of Ably's year-long repositioning: AI output now flows over the same Pub/Sub channels as user messages, presence and LiveObjects. It arrives right after the MAU pricing switch and the device/server SDK split that made this layering possible.

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  2. 2d ago

    Java SDK 2.1 reads and updates LiveObjects over HTTP

    Java server code can now read and change LiveObjects state through the HTTP client, without a realtime connection or plugin. It fits the device/server split from 5 November by giving server clients a request-style path to shared state.

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  3. 2d ago

    JS SDK 3.1 adds channel pools and a Temporal plugin

    Backend workers can share a fixed set of connections through createRealtimeChannelPool, and a Temporal plugin avoids duplicate messages on retries. The first follow-up to the v3 split targets server-side publishers, the side MAU pricing treats separately.

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  4. 4d ago

    Ably Kafka Connector v4.2.1

    A Guava upgrade in the Kafka Connector to patch a CVE. Security maintenance with no other changes.

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  5. 8d ago

    Monthly active user (MAU) pricing

    ⚡ SPARK

    A pricing pivot that ties together the year's SDK and protocol work: MAU billing needs a clientId and a current SDK, the same things the v1 deprecation was pushing toward. Every Ably product now sits under one per-user price.

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  6. 8d ago

    Ably Chat React UI Kit v0.4.0

    The Chat React UI Kit moves onto Chat SDK 2.0 and the device-side Pub/Sub package, and requires Node.js 22. A follow-on upgrade for the SDK split.

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