Message Persistence API for Ruby SDK

Message Persistence gives you real-time access to the history of messages published to PubNub. Each message is timestamped to the nearest 10 nanoseconds and stored across multiple availability zones in several geographic locations. You can encrypt stored messages with AES-256 so they are not readable on PubNub’s network. For details, see Message Persistence.

You control how long messages are stored through your account’s retention policy. Options include: 1 day, 7 days, 30 days, 3 months, 6 months, 1 year, or Unlimited.

You can retrieve the following:

• Messages
• Message reactions
• Files (using the File Sharing API)

Batch history

Requires Message Persistence

This method requires that Message Persistence is enabled for your key in the Admin Portal. Read the support page on enabling add-on features on your keys.

This function fetches historical messages from multiple channels. The include_message_actions flag also allows you to fetch message actions along with the messages for a single channel.

fetch_messages() vs history()

Use fetch_messages() for retrieving messages from multiple channels simultaneously (up to 500 channels). For single-channel message retrieval with additional options like reverse or include_token, use the history() method instead.

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 max 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.

Start & End parameter usage clarity

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)

Use the following method(s) in the Ruby SDK:

1fetch_messages(
2    channel: channel,
3    channels: channels,
4    max: max,
5    start: start,
6    end: end,
7    include_meta: include_meta,
8    include_message_actions: include_message_actions,
9    include_uuid: include_uuid,
10    include_message_type: include_message_type,
11    include_custom_message_type: include_custom_message_type,
12    encode_channels: encode_channels,
13    cipher_key: cipher_key,
14    random_iv: random_iv,
15    http_sync: http_sync,
16    callback: callback
17)

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* required

Parameter	Description
channel Type: String	A single channel to fetch messages from. You can use the include_message_actions flag to get message actions history for this channel.
channels Type: Array	Array of channels to fetch messages from. Maximum of 500 channels. Can't be used with include_message_actions as you can only get the message actions history for a single channel.
max Type: Integer	Maximum number of messages to return per channel. Default is 25 for multiple channels or 100 for a single channel.
start Type: Integer	timetoken delimiting the start of time slice (exclusive) to pull messages from.
end Type: Integer	timetoken delimiting the end of time slice (inclusive) to pull messages from.
include_meta Type: Boolean	Include message metadata in the response. Default is false.
include_message_actions Type: Boolean	Include message actions in the response. Only works with single channel. Default is false.
include_uuid Type: Boolean	Include UUID of the publisher in the response. Default is true.
include_message_type Type: Boolean	Whether to include the PubNub message type in the response. Default is true.
include_custom_message_type Type: Boolean	Whether to include the custom message type in the response. Default is false.
encode_channels Type: Boolean	Whether to encode channel names for URL safety. Default is true. Set to false when not using include_message_actions.
cipher_key Type: String	Custom cipher key for message decryption. If provided, overrides the default crypto configuration.
random_iv Type: Boolean	Whether to use random initialization vector for encryption. Default is true. Only used when cipher_key is provided.
http_sync Type: Boolean	Default false. The method is executed asynchronously and returns a future. To retrieve the value, call the value method on the Envelope object. If set to true, method returns an array of envelopes (even if there's only one Envelope).
callback Type: Lambda accepting one parameter	Callback that is called for each Envelope. For async methods, a future is returned. To retrieve the value, call the value method on the Envelope object. The thread is locked until the value is returned.

Sample code

Reference code

This example is a self-contained code snippet ready to be run. It includes necessary imports and executes methods with console logging. Use it as a reference when working with other examples in this document.

Retrieve the last 25 messages on multiple channels:

1require 'pubnub'
2

3def fetch_messages(pubnub)
4  pubnub.fetch_messages(
5    channels: ['demo', 'example'],
6    max: 25
7  ) do |envelope|
8    if envelope.status[:error]
9      puts "Error fetching messages: #{envelope.status[:error]}"
10    else
11      puts "Messages fetched successfully:"
12      envelope.result[:data][:channels].each do |channel, messages|
13        puts "Channel: #{channel}"
14        messages.each do |message|
15          puts "Message: #{message['message']}, Timetoken: #{message['timetoken']}"
16        end
17      end
18    end
19  end
20end
21

22def main
23  # Configuration for PubNub instance
24  pubnub = Pubnub.new(
25    subscribe_key: ENV.fetch('SUBSCRIBE_KEY', 'demo'),
26    user_id: 'myUniqueUserId'
27  )
28

29  # Fetch messages
30  fetch_messages(pubnub)
31  sleep 1 # Allow time for the async operation to complete
32end
33

34if __FILE__ == $0
35  main
36end

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Response

The Ruby SDK returns false on fail. An array is returned on success.

The fetch_messages() function returns a list of messages for each channel. The output below demonstrates the format for a fetch_messages() response:

1    @result = {
2        :data => {
3            :channels => {
4                'channel1' => [
5                    { 'message' => 'Message1', 'timetoken' => 15010808292416521 },
6                    { 'message' => 'Message2', 'timetoken' => 15010808292416522 }
7                ],
8                'channel2' => [
9                    { 'message' => 'Message3', 'timetoken' => 15010808292416523 },
10                    { 'message' => 'Message4', 'timetoken' => 15010808292416524 }
11                ]
12            }
13        }
14    },
15    @status = {
16        :code => 200
17    }
18>

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Other examples

Fetch messages with metadata

1pubnub.fetch_messages(
2    channels: ['channel1', 'channel2'],
3    include_meta: true
4) do |envelope|
5    puts envelope.result[:data][:channels]
6end

Fetch messages with message actions

1pubnub.fetch_messages(
2    channel: 'channel1',
3    include_message_actions: true
4) do |envelope|
5    puts envelope.result[:data][:channels]
6end

Fetch messages with custom encryption

1pubnub.fetch_messages(
2    channels: ['channel1', 'channel2'],
3    cipher_key: 'my_custom_cipher_key',
4    random_iv: true
5) do |envelope|
6    puts envelope.result[:data][:channels]
7end

History

Requires Message Persistence

This method requires that Message Persistence is enabled for your key in the Admin Portal.

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)

Use the following method(s) in the Ruby SDK:

1history(
2    channels: channels,
3    count: count,
4    start: start,
5    end: end,
6    reverse: reverse,
7    include_token: include_token,
8    include_meta: include_meta,
9    http_sync: http_sync,
10    callback: callback
11)

* required

Parameter	Description
channels * Type: String, Symbol	Specify channels to return history messages from.
count Type: Integer	Specifies the number of historical messages to return. Default/maximum is 100.
start Type: Integer	timetoken delimiting the start of time slice (exclusive) to pull messages from.
end Type: Integer	timetoken delimiting the end of time slice (inclusive) to pull messages from.
reverse Type: Boolean	Setting to true will traverse the time line in reverse starting with the oldest message first.Default is false. If both start and end arguments are provided, reverse is ignored and messages are returned starting with the newest message.
http_sync Type: Boolean	Default false. Method will be executed asynchronously and will return future, to get its value you can use value method. If set to true, method will return array of envelopes (even if there's only one envelope). For sync methods Envelope object will be returned.
include_token Type: Boolean	With include_token parameter set to true each envelope will contain timetoken specific for message that it holds. Default: false
include_meta Type: Boolean	When set to true, the history response will include the meta information associated with each message if it was set during publishing. Default: false.
callback Type: Lambda accepting one parameter	Callback that will be called for each envelope. For async methods future will be returned, to retrieve value Envelope object you have to call value method (thread will be locked until the value is returned).

tip

Using the reverse parameter

Messages are always returned sorted in ascending time direction from 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.

Sample code

Retrieve the last 100 messages on a channel:

1pubnub.history(
2    channel: 'history_channel',
3    count: 100
4) do |envelope|
5    puts envelope.result[:data][:messages]
6end

Response

The Ruby SDK returns false on fail. An array is returned on success.

The history() function returns a list of up to 100 messages, the timetoken of the first (oldest) message and the timetoken of the last (newest) message in the resulting set of messages. The output below demonstrates the format for a history() response:

1#<Pubnub::Envelope:0x007fd384da4ad0
2    @result = {
3        :data => {
4            :messages => ["Pub1", "Pub2", "Pub3", "Pub4", "Pub5", "Pub6", "Pub7", "Pub8", "Pub9", "Pub10"],
5            :end => 15010808292416521,
6            :start => 15010808287349573
7        }
8    },
9    @status = {
10        :code => 200
11    }
12>

Other examples

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

1pubnub.history(
2    channel: :history,
3    count: 3,
4    reverse: true,
5    http_sync: true
6)

Response

1#<Pubnub::Envelope:0x007fd3858e34c8
2    @result = {
3        :data => {
4            :messages => ["Pub1", "Pub2", "Pub3"],
5            :end => 15010808288498250,
6            :start => 15010808287349573
7        }
8    },
9    @status = {
10        :code => 200
11    }
12>

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)

1pubnub.history(
2    channel: :history,
3    start: 15010808287700000,
4    reverse: true,
5    http_sync: true
6)

Response

1#<Pubnub::Envelope:0x007fd38523ced0
2    @result = {
3        :data => {
4            :messages => ["Pub1"],
5            :end => 15010808287349573,
6            :start => 15010808287349573
7        }
8    }
9    @status = {
10        :code => 200
11    }
12>

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)

1pubnub.history(
2    channel: :history,
3    end: 15010808287700000,
4    http_sync: true
5)

Response

1#<Pubnub::Envelope:0x007fd3860dbce8
2    @result = {
3        :data => {
4            :messages => ["Pub2", "Pub3", "Pub4", "Pub5", "Pub6", "Pub7", "Pub8", "Pub9", "Pub10"],
5            :end => 15010808292416521,
6            :start => 15010808287951883
7        }
8    }
9    @status = {
10        :code => 200
11    }
12>

History paging example

Usage

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

1pubnub.paged_history(channel: :messages, limit: 10, page: 20) do |envelope|
2    puts envelope.result[:data][:messages]
3end

Include timetoken in history response

1# ASYNC
2# Call history with include_token: true
3future_envelope = pubnub.history(channel: :demo, include_token: true)
4# Get timetoken of first retrieved message
5future_envelope.value.result[:data][:messages].first['timetoken']
6

7# SYNC
8# Call history with include_token: true
9envelope = pubnub.history(channel: :demo, include_token: true, http_sync: true)
10# Get timetoken of first retrieved message
11envelope.result[:data][:messages].first['timetoken']
12

13# Example response in result[:data][:messages]
14# [
15#   {"message"=>"Whatever", "timetoken"=>14865606002747651},
16#   {"message"=>"Message", "timetoken"=>14865606051899206},
17#   {"message"=>"Another", "timetoken"=>14865606101428628}
18# ]

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Delete messages from history

Requires Message Persistence

This method requires that Message Persistence is enabled for your key in the Admin Portal.

Removes the messages from the history of a specific channel.

Required setting

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 Ruby SDK.

1delete_messages(
2    channels: channels,
3    start: start,
4    end: end,
5    http_sync: http_sync,
6    callback: callback
7)

* required

Parameter	Description
channels * Type: String, Symbol	Channels from which messages will be deleted.
start Type: String, Integer	Timestamp since when messages should be deleted.
end Type: String, Integer	Timestamp until when messages should be deleted.
http_sync Type: Boolean	Default false. Method will be executed asynchronously and will return future, to get its value you can use value method. If set to true, method will return array of envelopes (even if there's only one envelope). For sync methods Envelope object will be returned.
callback Type: Lambda accepting one parameter	Callback that will be called for each envelope. For async methods future will be returned, to retrieve value Envelope object you have to call value method (thread will be locked until the value is returned).

Sample code

1pubnub.delete_messages(channel: 'my-channel', start: 1508284800, end: 1508935781, callback: check_response_status)

Response

1#<Pubnub::Envelope
2    @status = {
3        :code => 200,
4        :operation => :delete,
5        :category => :ack,
6        :error => false,
7        # [...]
8    },
9    # [...]
10>

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. For example, if 15526611838554310 is the publish timetoken, pass 15526611838554309 in start and 15526611838554310 in end parameters respectively as shown in the following code snippet.

1pubnub.delete_messages(channel: 'my-channel', start: 15526611838554309, end: 15526611838554310, callback: check_response_status)

Message counts

Requires Message Persistence

This method requires that Message Persistence is enabled for your key in the Admin Portal.

Returns the number of messages published on one or more channels since a given time. The count returned is the number of messages in history with a timetoken value greater than or equal to than the passed value in the channel_timetokensparameter.

Unlimited message retention

For keys with unlimited message retention enabled, this method considers only messages published in the last 30 days.

Method(s)

You can use the following method(s) in the Ruby SDK:

1pubnub.message_counts(
2    channels: array_of_channels,
3    channel_timetokens: array_of_timetokens
4)

* required

Parameter	Description
channel * Type: String, Symbol Default: n/a	Either array of channels, string with single channel or string with comma separated channels
channel_timetokens * Type: Array Default: null	Array of timetokens, in order of the channels list. Specify a single timetoken to apply it to all channels. Otherwise, the list of timetokens must be the same length as the list of channels, or the function returns a PNStatus with an error flag.
http_sync Type: Boolean Default: n/a	Default false. Method will be executed asynchronously and will return future, to get its value you can use value method. If set to true, method will return array of envelopes (even if there's only one envelope). For sync methods Envelope object will be returned.

Sample code

1envelope = pubnub.message_counts(channel:['a', 'b', 'c', 'd'], channel_timetokens: 12123).value
2    p envelope.result[:data]

Returns

Channels count

Channels without messages have a count of 0. Channels with 10,000 messages or more have a count of 10000.

Returns Concurrent::Future object if PubNub is configured with http_sync: false (default behavior) or envelope if it's set to sync mode

1#<Pubnub::Envelope
2    @result=
3      {
4       :data=>
5        {
6         "channels"=>{"a"=>2, "c"=>0, "b"=>0, "d"=>0}
7        }
8     @status=
9      {
10        :code=>200
11      }
12>

Other examples

Retrieve count of messages using different timetokens for each channel

1envelope = pubnub.message_counts(channel:['a', 'b', 'c', 'd'], channel_timetokens: [123135129, 123135124, 12312312, 123135125]).value
2    p envelope.result[:data]