Supabase vs Ably
Side-by-side trajectory, velocity, and editorial themes.
Supabase is reversing its biggest security default - public-schema tables no longer auto-exposed via PostgREST.
The headline shipping move is a deliberate change to Supabase's security posture: new projects can opt out of automatic Data API and GraphQL exposure for public-schema tables, with broader defaults flipping in May. Around it: an OAuth 2.1 compliance fix, an RLS Tester preview to make policy verification possible from the UI, and a steady drumbeat of platform improvements summarized in the monthly developer update.
Supabase is rebuilding the security defaults that made it fast to start with but easy to misconfigure. Combine the no-auto-expose change with the RLS Tester preview and the direction is clear: the platform is moving from convention-based exposure to explicit, testable access control. The OAuth compliance fix and developer updates suggest steady investment in standards conformance rather than new product surface this window.
Expect the no-auto-expose default to apply to existing projects (with a long opt-out runway), and the RLS Tester to graduate from preview into the dashboard as a first-class panel. Continued breaking-change drumbeat tied to OAuth/OIDC compliance is likely.
Ably pivots its developer surface toward AI agents as first-class consumers
Ably's developer surface has been visibly pivoting toward AI agents over the last six weeks. The CLI hit v1.0 with structured JSON output envelopes, hint fields for self-healing agents, and unified --force semantics. Two weeks later v1.1 added `ably init`, which installs the CLI plus Agent Skills bundles directly into Claude, Cursor, Windsurf, and VS Code in one step. A new AI Transport SDK lands separately, with end-to-end tool-calling and React providers for the Vercel AI SDK.
Ably is building two integration stories in parallel — agents as CLI users (via Agent Skills) and agents as transport consumers (via the AI Transport SDK). Together they bracket the workflow: agents read live data through the SDK and operate Ably itself through the CLI. The traditional client-library stream (JS, Python, Laravel) continues at steady pace in the background, with LiveObjects formally graduating to GA on the protocol-6 update.
Expect the AI Transport SDK to add tool-call adapters for at least one more AI runtime beyond Vercel — most likely the OpenAI Agents SDK or Anthropic's Claude Agent SDK — and Agent Skills coverage to expand to additional AI clients (Cline, Aider, Continue). Watch for the LiveObjects API to surface inside the chat/AI surfaces.
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