How to build live updates in Bubble

The simplest way to get live updates in Bubble is to rely on Bubble’s built‑in real‑time engine: when a Thing in the database changes, any element on the page that is referencing that Thing will update automatically without refresh. To make it work well, you structure your pages so that repeating groups, texts, and custom states are directly linked to dynamic expressions that come from the database, and you avoid storing important page data only in custom states. In most cases you don’t need plugins or webhooks for real‑time behavior—Bubble already pushes updates to the browser.

How Bubble's live updates work

Bubble keeps an open connection to the server. When a Thing (a record in the database) is changed by any workflow, Bubble automatically sends the new data to all connected users who are viewing that Thing. Anything on the page that is directly linked to that Thing refreshes instantly.

• Repeating Groups refresh automatically when their data source changes.
• Text/Inputs bound to dynamic data refresh when the linked field changes.
• Custom states do NOT auto‑update unless you manually set them again.

How to set up reliable live updates

• Make sure your elements use Search for … or Parent group's Thing instead of storing values in custom states.
• Run the workflow that changes data on the server, not only inside a custom state.
• If you need to show live lists (chat, tasks, notifications), use a Repeating Group with a dynamic search.
• Give users privacy rule access to the fields they need to see; otherwise Bubble will not push updates.

Example: live chat message updates

• Create a data type Message with fields text, created_by, created_date.
• Show messages in a Repeating Group with data source:
  Search for Messages:sorted by created\_date
• When a new message is created, Bubble automatically pushes it into the repeating group for all users viewing it.

// Example: creating a message (Bubble backend workflow pseudo)
// This is NOT run as code; it's what Bubble does internally when you create a Thing.

Create a new Message:
    text = Input Message's value
    created_by = Current User

When you need something more

If you need faster or conditional updates (for example, only refresh when a specific field changes), use Do every X seconds as a small poller or trigger backend events to modify the database. But in most cases, Bubble's built‑in real‑time sync is enough without any external service.