The ThingSpeak IoT service now supports MQTT subscriptions to receive instant updates when a ThingSpeak channel gets updated. MQTT is a powerful standard for IoT systems. ThingSpeak enables clients to update and receive updates from channel feeds via the ThingSpeak MQTT broker. MQTT is a publish/subscribe communication protocol that uses TCP/IP sockets or WebSockets. MQTT over WebSockets can be secured with SSL. A client device connects to the MQTT broker and can publish to a channel or subscribe to updates from that channel.

MQTT in MATLAB

We also published a new File Exchange submission that allows you to publish and subscribe using MQTT within MATLAB. Download and install MQTT in MATLAB to be able to connect to ThingSpeak’s MQTT server or connect to other standard MQTT brokers such as AWS IoT. Using this Add-On in MATLAB allows you to define custom functions to evaluate on receiving messages streaming over subscribed topics.

ThingSpeak MQTT Examples

• MQTT Basics – Learn about the publish/subscribe architecture for connecting bandwidth and power-constrained devices over wireless networks.
• Choose Between REST API and MQTT API – Learn when to use REST and MQTT to update a channel.
• Publish to a Channel Using Desktop MQTT Client – Publish to a channel using desktop MQTT client such as MQTT.fx.
• Publish to a Channel Using Arduino Client – Publish data to a ThingSpeak channel using an Arduino^® device.
• Publish Using Particle Photon Client – Publish data to a ThingSpeak channel using a Particle Photon device.
• Publish Using WebSockets in Python on a Raspberry Pi – Publish data using WebSockets to a ThingSpeak channel.
• Subscribe to Channel Updates Using Desktop MQTT Client – Subscribe to channel updates from a ThingSpeak channel using desktop MQTT.
• Subscribe to Channel Updates Using Particle Photon Client – Subscribe to a ThingSpeak channel using a Particle Photon device.

View our ThingSpeak MQTT documentation to learn more about MQTT support on ThingSpeak, and find examples for Arduino, Particle, and Raspberry Pi.