laravel/framework · error · BroadcastException

Ably error: %s

Error message

Ably error: %s

What it means

Thrown by AblyBroadcaster::broadcast() when the Ably SDK raises an AblyException during channel publish. The broadcaster wraps it into a BroadcastException with the sprintf 'Ably error: %s' message so all Ably failures surface uniformly. Broadcasting happens on the queue by default, so this often appears in failed jobs.

Source

Thrown at src/Illuminate/Broadcasting/Broadcasters/AblyBroadcaster.php:134

     * Broadcast the given event.
     *
     * @param  array  $channels
     * @param  string  $event
     * @param  array  $payload
     * @return void
     *
     * @throws \Illuminate\Broadcasting\BroadcastException
     */
    public function broadcast(array $channels, $event, array $payload = [])
    {
        try {
            foreach ($this->formatChannels($channels) as $channel) {
                $this->ably->channels->get($channel)->publish(
                    $this->buildAblyMessage($event, $payload)
                );
            }
        } catch (AblyException $e) {
            throw new BroadcastException(
                sprintf('Ably error: %s', $e->getMessage())
            );
        }
    }

    /**
     * Build an Ably message object for broadcasting.
     *
     * @param  string  $event
     * @param  array  $payload
     * @return \Ably\Models\Message
     */
    protected function buildAblyMessage($event, array $payload = [])
    {
        return tap(new AblyMessage, function ($message) use ($event, $payload) {
            $message->name = $event;
            $message->data = $payload;
            $message->connectionKey = data_get($payload, 'socket');

View on GitHub (pinned to bd6b5437e6)

Solutions

1. Verify ABLY_KEY (and key/secret in config) are valid and not expired in the Ably dashboard.
2. Inspect the embedded Ably message to identify the specific cause (auth, rate limit, invalid channel).
3. Ensure events implement ShouldBroadcast (queued) not ShouldBroadcastNow so transient failures retry on the queue.
4. Configure queue retries/failed-job handling so transient Ably errors are reprocessed.

Example fix

// before - .env
ABLY_KEY=
// broadcast throws "Ably error: ..."

// after
ABLY_KEY=xxxxx.yyyyy:zzzzz
// and keep events queued so transient errors retry:
class OrderShipped implements ShouldBroadcast
{
    public function via(): array { return ['ably']; }
}

if (empty(config('broadcasting.connections.ably.key'))) {
    throw new RuntimeException('Ably key is not configured; broadcasting will fail.');
}

function ablyCredentialsAreConfigured(): bool
{
    return ! empty(config('broadcasting.connections.ably.key'));
}

try {
    broadcast(new OrderShipped($order));
} catch (\Illuminate\Broadcasting\BroadcastException $e) {
    if (str_contains($e->getMessage(), 'Ably error')) {
        // queue for retry; log the underlying cause
        report($e);
    } else {
        throw $e;
    }
}

When it happens

Trigger: Dispatching a ShouldBroadcast event on the ably connection with an invalid/expired Ably key, a rate-limited account, an invalid channel name, or when Ably's API is unreachable.

Common situations: ABLY_KEY misconfigured or expired; broadcasting on a connection that hits Ably rate limits; network outage to Ably endpoints; invalid channel name characters; running broadcasts synchronously (ShouldBroadcastNow) in a request so the error surfaces directly.

Related errors

• Failed to create broadcaster for connection "{$name}" with e
• Broadcast connection [{$name}] is not defined.
• Driver [{$config['driver']}] is not supported.
• Unable to bind custom driver callback
• Given channel handler is an unknown type.

AI-assisted analysis of laravel/framework@bd6b5437e6 (2026-08-06). Data as JSON: /data/errors/2f13da29b806a448.json. Report an issue: GitHub.