LoginSign Up
← Back to all sparks
A

Ably

INFRA · APIS
Velocity6.3

Ably promotes LiveObjects to stable, positioning real-time state sync as AI agent infrastructure

real-timedevtoolsai-infrastructureliveobjectsstate-syncagentic-workflows
◆Current state
Ably has shipped LiveObjects to GA across Java and Cocoa platforms, completing a coordinated push that graduated experimental state-sync infrastructure into a production-ready capability. LiveObjects provides path-based distributed state with resilient subscriptions — pitched explicitly at AI agent coordination, live configuration, and multi-player experiences. In parallel, the AI Transport SDK added Temporal workflow support for durable agent patterns, and reliability work across .NET and JS SDKs tightened reconnection behavior from 120 seconds to 25 seconds and added WebSocket fallback for proxy-blocked networks.
◆Where it's heading
Ably is converging on a two-layer platform: real-time pub/sub (the core business) and LiveObjects (distributed mutable state). Both are now being marketed as AI agent infrastructure, and the moves are coordinated — the Temporal plugin in the AI Transport SDK and the LiveObjects GA on multiple platforms are the same strategic bet that AI agents need durable real-time state coordination. Terraform provider maturity rounds out an infra-as-code story for teams running Ably at scale. The JS LiveObjects stable release is likely the next platform milestone.
◆Prediction
A JavaScript LiveObjects stable release is the obvious next step given Java and Cocoa are already GA. The Temporal plugin pattern in the AI Transport SDK suggests additional agent framework integrations (LangGraph, CrewAI, or similar) are being evaluated, since the durable agent market is consolidating around framework-native patterns rather than DIY lifecycle management.

◆Recent moves

  1. 2d ago

    JS PubSub SDK v2.29.0: PING via protocol messages, presence member keys

    The switch to protocol-level PING messages for browsers, React Native, and NativeScript fixes a real reliability gap — WebSocket ping frames at the transport layer don't prove the app is alive, only the socket. This is SDK-level liveness detection, and it matters for mobile and embedded environments where the app can be suspended while the socket stays open.

    View source ↗
  2. 8d ago

    Ably Dotnet SDK v1.2.19 Release

    The .NET SDK's reconnection timeout dropping from 120 seconds to 25 seconds is a concrete reliability improvement — the old timeout was long enough for users to assume the connection was dead and trigger manual reconnects, producing duplicate state. The auth callback now being bounded by realtimeRequestTimeout is a behavioral change teams should test against slow auth services.

    View source ↗
  3. 15d ago

    Java SDK v1.8.1: LiveObjects Stable Release

    ⚡ SPARK

    LiveObjects graduating from experimental to production-ready on the Java SDK marks a meaningful platform milestone: path-based distributed state with resilient subscriptions is now a committed API surface, not a preview. This lands as Ably's explicit infrastructure play for AI agent state coordination — the same framing as the Cocoa release and the AI Transport SDK Temporal plugin, pointing at a coordinated product pivot.

    View source ↗
  4. 17d ago

    Ably Terraform Provider v1.1.0

    The Terraform provider adding data sources for apps, keys, namespaces, and queues plus a config exporter for hand-built accounts is a real operational improvement. The exporter is the standout feature — teams that built Ably configurations through the UI can now import them into Terraform without manual reconstruction, which is the friction point that blocks IaC adoption for existing accounts.

    View source ↗
  5. 22d ago

    Cocoa SDK v1.4.0: LiveObjects stable release

    LiveObjects reaching stable on Cocoa/Swift one week after Java confirms a coordinated cross-platform GA push rather than staggered releases. The API refactoring — trading per-case getters on Primitive for per-case accessors on PrimitivePathObject — reflects design tightening before the stable commitment, not ongoing churn.

    View source ↗
  6. 1mo ago

    Ably-js v2.28.0: end to end encryption for annotation data payloads

    E2E encryption now covering annotation payloads closes a coverage gap that existed because server-side aggregation required readable payloads. Moving to aggregatable information stored outside the payload removed that constraint, and the upgrade is transparent — no developer action needed beyond bumping the library version.

    View source ↗