# useAblyMessages

Subscribe to the raw `Ably.InboundMessage` stream from the transport's tree. Messages are appended in arrival order. Use when you need to inspect channel-level metadata (serials, raw headers) that the codec layer would otherwise hide. Most applications should use [`useView`](https://ably.com/docs/ai-transport/api/react/use-view.md) instead, which returns decoded domain messages.

This hook must be used within a [`TransportProvider`](https://ably.com/docs/ai-transport/api/react/providers.md#TransportProvider) or a [`ChatTransportProvider`](https://ably.com/docs/ai-transport/api/react/providers.md#ChatTransportProvider).

<Code>

#### React

```
import { useAblyMessages } from '@ably/ai-transport/react';

function RawLog() {
  const messages = useAblyMessages();
  return <pre>{messages.map((m) => `${m.serial} ${m.name}`).join('\n')}</pre>;
}
```
</Code>

## Parameters

<Table id='UseAblyMessagesProps'>

| Prop | Required | Description | Type |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| transport | Optional | Transport to subscribe to. Defaults to the nearest provider when omitted. | `ClientTransport<TEvent, TMessage>` |
| skip | Optional | When `true`, skip all subscriptions and return an empty array. | Boolean |

</Table>

## Returns

`Ably.InboundMessage[]`

The accumulated raw Ably messages in chronological order. The array grows as messages arrive.

## Example

<Code>
```react
import { useAblyMessages } from '@ably/ai-transport/react';

function ChannelTrace() {
  const raw = useAblyMessages();
  return (
    <ul>
      {raw.map((m) => (
        <li key={m.serial}>
          <code>{m.serial}</code> {m.name} ({m.action})
        </li>
      ))}
    </ul>
  );
}
```
</Code>

## Related Topics

- [Providers](https://ably.com/docs/ai-transport/api/react/providers.md): TransportProvider and ChatTransportProvider for the AI Transport React integration.
- [useClientTransport](https://ably.com/docs/ai-transport/api/react/use-client-transport.md): Read a ClientTransport from the nearest TransportProvider in the AI Transport React integration.
- [useView](https://ably.com/docs/ai-transport/api/react/use-view.md): Subscribe to a paginated, branch-aware view of the AI Transport conversation tree from React.
- [useCreateView](https://ably.com/docs/ai-transport/api/react/use-create-view.md): Create an independent View over the AI Transport conversation tree from React, with its own branch selections and pagination.
- [useTree](https://ably.com/docs/ai-transport/api/react/use-tree.md): Stable structural query callbacks for the AI Transport conversation tree from React.
- [useActiveTurns](https://ably.com/docs/ai-transport/api/react/use-active-turns.md): Subscribe to active turns on the AI Transport channel from React.
- [useChatTransport](https://ably.com/docs/ai-transport/api/react/use-chat-transport.md): Read a ChatTransport and its underlying ClientTransport from the nearest ChatTransportProvider in AI Transport.
- [useMessageSync](https://ably.com/docs/ai-transport/api/react/use-message-sync.md): Wire AI Transport message updates into Vercel useChat's message state from React.

## Documentation Index

To discover additional Ably documentation:

1. Fetch [llms.txt](https://ably.com/llms.txt) for the canonical list of available pages.
2. Identify relevant URLs from that index.
3. Fetch target pages as needed.

Avoid using assumed or outdated documentation paths.