Every screen, every team
always in sync

The two systems handle different jobs. Ably runs the pub/sub backbone for live data table updates row updated, row deleted, bulk update events on channels every client subscribes to. Socket.io handles server push notifications for events that need a human in the loop toast alerts, live badge counts, mentions, and SLA breaches. Together they give the platform two complementary layers: live state for the tables, and live alerts for the moments that matter.

Three typed row events cover the data table layer row_updated whenever an inline edit, status change, or single record write commits; row_deleted when any record is removed including merge survivors; and bulk_update for multi record operations like reassign, retag, or import. The Socket.io layer publishes its own set of higher level events for notifications, mentions, and activity feeds, with payloads scoped to the user who needs to see them.

Yes, every tab and every device subscribed to the workspace receives the same events at the same time. A rep with the lead list open on a desktop, a deal detail open on a laptop, and a dashboard open on mobile sees the same live state on all three. The events are delivered to every connected client, so the team experience stays consistent across every screen in use.

Connection drops are detected automatically and the client reconnects in the background. On reconnect, any events the client missed during the outage are replayed, so the table state catches up to the live database without the user having to refresh. For long outages, the client falls back to a full sync of the affected channels to guarantee no divergence between screen and server.

No, the architecture is designed for low overhead. Ably delivers events over a single multiplexed WebSocket per session, so the platform isn't opening a connection per channel. Clients subscribe only to the channels relevant to the current view, and the typed events let the UI render the smallest possible diff no full table reloads on every change. The result feels faster than a refresh based application, not slower.

Yes, notification preferences are per user and per event type. Each teammate decides which Socket.io push events surface as toasts, which fire as in app badges, and which roll up into the activity feed only. High signal events like a closed won deal or an SLA breach are on by default for the right roles, while the more chatty event streams can be opted into or out of based on how the team likes to work.