From ef53e8c62826729544c533d2ffe0bee2f65c825b Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Simon Woolf <simon.woolf@ably.com>
Date: Fri, 9 Oct 2026 04:10:07 +0100
Subject: [PATCH] Raise when releasing a realtime channel that isn't detached
 (RTS4c-e)

Spec 6.3.0 replaces RTS4a, under which Channels#release detaches the
channel before removing it, with RTS4c-e: release now removes a channel
only if it is initialized, detached or failed, and otherwise raises
error 90011 (status 400) and leaves the channel alone, so that a channel
is never released while it could still receive messages from Ably.

1.x logs a deprecation warning for this case (RTS4b); this is the
breaking change for 2.0, documented in UPDATING.md.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
---
 UPDATING.md                               | 19 ++++++++++++
 core/lib/ably/pubsub/realtime/channels.rb | 27 ++++++++++++++---
 spec/unit/realtime/channels_spec.rb       | 36 +++++++++++++++++++----
 3 files changed, 73 insertions(+), 9 deletions(-)

diff --git a/UPDATING.md b/UPDATING.md
index 7e4b9b29..2ebad821 100644
--- a/UPDATING.md
+++ b/UPDATING.md
@@ -78,6 +78,25 @@ Ably::PubSub::Realtime::Connection::STATE.Connected
 
 `Ably::Rest` and `Ably::Realtime` raise `NameError` in 2.0.
 
+### Releasing realtime channels
+
+In 1.x, `Channels#release` detached a realtime channel before removing it. In 2.0, a realtime channel can only be released
+when it is in the `initialized`, `detached` or `failed` state. Releasing it in any other state raises
+`Ably::Exceptions::InvalidState` with code `90011`, and the channel is left in place. Detach the channel and wait for the
+detach to complete before releasing it:
+
+```ruby
+# 1.x
+client.channels.release('example')
+
+# 2.0
+client.channels.get('example').detach do
+  client.channels.release('example')
+end
+```
+
+`Ably::PubSub::Http::Channels#release` is unchanged.
+
 ### Unchanged
 
 Everything after construction:
diff --git a/core/lib/ably/pubsub/realtime/channels.rb b/core/lib/ably/pubsub/realtime/channels.rb
index b05a23ba..0670acbb 100644
--- a/core/lib/ably/pubsub/realtime/channels.rb
+++ b/core/lib/ably/pubsub/realtime/channels.rb
@@ -35,17 +35,36 @@ def fetch(*args)
           super
         end
 
-        # Detaches the {Ably::PubSub::Realtime::Channel Realtime Channel} and releases all associated resources.
+        # Releases the {Ably::PubSub::Realtime::Channel Realtime Channel} with the given name and all associated resources.
         #
         # Releasing a Realtime Channel is not typically necessary as a channel, once detached, consumes no resources other than
         # the memory footprint of the {Ably::PubSub::Realtime::Channel Realtime Channel object}. Release channels to free up resources if required
         #
+        # A realtime channel can only be released when it is in the +INITIALIZED+, +DETACHED+, or +FAILED+ state.
+        #
+        # @spec RTS4c, RTS4d, RTS4e
+        #
+        # @param channel [String] The name of the channel
+        #
+        # @raise [Ably::Exceptions::InvalidState] if the channel is not in the +INITIALIZED+, +DETACHED+, or +FAILED+ state
+        #
         # @return [void]
         #
         def release(channel)
-          get(channel).detach do
-            @channels.delete(channel)
-          end if @channels.has_key?(channel)
+          return unless @channels.has_key?(channel)
+
+          released_channel = get(channel)
+          unless released_channel.initialized? || released_channel.detached? || released_channel.failed?
+            raise Ably::Exceptions::InvalidState.new(
+              "Can only release a channel in a state where there is no possibility of further updates from the server being received " \
+                "(initialized, detached, or failed). The current state is #{released_channel.state.to_sym}",
+              400,
+              90011
+            )
+          end
+
+          @channels.delete(channel)
+          nil
         end
 
         # Sets channel serial to each channel from given serials hashmap
diff --git a/spec/unit/realtime/channels_spec.rb b/spec/unit/realtime/channels_spec.rb
index 959fc4bd..43add733 100644
--- a/spec/unit/realtime/channels_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/unit/realtime/channels_spec.rb
@@ -98,11 +98,37 @@
   end
 
   context 'destroying channels' do
-    it '#release detaches and then releases the channel resources' do
-      released_channel = subject.get(channel_name, options)
-      expect(released_channel).to receive(:detach).and_yield
-      subject.release(channel_name)
-      expect(subject.get(channel_name, options).object_id).to_not eql(released_channel.object_id)
+    let(:released_channel) { subject.get(channel_name, options) }
+
+    def stub_state(state)
+      allow(released_channel).to receive(:state).and_return(Ably::PubSub::Realtime::Channel::STATE(state))
+    end
+
+    it '#release does nothing if the channel does not exist (RTS4c)' do
+      expect { subject.release(channel_name) }.to_not raise_error
+      expect(subject.length).to eql(0)
+    end
+
+    [:initialized, :detached, :failed].each do |state|
+      it "#release releases a channel in the #{state} state without detaching (RTS4d)" do
+        stub_state state
+        expect(released_channel).to_not receive(:detach)
+        subject.release(channel_name)
+        expect(subject.fetch(channel_name) { nil }).to be_nil
+      end
+    end
+
+    [:attaching, :attached, :detaching, :suspended].each do |state|
+      it "#release raises 90011 and leaves a channel in the #{state} state untouched (RTS4e)" do
+        stub_state state
+        expect(released_channel).to_not receive(:detach)
+        expect { subject.release(channel_name) }.to raise_error(Ably::Exceptions::InvalidState) do |error|
+          expect(error.code).to eql(90011)
+          expect(error.status).to eql(400)
+          expect(error.message).to match(/The current state is #{state}/)
+        end
+        expect(subject.fetch(channel_name)).to equal(released_channel)
+      end
     end
   end