Add `channel` flag to push publish by maratal · Pull Request #184 · ably/ably-cli

maratal · 2026-03-23T18:47:57Z

Summary

Adds --channel flag to push publish command
When used without a direct recipient, publishes the push notification to the channel with the payload wrapped in extras.push, routing it to push-subscribed devices via the channel
If a direct recipient (--device-id, --client-id, --recipient) is also provided, --channel is silently ignored with a warning (emitted in both human-readable and JSON modes)

Summary by CodeRabbit

Release Notes

New Features
- Added --channel flag to ably push publish for publishing push notifications to channels. When both recipient flags (e.g., --device-id) and --channel are provided, the channel flag is ignored with a warning.
Documentation
- Updated ably push publish command documentation to expand targeting scope from "device or client" to "device, client, or channel".
- Added example demonstrating ably channels presence update with --pretty-json formatting.

When --channel-name is provided without a direct recipient, the push notification is published to the channel with the payload wrapped in extras.push, routing it to push-subscribed devices via the channel. If a direct recipient (--device-id, --client-id, --recipient) is also present, --channel-name is ignored with a warning. Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>

cursor · 2026-03-23T18:48:01Z

You have used all of your free Bugbot PR reviews.

To receive reviews on all of your PRs, visit the Cursor dashboard to activate Pro and start your 14-day free trial.

vercel · 2026-03-23T18:48:03Z

The latest updates on your projects. Learn more about Vercel for GitHub.

Project	Deployment	Actions	Updated (UTC)
cli-web-cli	Ready	Preview, Comment	Mar 26, 2026 4:32pm

coderabbitai · 2026-03-23T18:48:11Z

Walkthrough

The changes add support for publishing push notifications via a channel in addition to device/client recipients. A new --channel-name flag was introduced, target validation logic was refactored to accept either direct recipients or a channel name, and publishing now routes to either the push admin API or the channel's publish method accordingly.

Changes

Cohort / File(s)	Summary
Feature Implementation `src/commands/push/publish.ts`	Added `--channel-name` flag with validation logic requiring either a direct recipient or channel name. Publishing routes to `rest.push.admin.publish()` for recipients or `rest.channels.get().publish()` with `extras.push` wrapper for channels. Includes new output helpers for formatting and warning messages.
Tests & Documentation `test/unit/commands/push/publish.test.ts`, `README.md`	Expanded test coverage for `--channel-name` flag, channel publishing flow, recipient precedence, and error handling. Updated README documentation describing the new flag, channel-based publishing capability, and updated command examples.

Sequence Diagram(s)

sequenceDiagram
    participant User
    participant CLI as CLI Command
    participant Validation
    participant Publisher
    participant PushAdmin as Push Admin API
    participant Channels as Channels API
    participant Output

    User->>CLI: ably push publish --channel-name=my-channel

    CLI->>Validation: Validate flags<br/>(has channel-name OR recipient?)
    Validation-->>CLI: ✓ Valid

    CLI->>Publisher: Route to publisher<br/>(hasDirectRecipient?)
    
    alt Channel-based Publishing
        Publisher->>Channels: Get channel instance
        Channels->>Channels: publish({<br/>extras: { push: payload }<br/>})
        Channels-->>Publisher: ✓ Published
        Publisher->>Output: Format response<br/>({ published: true, channel })
    else Recipient-based Publishing (if recipient provided)
        Publisher->>PushAdmin: publish(recipient, payload)
        PushAdmin-->>Publisher: ✓ Published
        Publisher->>Output: Format response<br/>(success message)
    end
    
    Output-->>User: Display result

Estimated code review effort

🎯 3 (Moderate) | ⏱️ ~20 minutes

Poem

🐰 Hoppy news! A channel path,
where push notifications can now bathe,
no longer just device and client calls,
the rabbit's CLI now conquers all channels!
With --channel-name set so bright,
notifications flow through extras.push tonight! 📢✨

🚥 Pre-merge checks | ✅ 3

✅ Passed checks (3 passed)

Check name	Status	Explanation
Docstring Coverage	✅ Passed	No functions found in the changed files to evaluate docstring coverage. Skipping docstring coverage check.
Title check	✅ Passed	The title directly reflects the main change: adding a `--channel-name` flag to the push publish command. It is concise, clear, and accurately summarizes the primary modification.
Description check	✅ Passed	The pull request description clearly explains the new --channel-name flag functionality, its behavior with and without direct recipients, and includes release notes documenting the changes.

_{✏️ Tip: You can configure your own custom pre-merge checks in the settings.}

Thanks for using CodeRabbit! It's free for OSS, and your support helps us grow. If you like it, consider giving us a shout-out.

❤️ Share

_{Comment @coderabbitai help to get the list of available commands and usage tips.}

coderabbitai

Actionable comments posted: 5

🤖 Prompt for all review comments with AI agents

Verify each finding against the current code and only fix it if needed.

Inline comments:
In `@src/commands/push/publish.ts`:
- Line 236: The chained call rest.channels.get(channelName).publish({ extras: {
push: payload } }) is too long for Prettier; split the expression across
multiple lines to satisfy line-length rules. Specifically, break after getting
the channel (rest.channels.get(channelName)) and place the .publish( call on the
next line, with the object literal formatted over multiple lines (e.g., open
.publish( on its own line, then place extras and push on separate indented
lines) and close the call on a new line. Keep the same identifiers (rest,
channels, get, channelName, publish, payload) and behavior unchanged.
- Around line 99-105: The warning emitted when hasDirectRecipient and
flags["channel-name"] is true uses this.log(formatWarning(...)) and will corrupt
--json output; wrap that this.log call in a guard that checks
this.shouldOutputJson(flags) (i.e., only call this.log when
!this.shouldOutputJson(flags)) so the formatWarning message is emitted only for
human-readable runs; update the block around the this.log/formatWarning
invocation in publish (where hasDirectRecipient and flags["channel-name"] are
checked) to use the conditional before logging.

In `@test/unit/commands/push/publish.test.ts`:
- Around line 148-157: The test currently JSON.parses stdout directly which can
fail due to Prettier/whitespace formatting; update the test to trim the CLI
output before parsing by calling JSON.parse(stdout.trim()) so it tolerates
trailing newlines/formatting. Locate the test using runCommand in
publish.test.ts (the it block "should output JSON with channel when publishing
via channel") and change JSON.parse(stdout) to JSON.parse(stdout.trim()) to make
the assertion robust.
- Around line 173-183: Formatting in the "should handle channel publish errors"
test is inconsistent with project Prettier rules; reformat the test in
test/unit/commands/push/publish.test.ts (the it(...) block) so it matches the
code style: proper indentation, spacing around arrow functions, consistent
semicolons, and no stray blank/merged lines — specifically fix the block that
uses getMockAblyRest(),
mock.channels._getChannel("err-channel").publish.mockRejectedValue(new
Error("Channel error")), and the await runCommand([...], import.meta.url) call
so Prettier passes; you can run Prettier or your project's formatter to apply
the exact corrections.
- Around line 105-134: The tests "should publish via channel wrapping payload in
extras.push" and "should ignore --channel-name when --device-id is also
provided" have long single-line argument arrays and matcher chains that fail
Prettier; reformat the runCommand calls and expect(...) assertions into
multiline style so each argument or chained matcher is on its own line (e.g.,
break the runCommand argument array across multiple lines and break the
expect.objectContaining/expect.anything matcher chains into multiple indented
lines), keeping the same values and assertions for getMockAblyRest(),
runCommand(...), channel.publish expectations, and mock.push.admin.publish
checks.

🪄 Autofix (Beta)

Fix all unresolved CodeRabbit comments on this PR:

Push a commit to this branch (recommended)
Create a new PR with the fixes

ℹ️ Review info

⚙️ Run configuration

Configuration used: Repository UI

Review profile: CHILL

Plan: Pro

Run ID: e84d3f9a-95cf-4a66-bd46-ad5042445fcd

📥 Commits

Reviewing files that changed from the base of the PR and between c2c1d30 and b25c868.

📒 Files selected for processing (3)

README.md
src/commands/push/publish.ts
test/unit/commands/push/publish.test.ts

src/commands/push/publish.ts

test/unit/commands/push/publish.test.ts

Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>

AndyTWF · 2026-03-23T20:02:53Z

src/commands/push/publish.ts

      description: "Raw recipient JSON for advanced targeting",
      exclusive: ["device-id", "client-id"],
    }),
+    "channel-name": Flags.string({


On other commands we use --channel so we should have the same here

Done — renamed to --channel.

You should update PR summary about using --channel-name to --channel

Updated the PR description to reflect --channel throughout.

AndyTWF · 2026-03-23T20:03:11Z

src/commands/push/publish.ts

    }

+    if (hasDirectRecipient && flags["channel-name"]) {
+      this.log(


Per coderabbit, this would break json mode

…-json - Rename flag to --channel for consistency with other commands (per Andy) - Wrap --channel-ignored warning in !shouldOutputJson() guard to avoid polluting machine-readable output (per CodeRabbit/Andy) Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>

sacOO7 · 2026-03-25T17:51:45Z

src/commands/push/publish.ts


+    if (hasDirectRecipient && flags.channel && !this.shouldOutputJson(flags)) {
+      this.log(
+        formatWarning(


I feel this warning should also be available in JSON mode.
You can check ephemeralSpaceWarning at https://github.com/ably/ably-cli/pull/185/changes

Fixed — now emits logJsonStatus("warning", ...) when --json is active, following the same pattern as ephemeralSpaceWarning in #185.

sacOO7 · 2026-03-25T17:52:59Z

src/commands/push/publish.ts

+    if (!hasDirectRecipient && !flags.channel) {
      this.fail(
-        "A recipient is required: --device-id, --client-id, or --recipient",
+        "A target is required: --device-id, --client-id, --recipient, or --channel-name",


Suggested change

"A target is required: --device-id, --client-id, --recipient, or --channel-name",

"A target is required: --device-id, --client-id, --recipient, or --channel",

Fixed, thanks.

…emit channel-ignored warning in JSON mode Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>

maratal · 2026-03-26T14:48:46Z

Manual testing — `--channel` flag

The following commands were tested manually with the new --channel flag:

./bin/run.js push publish --channel exampleChannel1 --title "Hello" --body "World 001"
./bin/run.js push publish --channel exampleChannel1 --title "Hello" --body "World 002" --data '{"key":"value"}'
./bin/run.js push publish --channel exampleChannel1 --payload '{"notification":{"title":"Hello","body":"World 003"},"data":{"key":"value"}}'
./bin/run.js push publish --channel exampleChannel1 --payload ./notification.json
./bin/run.js push batch-publish --payload ./notifications.json
./bin/run.js push batch-publish --payload '[{"channel": "exampleChannel1","payload": {"notification": {"title": "Hello","body": "World 007"},"data":{"key":"value"}}}]'

All commands completed successfully. ✅

sacOO7 · 2026-03-26T15:19:29Z

src/commands/push/publish.ts

+        }
      } else {
-        this.log(formatSuccess("Push notification published."));
+        const channelName = flags.channel!;


Btw I feel, if possible we should also introduce confirmation dialogue saying

Push notification will be sent to all users subscribed to this channel or channels, do you want to publish to all users present on the channel

using promptForConfirmation in the code.

Generally devs tend to test push notifications, if there are lots of users present on the channel in prod environment, all of them will receive test notifications. So, we can make it explicit in the prompt.

Same, goes for batch-publish on given set of channels

Good call. Added promptForConfirmation before the channel publish in push publish and batch-publish — it warns that the notification will go to all devices subscribed to the channel, and is skipped in --json mode or with the new --force/-f flag for scripted use.

…mpts - batch-publish now accepts items with a "channel" field as an alternative to "recipient"; channel items are published via extras.push on the channel (the /push/batch/publish API only accepts recipient-based items) - If both "channel" and "recipient" are present in a batch item, "channel" is ignored with a warning (consistent with push publish behaviour) - Added promptForConfirmation before publishing to channels in both push publish and push batch-publish, as channel publishes reach all subscribed devices — skipped in --json mode and with new --force/-f flag - Added --force flag to push publish and push batch-publish to skip the confirmation prompt in scripts/CI Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>

maratal requested review from AndyTWF, sacOO7 and umair-ably March 23, 2026 18:47

vercel bot deployed to Preview March 23, 2026 18:48 View deployment

maratal changed the title ~~feat(push): add --channel-name flag to push publish~~ Add channel-name flag to push publish Mar 23, 2026

coderabbitai bot reviewed Mar 23, 2026

View reviewed changes

fix(lint): fix prettier formatting in push publish command and tests

a771afb

Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>

vercel bot deployed to Preview March 23, 2026 18:52 View deployment

fix(e2e): update push publish e2e test to match new error message

d12466e

Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>

vercel bot deployed to Preview March 23, 2026 19:05 View deployment

AndyTWF reviewed Mar 23, 2026

View reviewed changes

vercel bot deployed to Preview March 23, 2026 22:14 View deployment

sacOO7 reviewed Mar 25, 2026

View reviewed changes

maratal changed the title ~~Add channel-name flag to push publish~~ Add channel flag to push publish Mar 26, 2026

fix(push): address review comments — fix error message flag name and …

f7d9348

…emit channel-ignored warning in JSON mode Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>

vercel bot deployed to Preview March 26, 2026 13:52 View deployment

sacOO7 reviewed Mar 26, 2026

View reviewed changes

vercel bot deployed to Preview March 26, 2026 16:32 View deployment

	"A target is required: --device-id, --client-id, --recipient, or --channel-name",
	"A target is required: --device-id, --client-id, --recipient, or --channel",

Conversation

maratal commented Mar 23, 2026 • edited Loading Uh oh! There was an error while loading. Please reload this page.

Uh oh!

Summary

Summary by CodeRabbit

Release Notes

Uh oh!

cursor bot commented Mar 23, 2026

Uh oh!

vercel bot commented Mar 23, 2026 • edited Loading Uh oh! There was an error while loading. Please reload this page.

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

coderabbitai bot commented Mar 23, 2026 • edited Loading Uh oh! There was an error while loading. Please reload this page.

Uh oh!

Walkthrough

Changes

Sequence Diagram(s)

Estimated code review effort

Poem

Uh oh!

coderabbitai bot left a comment

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Uh oh!

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Uh oh!

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Uh oh!

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Uh oh!

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Uh oh!

maratal Mar 23, 2026 • edited Loading Uh oh! There was an error while loading. Please reload this page.

Uh oh!

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Uh oh!

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Uh oh!

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Uh oh!

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Uh oh!

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Uh oh!

maratal commented Mar 26, 2026 • edited Loading Uh oh! There was an error while loading. Please reload this page.

Uh oh!

Manual testing — --channel flag

Uh oh!

sacOO7 Mar 26, 2026 • edited Loading Uh oh! There was an error while loading. Please reload this page.

Uh oh!

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Uh oh!

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Uh oh!

maratal Mar 26, 2026 • edited Loading Uh oh! There was an error while loading. Please reload this page.

Uh oh!

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Uh oh!

Reviewers

Assignees

Labels

Milestone

Development

Uh oh!

3 participants

maratal commented Mar 23, 2026 •

edited

Loading

vercel bot commented Mar 23, 2026 •

edited

Loading

coderabbitai bot commented Mar 23, 2026 •

edited

Loading

maratal Mar 23, 2026 •

edited

Loading

maratal commented Mar 26, 2026 •

edited

Loading

Manual testing — `--channel` flag

sacOO7 Mar 26, 2026 •

edited

Loading

maratal Mar 26, 2026 •

edited

Loading