Titanium V4 Storage & Playback API Reference for Realtime Apps

The PubNub Storage and Playback Service provides realtime access to history for all messages published to PubNub. Each published message is timestamped to the nearest 10 nanoseconds, and is stored across multiple availability zones in several geographical data center locations. Stored messages can be encrypted with AES-256 message encryption, ensuring that they are not readable while stored on PubNub's network.

Messages can be stored for a configurable duration or forever, as controlled by the retention policy that is configured on your account. The following options are available: 1, 3, 5, 7, 15, or 30 days, and Forever.

History

Requires Storage & Playback add-on Requires that the Storage & Playback 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 fetches historical messages of a channel.

It is possible to control how messages are returned and in what order, for example you can:

Search for messages starting on the newest end of the timeline (default behavior - reverse = false)
Search for messages from the oldest end of the timeline by setting reverse to true.
Page through results by providing a start OR end timetoken.
Retrieve a slice of the time line by providing both a start AND end timetoken.
Limit the number of messages to a specific quantity using the count parameter.

Start & End parameter usage clarity:

If only the start parameter is specified (without end), you will receive messages that are older than and up to that start timetoken value. If only the end parameter is specified (without start) you will receive messages that match that end timetoken value and newer Specifying values for both start and end parameters will return messages between those timetoken values (inclusive on the end value). Keep in mind that you will still receive a maximum of 100 messages even if there are more messages that meet the timetoken values. Iterative calls to history adjusting the start timetoken is necessary to page through the full set of results if more than 100 messages meet the timetoken values.

Method(s)

To run History you can use the following method(s) in the Titanium V4 SDK:

history( {String channel, Boolean reverse, Number count, Boolean stringifiedTimeToken, Boolean includeMeta, String start, String end}, Function callback )

Parameter	Type	Required	Defaults	Description
Operation Arguments	Hash	Yes		A hash of arguments.
`channel`	String	Yes		Specifies `channel` to return history messages from.
`reverse`	Boolean	Optional	`false`	Setting to `true` will traverse the `time` line in `reverse` starting with the oldest `message` first.If both `start` and `end` arguments are provided, `reverse` is ignored and messages are returned starting with the newest `message`.
`count`	Number	Optional	`100`	Specifies the number of historical messages to return. Default/Maximum is `100`.
`stringifiedTimeToken`	Boolean	Optional	`false`	If `stringifiedTimeToken` is specified as `true`, the SDK will return `timetoken` values as a strings instead of integers. Usage of setting is encouraged in javascript environments which perform round-up/down on large integers.
`includeMeta`	Boolean	Optional		Whether message meta information should be fetched or not.
`start`	String	Optional		Timetoken delimiting the `start` of `time` slice (exclusive) to pull messages from.
`end`	String	Optional		Timetoken delimiting the `end` of `time` slice (inclusive) to pull messages from.
`callback`	Function	Optional		Executes on a successful/unsuccessful `history`.

Using the `reverse` parameter:

Messages are always returned sorted in ascending time direction from Storage/History regardless of reverse. The reverse direction matters when you have more than 100 (or count, if it's set) messages in the time interval, in which case reverse determines the end of the time interval from which it should start retrieving the messages.

Basic Usage

Retrieve the last 100 messages on a channel:

pubnub.history(
    {
        channel: 'my_channel',
        count: 100, // 100 is the default
        stringifiedTimeToken: true // false is the default
    },
    function (status, response) {
        console.log(response);
    }
);

Response

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

// Example of Response
{
    endTimeToken: "14867650866860159",
    messages: [
        {
            timetoken: "14867650866860159",
            entry: "[User 636] hello World"
        },
        {...},
        {...},
        {...}
    ],
    startTimeToken: "14867650866860159"
}

Other Examples

Use history() to retrieve the three oldest messages by retrieving from the time line in reverse:

// get last 3 messages published to my_channel
pubnub.history(
    {
        channel: ['my_channel'],
        reverse: true, // Setting to true will traverse the time line in reverse starting with the oldest message first.
        count: 3,
        stringifiedTimeToken: true // false is the default
    },
    function (status, response) {
        // handle status, response
    }
);

Use history() to retrieve messages newer than a given timetoken by paging from oldest message to newest message starting at a single point in time (exclusive):

// get messages starting at timetoken order oldest first
pubnub.history(
    {
        channel: 'my_channel',
        reverse: true, // Setting to true will traverse the time line in reverse starting with the oldest message first.
        stringifiedTimeToken: true, // false is the default
        start: '13406746780720711'
    },
    function (status, response) {
        // handle status, response
    }
);

Use history() to retrieve messages until a given timetoken by paging from newest message to oldest message until a specific end point in time (inclusive):

// return 100 messages ending on timetoken
pubnub.history(
    {
        channel: 'my_channel',
        stringifiedTimeToken: true,
        end: '13406746780720711'
    },
    function (status, response) {
        // handle status, response
    }
)

History Paging Example

Usage!

You can call the method by passing 0 or a valid timetoken as the argument.

getAllMessages = function(timetoken) {
    pubnub.history(
        {
            channel: 'history_test',
            stringifiedTimeToken: true, // false is the default
            start: timetoken
        },
        function (status, response) {
            var msgs = response.messages;
            var start = response.startTimeToken;
            var end = response.endTimeToken;
            // if msgs were retrieved, do something useful with them
            if (msgs !== "undefined" && msgs.length > 0) {
                console.log(msgs.length);
                console.log("start : " + start);
                console.log("end : " + end);
            }
            // if 100 msgs were retrieved, there might be more; call history again
            if (msgs.length == 100) {
                getAllMessages(start);
            }
        }
    );
}

//Usage examples:
//getAllMessages();
//getAllMessages(null);
//getAllMessages(14264873967138188);

Basic usage using Promises

pubnub.history({
    channel: 'my_channel',
    reverse: false, // false is the default
    count: 100, // 100 is the default
    stringifiedTimeToken: true // false is the default
}).then((response) => {
    console.log(response);
}).catch((error) => {
    console.log(error);
});

Use history() to retrieve the three oldest messages by retrieving from the time line in reverse using Promises:

// get last 3 messages published to my_channel
pubnub.history({
    channel: ['my_channel'],
    reverse: true, // Setting to true will traverse the time line in reverse starting with the oldest message first.
    count: 3,
    stringifiedTimeToken: true // false is the default
}).then((response) => {
    console.log(response)
}).catch((error) => {
    console.log(error)
});

Use history() to retrieve messages newer than a given timetoken by paging from oldest message to newest message starting at a single point in time (exclusive) using Promises:

pubnub.history({
    channel: 'my_channel',
    reverse: true, // Setting to true will traverse the time line in reverse starting with the oldest message first.
    stringifiedTimeToken: true, // false is the default
    start: '13406746780720711' // start timetoken to fetch
}).then((response) => {
    console.log(response)
}).catch((error) => {
    console.log(error)
});

Use history() to retrieve messages until a given timetoken by paging from newest message to oldest message until a specific end point in time (inclusive) using Promises:

pubnub.history({
    channel: 'my_channel',
    stringifiedTimeToken: true, // false is the default
    end: '13406746780720711' // start timetoken to fetch
}).then((response) => {
    console.log(response)
}).catch((error) => {
    console.log(error)
});

Paging History Responses using Promises:

function getAllMessages(timetoken) {
    pubnub.history(
        {
            channel: 'history_test',
            stringifiedTimeToken: true, // false is the default
            start: timetoken // start timetoken to fetch
        }).then((response) => {
            var msgs = response.messages;
            var start = response.startTimeToken;
            var end = response.endTimeToken;

            // if msgs were retrieved, do something useful with them
            if (msgs !== undefined && msgs.length > 0) {
                console.log(msgs.length);
                console.log("start : " + start);
                console.log("end : " + end);
            }

            // if 100 msgs were retrieved, there might be more; call history again
            if (msgs.length == 100) {
                getAllMessages(start);
            }
        }).catch((error) => {
            console.log(error);
        });
}

//Usage examples:
//getAllMessages();
//getAllMessages(null);

Fetch messages with metadata

pubnub.history(
    {
        channel: 'my_channel',
        stringifiedTimeToken: true,
        includeMeta: true,
    },
    function (status, response) {
        // handle status, response
    }
);

Batch History

Description

This function fetches historical messages from multiple channels. The includeMessageActions or includeActions flag also allows you to fetch message actions along with the messages.

It's possible to control how messages are returned and in what order. For example, you can:

Search for messages starting on the newest end of the timeline.
Search for messages from the oldest end of the timeline.
Page through results by providing a start OR end timetoken.
Retrieve a slice of the time line by providing both a start AND end timetoken.
Retrieve a specific (maximum) number of messages using the count parameter.

Batch history returns up to 100 messages on a single channel, or 25 per channel on a maximum of 500 channels. Use the start and end timestamps to page through the next batch of messages.

Tip

If you specify only the start parameter (without end), you will receive messages that are older than the start timetoken.

If you specify only the end parameter (without start), you will receive messages from that end timetoken and newer.

Specify values for both start and end parameters to retrieve messages between those timetokens (inclusive of the end value).

Keep in mind that you will still receive a maximum of 100 messages (or 25, for multiple channels) even if there are more messages that meet the timetoken values. Iterative calls to history adjusting the start timetoken are necessary to page through the full set of results if more messages meet the timetoken values.

Method(s)

To run Fetch History, you can use the following method(s) in the Titanium V4 SDK:

fetchMessages(
    {Array channels, Number count, Boolean stringifiedTimeToken, Boolean includeMeta, Boolean includeMessageType, Boolean includeUUID, Boolean includeMessageActions, String start, String end},
    Function callback )

Parameter	Type	Required	Defaults	Description
Operation Arguments	Hash	Yes		A hash of arguments.
`channels`	Array	Yes		Specifies `channels` to return history messages from.
`count`	Number	Optional	`25`	Specifies the number of historical messages to return per channel. Default/Maximum is `25` per `channel`.
`stringifiedTimeToken`	Boolean	Optional	`false`	If `stringifiedTimeToken` is specified as `true`, the SDK will return `timetoken` values as a strings instead of integers. Usage of setting is encouraged in javascript environments which perform round-up/down on large integers.
`includeMessageType`	Boolean	Optional	`true`	Pass `true` to receive the message type with each history message.
`includeUUID`	Boolean	Optional	`true`	Pass `true` to receive the publisher `uuid` with each history message.
`includeMeta`	Boolean	Optional		Whether message meta information should be fetched or not.
`includeMessageActions`	Boolean	Optional		Whether message added message actions should be fetched or not. Throws an exception in case if API called with more than one `channel`. Truncation will happen if number of actions on the messages returned is > 25000. Each message can have a maximum of 25000 actions attached to it. Consider the example of querying for 10 meesages. The first five messages have 5000 actions attached to each of them. The API will return the first 5 messages and all their 25000 actions. The response will also include a `more` link to get the remaining 5 messages.
`start`	String	Optional		Timetoken delimiting the `start` of `time` slice (exclusive) to pull messages from.
`end`	String	Optional		Timetoken delimiting the `end` of `time` slice (inclusive) to pull messages from.
`callback`	Function	Optional		Executes on a successful/unsuccessful `fetchMessages`.

Basic Usage

Retrieve the last message on a channel:

// assuming pubnub is an initialized instance
// start, end, count are optional
pubnub.fetchMessages(
    {
        channels: ['ch1', 'ch2', 'ch3'],
        start: "15343325214676133",
        end: "15343325004275466",
        count: 25
    },
    (status, response) => {
        // handle response
    }
);

Response

//Example of status
{
    error: false,
    operation: 'PNFetchMessagesOperation',
    statusCode: 200
}

//Example of response
{
    "channels":{
        "my-channel":[
            {
                "message":"message_1",
                "timetoken":"15483367794816642",
                "uuid":"my-uuid",
                "message_type":null
            },
            {
                "message":"message_2",
                "timetoken":"15483367810978163",
                "uuid":"my-uuid",
                "message_type":null
            }
        ],
        "my-channel-2":[
            {
                "message":"message_1",
                "timetoken":"15483367827886667",
                "uuid":"my-uuid",
                "message_type":null
            }
        ]
    }
}

Other Examples

Fetch messages with metadata and actions

pubnub.fetchMessages(
    {
        channels: ['my_channel'],
        stringifiedTimeToken: true,
        includeMeta: true,
        includeMessageActions: true,
    },
    function (status, response) {
        // handle status, response
    }
);

Fetch messages with metadata and actions Response

// Example of status
{
    "error": false,
    "operation": "PNFetchMessagesOperation",
    "statusCode": 200
}

// Example of response
{
    "channels":{
        "my_channel":[
            {
                "timetoken":"15741125155552287",
                "message":{
                    "text":"Hello world!",
                    "uuid":"my-uuid",
                    "message_type":null,
                    "meta":""
                },
                "data":{
                    "reaction":{
                        "smiley_face":[
                            {
                                "uuid":"my-uuid",
                                "actionTimetoken":"15741125155943280"
                            }
                        ]
                    }
                }
            }
        ]
    },
"more": {
  "url": "/v3/history-with-actions/sub-key/subscribeKey/channel/myChannel?start=15610547826970000&max=98",
  "start": "15610547826970000",
  "max": 98
}
}

Delete Messages from History

Description

Removes the messages from the history of a specific channel.

Note

There is a setting to accept delete from history requests for a key, which you must enable by checking the Enable Delete-From-History checkbox in the key settings for your key in the Admin Portal.

Requires Initialization with secret key.

Method(s)

To Delete Messages from History you can use the following method(s) in the Titanium V4 SDK.

Note

The Delete Messages method behaves slightly differently than other history methods. Note that the start parameter is exclusive and the end parameter is inclusive.

deleteMessages({String channel, String start, String end},Function callback)

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
Operation Arguments	Hash	Yes	A hash of arguments.
`channel`	String	Yes	Specifies `channel` messages to be deleted from history.
`start`	String	Optional	Timetoken delimiting the `start` of time slice (exclusive) to delete messages from.
`end`	String	Optional	Timetoken delimiting the `end` of time slice (inclusive) to delete messages from.
`callback`	Function	Optional	Is called on successful or unsuccessful execution of `deleteMessages`.

Basic Usage

pubnub.deleteMessages(
    {
        channel: 'ch1',
        start: '15088506076921021',
        end: '15088532035597390'
    },
    (result) => {
        console.log(result);
    }
);

Response

{
    error: false,
    operation: 'PNDeleteMessagesOperation',
    statusCode: 200
}

Other Examples

Delete specific message from history

To delete a specific message, pass the publish timetoken (received from a successful publish) in the End parameter and timetoken +/- 1 in the Start parameter. e.g. if 15526611838554310 is the publish timetoken, pass 15526611838554309 in Start and 15526611838554310 in End parameters respectively as shown in the following code snippet.
```
pubnub.deleteMessages(
    {
        channel: 'ch1',
        start: '15526611838554310',
        end: '15526611838554309'
    },
    (result) => {
        console.log(result);
    }
);
```

History

Description

Start & End parameter usage clarity:

Method(s)

Using the reverse parameter:

Basic Usage

Response

Other Examples

Usage!

Batch History

Description

Tip

Method(s)

Basic Usage

Response

Other Examples

Delete Messages from History

Description

Note

Method(s)

Note

Basic Usage

Response

Other Examples

Using the `reverse` parameter: