--- source_url: https://www.pubnub.com/docs/serverless/events-and-actions/overview title: Events & Actions updated_at: 2026-06-04T11:13:42.377Z --- > Documentation Index > For a curated overview of PubNub documentation, see: https://www.pubnub.com/docs/llms.txt > For the full list of all documentation pages, see: https://www.pubnub.com/docs/llms-full.txt # Events & Actions Events & Actions (E&A) is a serverless platform. It lets you manage events in your app and send real-time data to third‑party systems for storage, analytics, or AI. You configure it in the UI—no code required. ## How it works Events are small pieces of information that PubNub generates from your usage. PubNub creates events during the app lifecycle, for example when a client connects, disconnects, publishes, or subscribes to a channel. You react to events with a listener and one or more actions. | Scenario | PubNub event | Description | | --- | --- | --- | | Device publishes a message via an API call | PubNub generates a `Message Publish` event | A device Publish API call triggers a `Message Publish` event. This is an explicit event. | | User’s phone loses Internet connection | PubNub generates a `User Disconnect` event | PubNub detects that the connection is gone without an API call. This is an implicit event. | After you configure a listener (1) for an event, add actions (2) such as sending data by webhook or queue. You can also create actions first and attach them to listeners later. Open Events & Actions in the [Admin Portal](https://admin.pubnub.com). :::tip Public Admin Portal demo Want to browse through the Admin Portal without creating an account? Explore it through the [Public Demo](https://demo-admin.pubnub.com/) that shows examples of most PubNub features for transport and logistics use case. ::: ![Events & Actions UI: configure listeners and add actions in the Admin Portal](https://www.pubnub.com/assets/images/e&a-ui-281223c497dbf8862fe35aa60a2e6651.png) ## Availability Events & Actions is available to PubNub customers on [Free, Starter, and Pro](https://www.pubnub.com/pricing/) plans in eight tiers. | Item | Free | Intro | Tier 1 | Tier 2 | Tier 3 | Tier 4 | Tier 5 | Tier 6 | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Max events ingested | 10K | 2M | 4M | 25M | 66M | 200M | 500M | Unlimited | | Listeners | 1 | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | | Actions per listener | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | Unlimited | | Action Types per Listener | Webhook only | All Available Actions | All Available Actions | All Available Actions | All Available Actions | All Available Actions | All Available Actions | All Available Actions | | Retry | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | :::note Events Ingested Events Ingested is the total number of events received by PubNub. Each event is processed by your configured Event Listeners. If an event matches multiple listeners, it is processed once per matching listener, which may result in multiple processing operations per event. Billing reflects the total number of these operations. For example, if PubNub receives 1,000 messages and you have 3 listeners that each match those messages, the total Events Ingested count is 3,000 (1,000 × 3). ::: Events & Actions includes a two‑week free trial. After the trial, [contact sales](https://www.pubnub.com/company/contact-sales/) to upgrade your plan. ## Event listeners Event listeners wait for PubNub events. When an event occurs, the listener runs. For example: * A message is published to a specific channel. * A user with a particular Sender ID publishes a message. * The message metadata matches a pattern you define. * A file was sent by a particular user. ###### React to message events with listeners Message publish is the most common event source for E&A listeners. When a client [publishes a message](https://www.pubnub.com/docs/general/messages/publish), PubNub generates an event that your listeners can match by channel, sender, metadata, or [message type](https://www.pubnub.com/docs/general/messages/type). Listeners also respond to [message reactions](https://www.pubnub.com/docs/general/messages/actions) being added or removed. See [Event / Action List](https://www.pubnub.com/docs/serverless/events-and-actions/events#messages) for all message-related event types and their payloads. ###### Add channel-level event tracking with listeners Beyond message events, E&A listeners can react to [channel-level presence and metadata events](https://www.pubnub.com/docs/serverless/events-and-actions/events#channels). Track when users subscribe or leave, detect the first subscriber or last departure, and respond to channel metadata being created, updated, or deleted. Use [channel naming conventions](https://www.pubnub.com/docs/general/channels/channel-naming) with consistent prefixes so basic filters can target groups of related channels. See [Channel Basics](https://www.pubnub.com/docs/general/channels/overview) for how channels work. Each listener can trigger several actions. For example, when a client with User ID `thomas_anderson` publishes a message, PubNub runs all actions attached to that listener. For all events, see the [Event/Action list](https://www.pubnub.com/docs/serverless/events-and-actions/events). ###### Filter events by User ID E&A listeners can target specific users through the [Sender ID basic filter](https://www.pubnub.com/docs/serverless/events-and-actions/configure-e&a#basic-filters) or by matching the `uuid` field with [advanced JSONPath](https://www.pubnub.com/docs/serverless/events-and-actions/events#advanced-json-path). The [Users event source](https://www.pubnub.com/docs/serverless/events-and-actions/events#users) also fires when user metadata is created, updated, or deleted, letting you react to profile changes in real time. For how User IDs are assigned and managed, see [Users & Devices](https://www.pubnub.com/docs/general/setup/users-and-devices). ## Actions Actions send data when a listener is triggered. :::tip Actions per listener Your [Events & Actions tier](#availability) sets how many actions a listener can trigger. ::: Available actions include: | Action | How to configure | | --- | --- | | [Webhook](https://www.pubnub.com/docs/serverless/events-and-actions/events#webhooks) | [Create Webhook action](https://www.pubnub.com/docs/serverless/events-and-actions/actions/create-webhook-action) | | [Amazon SQS](https://www.pubnub.com/docs/serverless/events-and-actions/events#amazon-sqs) | [Create SQS action](https://www.pubnub.com/docs/serverless/events-and-actions/actions/create-sqs-action) | | [Amazon Kinesis](https://www.pubnub.com/docs/serverless/events-and-actions/events#amazon-kinesis) | [Create Kinesis action](https://www.pubnub.com/docs/serverless/events-and-actions/actions/create-kinesis-action) | | [Amazon S3 with batching](https://www.pubnub.com/docs/serverless/events-and-actions/events#amazon-s3) | [Create S3 action](https://www.pubnub.com/docs/serverless/events-and-actions/actions/create-s3-action) | | [Apache Kafka](https://www.pubnub.com/docs/serverless/events-and-actions/events#apache-kafka) | [Create Kafka action](https://www.pubnub.com/docs/serverless/events-and-actions/actions/create-kafka-action) | | [IFTTT Webhook](https://www.pubnub.com/docs/serverless/events-and-actions/events#ifttt-webhook) | [Create IFTTT action](https://www.pubnub.com/docs/serverless/events-and-actions/actions/create-ifttt-action) | | [AMQP](https://www.pubnub.com/docs/serverless/events-and-actions/events#amqp) | [Create AMQP action](https://www.pubnub.com/docs/serverless/events-and-actions/actions/create-amqp-action) | ## Events & Actions vs. Functions PubNub supports two distinct approaches to event-driven processing. * Use Events & Actions to forward real‑time data to third‑party systems with low code. * Use [Functions](https://www.pubnub.com/docs/serverless/functions/overview) to transform messages, run custom logic, or handle on‑the‑fly processing. ## Configure Events & Actions Configure Events & Actions in the Admin Portal UI. It includes webhook retry (paid tiers) and custom headers for authentication and validation. To create and configure E&A, see [Configure Events & Actions](https://www.pubnub.com/docs/serverless/events-and-actions/configure-e&a). ## Terms in this document * **PubNub** - PubNub is a real-time messaging platform that provides APIs and SDKs for building scalable applications. It handles the complex infrastructure of real-time communication, including: Message delivery and persistence, Presence detection, Access control, Push notifications, File sharing, Serverless processing with Functions and Events & Actions, Analytics and monitoring with BizOps Workspace, AI-powered insights with Illuminate. * **User** - An individual or entity that interacts with a system, application, or service. In PubNub, a user typically refers to someone who sends or receives messages through the platform, identified by a unique user ID or username. * **User ID** - UTF-8 encoded, unique string of up to 92 characters used to identify a single client (end user, device, or server) that connects to PubNub.