Documentation Release Notes - June 2025

June was all about making our SDKs easier to work with and giving you better examples to learn from.

The big highlight this month? We launched a brand new Sports, Media & Entertainment documentation section complete with an interactive demo showcasing real-time sports experiences. Plus, we've been busy rolling out GitHub-sourced code snippets across Swift, C#, and JavaScript SDKs, so you know the examples will always be up-to-date!

We also continued our mission to improve Getting Started guides for Rust and JavaScript, expanded Chat SDKs with Platform Support docs, and added helpful troubleshooting guides for mobile development and Firebase configuration.

General 🛠️​

Enhanced REST API documentation structure​

Type: Enhancement

We gave our REST API documentation a makeover with better navigation and more descriptive page names for improved discoverability.

What's new:

  • Page titles that actually tell you what each API endpoint does
  • Cleaner navigation that makes sense
  • Better linking between related endpoints
  • Much easier to find what you're looking for

Whether you're just getting started or looking for advanced configuration options, finding the right REST API endpoint should be much smoother now.

Improved subscribe filtering documentation​

Type: Enhancement

We reorganized our Subscribe Filtering documentation to put filtering information where it belongs - in the subscribe docs rather than scattered across different pages.

This restructuring makes it much easier to find filtering guidance when you're working with subscriptions, with all the relevant information now properly organized in one place.

These changes help you find filtering information more intuitively and understand how to implement filtering strategies in your subscribe operations.

Enhanced Chat SDK authentication documentation​

Type: Enhancement

We added authentication examples to the Chat SDK configuration documentation, including how to use the authKey parameter with Access Manager.

The updates include:

  • New authKey configuration parameter documentation
  • Server-side code example for generating tokens with Access Manager
  • Clear guidance on initializing Chat SDK with authentication

These additions make it easier to implement Access Manager authentication in your chat applications.

Message actions terminology standardization​

Type: Enhancement

We standardized terminology across all documentation to clarify the difference between "reactions" and "actions", updating most references to use "actions" for consistency. We also added clearer channel ID requirements for Pub/Sub API usage.

This comprehensive update touched:

  • General message documentation to use consistent "actions" terminology
  • All SDK API reference documentation for message actions
  • Chat SDK documentation across all platforms
  • REST API documentation with enhanced channel ID clarification for Pub/Sub API operations

This standardization makes it much clearer when we're referring to the broader concept of message actions versus specific reaction implementations, while also providing better guidance on channel ID requirements for API usage.

Enhanced troubleshooting documentation​

Type: Enhancement

We added new troubleshooting guides for key PubNub services:

These guides tackle common developer pain points with step-by-step solutions for configuration and integration challenges.

SDKs 📦​

SDK-sourced code snippets across multiple SDKs​

Type: Enhancement

Building on our work from previous months, we rolled out updated code snippets for multiple SDKs. All examples are pulled directly from our GitHub repositories, so they're always fresh and proven to work.

This month's updated SDKs include:

These updated snippets sync automatically with our SDK repositories, so you always get tested, working code examples that match the latest SDK versions.

Continued getting started guide improvements​

Type: Enhancement

We kept up our systematic approach to Getting Started guides with updates for:

  • Rust SDK: Complete Getting Started guide following our standardized format
  • JavaScript SDK: Refined and updated Getting Started experience

Both guides follow our established pattern:

  1. Setup and installation
  2. Creating a PubNub instance with your keys
  3. Subscribing to channels
  4. Publishing messages
  5. Handling received messages

This ensures consistent onboarding across all our SDKs, no matter which programming language you prefer.

Enhanced Chat SDKs​

Type: Enhancement

Chat SDK documentation expanded to support Platform Support pages (similar to those available in the Core SDKs) and improved capabilities:

  • Unreal Chat SDK: Added comprehensive documentation for the event engine, enabling more sophisticated event handling in Unreal Engine applications
  • Kotlin Chat SDK: Enhanced documentation with additional features and better examples for Android development
  • Platform support documentation: Updated general platform support information across all Chat SDKs (JavaScript, Kotlin, Swift, Unity, and Unreal)

These improvements make integrating chat functionality into games and applications much easier, with better support for platform-specific features.

SDK-specific troubleshooting documentation​

Type: Enhancement

We added troubleshooting guides for specific SDKs to tackle common development challenges:

  • Kotlin SDK: Added ProGuard configuration troubleshooting for common Android build issues
  • Unity SDK: Updated mobile build configuration guidance for Android and iOS deployment

These guides provide step-by-step solutions for SDK-specific configuration issues and platform challenges.

Improved Presence configuration documentation​

Type: Enhancement

Presence documentation got clearer with better guidance on configuration and event handling:

  • Custom Presence events: Updated terminology from "custom Presence event" to "state change event" for clarity across all SDK documentation
  • Default Presence configuration: Better explanations of default Presence settings and how to customize them, including updates to BizOps Workspace Presence Management

These improvements help you understand and implement Presence features more easily, with clearer explanations of when and how Presence events are triggered.

Other 🌟​

Sports, Media & entertainment documentation organization​

Type: New feature

We launched a comprehensive new Sports, Media & Entertainment documentation section with industry-specific guidance and real-world examples.

This new documentation includes:

  • Interactive demo: A live demonstration showcasing real-time sports experiences with synchronized stats, live chat, and fan engagement features
  • Industry-specific use cases: Tailored examples for sports scoring, media streaming, and entertainment platforms
  • Best practices: Implementation guidance for common sports and entertainment scenarios
  • Real-time features: Documentation for live polls, score predictions, commentary synchronization, and fan behavior management

This focused content helps developers in the Sports, Media & Entertainment industry find relevant examples and implementation guides quickly, with content designed specifically for real-time sports updates, media streaming, and entertainment platforms.

Homepage enhancements with "What's New" badge​

Type: Enhancement

We added a "What's New" badge system to our homepage and release notes overview page. This makes it much easier to spot recent updates and new features across PubNub documentation.

What's New

The badge system highlights:

  • New features and major updates
  • Recently updated SDK documentation
  • Important announcements and changes

Now you can stay current with PubNub's latest developments and won't miss important updates that might affect your applications.

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