---
source_url: https://www.pubnub.com/docs/integrations/event-forwarding/configure
title: Configure Events & Actions
updated_at: 2026-09-30T07:20:08.000Z
---

# Configure Events & Actions

## Documentation index

To discover more PubNub resources:

1. Fetch [PubNub's llms.txt](https://www.pubnub.com/llms-full.txt) for a list of available pages in Markdown format.
2. Identify relevant URLs from that index.
3. Fetch the target pages.

Do not assume a path exists, always check the index first.

Create an event listener in the [Admin Portal](https://admin.pubnub.com/) to watch for a PubNub event. Then pair it with an action so PubNub forwards every matching event without you writing SDK code. For the concepts behind listeners, filters, and actions, see [Events & Actions](https://www.pubnub.com/docs/integrations/event-forwarding/overview.md).

## Create an event listener

1. Open the [Admin Portal](https://admin.pubnub.com/) and select **Events & Actions**.
2. Select your app and keyset.
3. Click **+ Add Event Listener** and choose an event source: **Messages**, **Users**, **Channels**, **Mobile Push**, or **Membership**. For the full list of event producers and event types under each source, see [Event sources](https://www.pubnub.com/docs/integrations/event-forwarding/event-sources.md).
4. Choose the event producer and event type. If you don't see the event type you need, choose a different event source.
5. Select a filter type and configure it. See [Choose a filter type](#choose-a-filter-type) below.
6. Pair the listener with an action. See [Pair the listener with an action](#pair-the-listener-with-an-action) below.
7. Click **Save Changes**.

## Choose a filter type

Pick the filter type that matches how precisely you need to target events:

| Filter type | Use it when |
| --- | --- |
| [No filter](#no-filter) | You want the action to run for every event from the chosen source. |
| [Basic filters](#basic-filters) | You want to match a single channel or sender ID. |
| [Advanced JSONPath](#advanced-jsonpath) | You need conditions that basic filters can't express, such as matching on message content or excluding several channels. |

### No filter

If you want the action to run for every event from the chosen source, select **No filter**. It needs no further setup.

### Basic filters

If you want to match a single channel or sender ID, select **Basic filters**, then:

1. From **Filters**, choose what to match on:

   | Name | Description |
   | --- | --- |
   | Channel | Match a message published on a specific channel. |
   | Sender ID | Match a message published by a specific sender. |

2. From **Conditions**, choose how to match:

   | Name | Description |
   | --- | --- |
   | Exact Match | Match only when the value is identical. |
   | Contains | Match when the specified value appears anywhere in the filtered content. |

3. In **Value**, enter the string to match. For example, an exact match on channel `Matrix` triggers the action for every message published to `Matrix`.

### Advanced JSONPath

If basic filters can't express the condition you need, select **Advanced JSONPath** and enter a [JSONPath](https://github.com/json-path/JsonPath) expression. You can query these fields on the incoming event:

| Field | Data type | Description |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `channel` | string | Name of the channel the message was sent to. |
| `message` | any | Message content. |
| `meta` | any | Custom metadata. |
| `uuid` | string | Sender ID. |

:::note User ID / UUID
User ID is also referred to as **UUID/uuid** in some APIs and server responses but **holds the value** of the **userId** parameter you [set during initialization](https://www.pubnub.com/docs/architecture/core-concepts.md).
:::

Filters use the listener input, which calls the sender field `uuid`. Forwarded action payloads use event-specific field names. See [Events & Actions payloads](https://www.pubnub.com/docs/integrations/event-forwarding/payloads.md) for the field in each event and envelope variant.

To recreate the basic filters example above, enter:

```bash
$.[?(@.channel == "Matrix")]
```

This triggers the action when a message is published to the `Matrix` channel.

Test your expression against a sample payload before you save it:

JSON Payload
{
  "meta": {
    "sensor": "warn",
    "sensor_reading": 30
  },
  "message": {
    "text": "Wake up, Neo...",
    "status": "ok",
    "some_property": "some_value"
  },
  "channel": "my_channel.some_suffix",
  "uuid": "thomas_anderson"
}
✓
Valid JSON
JSONPath Expression
✓
Valid expression

For the complete event JSON schema and more JSONPath examples, see [Payloads](https://www.pubnub.com/docs/integrations/event-forwarding/payloads.md).

## Pair the listener with an action

1. Without leaving **Event Listeners**, go to **Add Action** and pick an existing action. If you haven't created an action yet, create one first, then return here to pair it. For the full list of action types, see [Available actions](https://www.pubnub.com/docs/integrations/event-forwarding/available-actions.md).

   Your [Events & Actions tier](https://www.pubnub.com/docs/pricing/quotas.md#events--actions) sets how many actions a single listener can trigger.

2. Click **Save Changes**.

## Confirm the listener fires

Publish a message, or trigger whichever event you configured, so it matches your filter. For how publishing works, see [Publishing messages with PubNub](https://www.pubnub.com/docs/pub-sub/publish/overview.md).

In the Admin Portal, open **Events & Actions** and check the **Event Listeners** and **Actions** lists. Each list shows how many times a listener or action has run and, on hover, the name of what it's linked to. If the counts don't increase after you trigger the event, check that your filter matches the event you sent and that an action is paired with the listener.

## Related tasks

* [Events & Actions](https://www.pubnub.com/docs/integrations/event-forwarding/overview.md). Understand how listeners, filters, and actions fit together before you configure one.
* [Event sources](https://www.pubnub.com/docs/integrations/event-forwarding/event-sources.md). Look up every event producer and event type you can select for a listener.
* [Available actions](https://www.pubnub.com/docs/integrations/event-forwarding/available-actions.md). Compare every action type you can pair with a listener.
* [Create a Webhook action](https://www.pubnub.com/docs/integrations/event-forwarding/create-webhook-action.md). Forward matching events to your own HTTPS endpoint.
* [Create an SQS action](https://www.pubnub.com/docs/integrations/event-forwarding/create-sqs-action.md). Forward matching events to an Amazon SQS queue.
* [Create a Kinesis action](https://www.pubnub.com/docs/integrations/event-forwarding/create-kinesis-action.md). Forward matching events to an Amazon Kinesis data stream.

Last updated at: 2026-09-30T07:20:08.000Z