Channel Groups API for PubNub JavaScript SDK

Channel Groups allows PubNub developers to bundle thousands of channels into a group that can be identified by name. These Channel Groups can then be subscribed to, receiving data from the many backend channels the channel group contains.

Learn more about our Channel Groups here.

Channel Group operations

You can't publish to a Channel Group. You can only subscribe to it. To publish within Channel Group, you need to publish to each channel individually.

Supported and recommended asynchronous patterns

PubNub supports Callbacks, Promises, and Async/Await for asynchronous JS operations. The recommended pattern is Async/Await and all sample requests in this document are based on it. This pattern returns a status only on detecting an error. To receive the error status, you must add the try...catch syntax to your code.

Adding Channels

Requires Stream Controller add-onRequires that the Stream Controller add-on is enabled for your key. See this page on enabling add-on features on your keys:
https://support.pubnub.com/hc/en-us/articles/360051974791-How-do-I-enable-add-on-features-for-my-keys-

Description

This function adds a channel to a channel group.

Method(s)

Adding Channels is done by using the following method(s) in the JavaScript V4 SDK:

Note

200 channels can be added to the channel group per API call.

pubnub.channelGroups.addChannels({
    channels: Array<string>,
    channelGroup: string
})

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
Operation Arguments	Hash	Yes	A hash of arguments.
`channels`	Array	Yes	The `channel` to add to the channel group.
`channelGroup`	string	Yes	The `channelGroup` to add the channels to.

Basic Usage

Adding Channels :

try {
    const result = await pubnub.channelGroups.addChannels({
        channels: ["ch1", "ch2"],
        channelGroup: "myChannelGroup",
    });
    console.log("operation done!");
    result.channels.forEach(function (channel) {
        console.log(channel);
    });
} catch (status) {
    console.log("operation failed w/ error:", status);
}

Response

{
    error: false,
    operation: "PNAddChannelsToGroupOperation",
    statusCode: 200
}

Listing Channels

Description

This function lists all the channels of the channel group.

Method(s)

Listing Channels is accomplished by using the following method(s) in the JavaScript V4 SDK:

pubnub.channelGroups.listChannels({
    channelGroup: string
})

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
Operation Arguments	Hash	Yes	A hash of arguments.
`channelGroup`	string	Yes	`Channel Group` to list the channel(s) of.

Basic Usage

Listing Channels:

// assuming an intialized PubNub instance already exists
try {
    const result = await pubnub.channelGroups.listChannels({
        channelGroup: "myChannelGroup",
    });
    console.log("Listing push channels for the device");
    result.channels.forEach(function (channel) {
        console.log(channel);
    });
} catch (status) {
    console.log("Operation failed w/ error:", status);
}

Response

// Example of Status
{
    error: false,
    operation: "PNChannelsForGroupOperation",
    statusCode: 200
}

// Example of Response
{
    channels: ["ch1", "ch2"]
}

Removing Channels

Description

This function removes the channels from the channel group.

Method(s)

Removing Channels is accomplished by using the following method(s) in the JavaScript V4 SDK:

pubnub.channelGroups.removeChannels({
    channels: Array<string>,
    channelGroup: string
})

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
Operation Arguments	Hash	Yes	A hash of arguments.
`channels`	Array	Yes	The `channel` to remove from the `channel` group.
`channelGroup`	string	Yes	The `channelGroup` to remove the channels from.

Basic Usage

Removing channels:

// assuming an initialized PubNub instance already exists
try {
    const result = await pubnub.channelGroups.removeChannels({
        channels: ["son"],
        channelGroup: "family",
    });
    console.log("operation done!");
    result.channels.forEach(function (channel) {
        console.log(channel);
    });
} catch (status) {
    console.log("operation failed w/ error:", status);
}

Response

{
    error: false,
    operation: "PNRemoveChannelsFromGroupOperation",
    statusCode: 200
}

Deleting Channel Group

Description

This function removes the channel group.

Method(s)

Deleting Channel Group is accomplished by using the following method(s) in the JavaScript V4 SDK:

pubnub.channelGroups.deleteGroup({
    channelGroup: string
})

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
Operation Arguments	Hash	Yes	A hash of arguments.
`channelGroup`	string	Yes	The `channelGroup` to remove.

Basic Usage

Deleting Channel Group:

try {
    const result = await pubnub.channelGroups.deleteGroup({
        channelGroup: "family",
    });
    console.log("operation done!");
    result.channels.forEach(function (channel) {
        console.log(channel);
    });
} catch (status) {
    console.log("operation failed w/ error:", status);
}

Response

{
    error: false,
    operation: "PNRemoveGroupOperation",
    statusCode: 200
}