Public channels

A Realtime channel is public unless its name starts with private- or presence-. A client needs only the public app key to subscribe, so treat the channel as readable by anyone with that key.

const orders = bird.subscribe("orders");
orders.bind("order-updated", (data) => {
  console.log(data);
});

let orders = bird.subscribe("orders")
orders.bind("order-updated") { data in
    print(data ?? "")
}

val orders = bird.subscribe("orders")
orders.bind("order-updated") { data ->
    println(data)
}

Public channels require no registration or authorization endpoint. A channel exists while at least one connection is subscribed and disappears when the last connection leaves.

When to use a public channel

Use public channels for data that every visitor may read, such as build results, live scores, flight information, viewer counts, or status-page incidents.

Use a private channel for data scoped to a user, account, or tenant. Public channel subscriptions require no authorization, so a client can try any channel name it can guess or construct.

Public channel limitations

Member identity: Public channels do not track members or expose a member list. The bird:member_added and bird:member_removed events belong to presence channels.
Client events: Public channels reject events whose names begin with client-. Use an authorized private or presence channel for client-originated events.

Private channels restrict subscriptions to clients approved by your backend.
Publishing events explains how to publish from your server and broadcast to multiple channels.
Realtime overview defines channels, members, and connections.

Public channels

When to use a public channel

Public channel limitations

Connection counts

Naming

Next steps