PubSub

PubSub is the abstract base class for Mastra's event system. It defines the contract that every pub/sub backend implements, so the rest of Mastra can publish and subscribe to events without knowing which transport is in use.

Mastra uses pub/sub internally for workflow event processing, streaming, and cross-component communication. Most applications use the default EventEmitterPubSub and never construct a PubSub directly. Implement this class only when you need a custom transport.

For built-in implementations, see EventEmitterPubSub, UnixSocketPubSub, CachingPubSub, RedisStreamsPubSub, and GoogleCloudPubSub.

Usage example

Extend PubSub and implement the four abstract methods to add a custom backend.

src/mastra/pubsub.ts

import { PubSub } from '@mastra/core/events'
import type { Event, EventCallback, SubscribeOptions } from '@mastra/core/events'

export class CustomPubSub extends PubSub {
  async publish(topic: string, event: Omit<Event, 'id' | 'createdAt'>): Promise<void> {
    // Deliver the event to subscribers of `topic`.
  }

  async subscribe(topic: string, cb: EventCallback, options?: SubscribeOptions): Promise<void> {
    // Register `cb` to receive events published to `topic`.
  }

  async unsubscribe(topic: string, cb: EventCallback): Promise<void> {
    // Remove a previously registered callback.
  }

  async flush(): Promise<void> {
    // Wait for any in-flight deliveries to settle.
  }
}

Pass the instance to the Mastra constructor:

src/mastra/index.ts

import { Mastra } from '@mastra/core'
import { CustomPubSub } from './pubsub'

export const mastra = new Mastra({
  pubsub: new CustomPubSub(),
})

Delivery modes

A PubSub declares which delivery modes it supports through the supportedModes property. Mastra reads this to decide whether to run a long-lived worker that pulls events.

Mode	Description
pull	Consumers actively read from the broker, for example Redis Streams XREADGROUP. Mastra runs an orchestration worker to read.
push	Events arrive without the consumer asking, either in-process or through an HTTP endpoint. No read loop is required.

The default is ['pull'] so that custom implementations keep today's behavior unless they opt in to push delivery.

Methods

Core methods

publish(topic, event)

Publishes an event to a topic. The id and createdAt fields are assigned by the implementation.

await pubsub.publish('my-topic', {
  type: 'example',
  data: { value: 1 },
  runId: 'run-123',
})

subscribe(topic, cb, options?)

Registers a callback to receive events published to a topic. When options.group is set, subscribers in the same group compete for messages and each event is delivered to one member. Without a group, every subscriber receives every event.

Pass options.batch to opt in to batched delivery. The callback signature is unchanged: a batch of N events is delivered as N consecutive cb(event, ack, nack) calls in publish order. Batching is honored only when the backend's supportsNativeBatching is true. Other backends ignore the option and deliver events one at a time.

await pubsub.subscribe('my-topic', (event, ack, nack) => {
  console.log(event)
})

unsubscribe(topic, cb)

Removes a previously registered callback from a topic.

await pubsub.unsubscribe('my-topic', callback)

flush()

Waits for any in-flight deliveries to settle. Call this before shutdown to avoid dropping events.

await pubsub.flush()

clearTopic(topic)

Deletes all retained state for a topic (cached history, persistent stream entries, and consumer groups) once no more events will be published to it. Mastra's run lifecycles (durable agents and the evented workflow engine) call this automatically when a run reaches a terminal state, so per-run topics don't accumulate on transports that retain messages.

The default implementation is a no-op: transports that retain nothing per topic (such as EventEmitterPubSub) have nothing to clear. Backends that persist messages, like RedisStreamsPubSub, override it. The contract is best-effort: implementations log failures rather than throwing, because callers invoke it fire-and-forget at cleanup boundaries.

await pubsub.clearTopic('workflow.events.v2.run-123')

Replay methods

These methods support resuming a stream after a disconnect. The default implementations fall back to a regular subscribe, so backends without history support behave as live-only. CachingPubSub overrides them to replay cached events.

getHistory(topic, offset?)

Returns cached events for a topic, starting at offset. Returns an empty array when the backend has no history.

const events = await pubsub.getHistory('my-topic', 0)

Returns: Promise<Event[]>

subscribeWithReplay(topic, cb)

Replays cached events, then subscribes to live events.

await pubsub.subscribeWithReplay('my-topic', event => {
  console.log(event)
})

subscribeFromOffset(topic, offset, cb)

Replays cached events starting at a known position, then subscribes to live events. This is more efficient than a full replay when the client knows its last position.

await pubsub.subscribeFromOffset('my-topic', 42, event => {
  console.log(event)
})

Properties

supportedModes:

ReadonlyArray<"pull" | "push">

Delivery modes the implementation supports. Defaults to ["pull"].

supportsNativeBatching:

boolean

Whether the implementation honors options.batch on subscribe(). Defaults to false. Backends that integrate batching internally override this and return true.

Types

Event

type:

string

Event type identifier.

id:

string

Unique event ID, assigned by the implementation on publish.

data:

any

Event payload.

runId:

string

Run the event belongs to.

createdAt:

Date

Timestamp assigned by the implementation on publish.

index?:

number

Sequential position used to resume from a specific offset.

deliveryAttempt?:

number

Number of times the event has been delivered. Starts at 1. Defaults to 1 when the backend does not track redelivery.

SubscribeOptions

group?:

string

When set, subscribers with the same group compete for messages and each event is delivered to one member. When omitted, every subscriber receives every event.

batch?:

SubscribeBatchOptions

Opt in to batched delivery for this subscription. When omitted, events are delivered one at a time. Honored only by backends where supportsNativeBatching is true.

SubscribeBatchOptions

Per-subscription batching policy. The callback signature doesn't change. A batch of N events becomes N consecutive callback invocations in publish order.

maxSize?:

number

Maximum events held before forcing a flush.

maxWaitMs?:

number

Maximum time in milliseconds the oldest event may sit in the buffer. The timer starts when the buffer transitions from empty to non-empty.

minIntervalMs?:

number

Minimum time in milliseconds between consecutive batch deliveries. Even when maxSize or maxWaitMs would fire, the buffer holds until this interval has elapsed since the last delivery.

isImmediate?:

(event: Event) => boolean

When it returns true for an event, the buffer flushes immediately on publish, subject to minIntervalMs. A per-event escape hatch.

coalesce?:

(events: Event[]) => Event[]

Applied to the queued batch before delivery to drop superseded events. Must return a subset of its input by reference identity; returning freshly constructed Event objects is a contract violation and discards the whole batch. Ordering of kept events is preserved.

maxBufferSize?:

number

= 256

Maximum events the buffer may hold before overflow handling kicks in. Events flagged immediate are never dropped on overflow.

overflow?:

"drop-oldest" | "drop-newest" | "coalesce-or-drop-oldest"

= coalesce-or-drop-oldest

Overflow strategy when the buffer exceeds maxBufferSize. coalesce-or-drop-oldest runs coalesce first, then drops oldest if still over budget.

EventCallback

The callback signature for subscribers: (event: Event, ack?: () => Promise<void>, nack?: () => Promise<void>) => void.

event:

Event

The delivered event.

ack?:

() => Promise<void>

Acknowledge successful processing. The event is removed from the queue.

nack?:

() => Promise<void>

Negative acknowledge. The event is requeued for redelivery after a delay.