Channels

Channels are the backbone of the ChatKitty chat experience. Users join channels to receive or send messages.

ChatKitty organizes conversations into dedicated contexts called channels. Channels structure and order your application's chat experience. You can create a channel for any topic, project, or team.

After a user joins a channel, the user becomes a channel member. ChatKitty broadcasts messages created in channels to channel members with active chat sessions and sends push notifications to offline members. ChatKitty persists messages sent in a channel by default but this behaviour can be configured.

Properties

Name	Type	Description	Required
id	number	64-bit integer identifier associated with this channel	✔
type	string	The type of this channel. DIRECT, PUBLIC, or PRIVATE	✔
name	string	The unique name of this channel	✔
creator	User	The user who created this channel. Absent if the channel was created with the Platform API	-
lastReceivedMessage	Message	The message that was last received in this channel	-
properties	object	Custom data associated with this channel	✔

Channel types

There are three types of channels:

Direct Channels

Direct channels let users have private conversations with up to 9 other users. New users cannot be added to a direct channel and there can only exist one direct channel between a set of users.

Public Channels

Public channels let users discuss topics openly. By default, any user can view and join a public channel. Users can join public channels by themselves or via invites from an existing channel member.

Private Channels

Private channels are for topics that should not be open to all members. Users must be added to a private channel by someone who's already a member of the channel.

Additional Properties

Name	Type	Description	Required
members	User [ ]	An array of member users of this channel	✔

Creating a channel

Create a new channel of channel type (DIRECT, PUBLIC, or PRIVATE) with a unique name for public and private channels and member references for direct channels. A user is automatically a member of a channel they created.

Creating a direct channel

const result = await kitty.createChannel({
  type: 'DIRECT',
  members: [
    { username: '[e-mail]' },
    { username: '[e-mail]' },
  ],
});

if (result.succeeded) {
  const channel = result.channel; // Handle channel
}

if (result.failed) {
  const error = result.error; // Handle error
}

Creating a public channel

const result = await kitty.createChannel({
  type: 'PUBLIC',
  name: 'my-first-public-channel',
});

if (result.succeeded) {
  const channel = result.channel; // Handle channel
}

if (result.failed) {
  const error = result.error; // Handle error
}

Creating a private channel

const result = await kitty.createChannel({
  type: 'PRIVATE',
  name: 'my-first-private-channel',
});

if (result.succeeded) {
  const channel = result.channel; // Handle channel
}

if (result.failed) {
  const error = result.error; // Handle error
}

Getting channels

Get all channels accessible to the current user regardless of current membership status.

const result = await kitty.getChannels();

if (result.succeeded) {
  const channels = result.paginator.items; // Handle channels
}

if (result.failed) {
  const error = result.error; // Handle error
}

Getting joined channels

Get channels the current user has joined (is already a member) and can start chat sessions in.

const result = await kitty.getChannels({ filter: { joined: true } });

if (result.succeeded) {
  const channels = result.paginator.items; // Handle channels
}

if (result.failed) {
  const error = result.error; // Handle error
}

Getting joinable channels

Get channels the current user can join, becoming a member.

const result = await kitty.getChannels({ filter: { joined: false } });

if (result.succeeded) {
  const channels = result.paginator.items; // Handle channels
}

if (result.failed) {
  const error = result.error; // Handle error
}

Getting a channel

Get a channel by searchable properties like channel ID

const result = await kitty.getChannel(channelId);

if (result.succeeded) {
  const channel = result.channel; // Handle channel
}

if (result.failed) {
  const error = result.error; // Handle error
}

Joining a public channel

const result = await kitty.joinChannel({ channel });

if (result.succeeded) {
  const channel = result.channel; // Handle channel
}

if (result.failed) {
  const error = result.error; // Handle error
}

Observing user joined channel

When the current user joins a channel or is added to a channel by another user or through the Platform API, registered channel observers are notified.

const unsubscribe = kitty.onJoinedChannel((channel) => {
  // handle channel
});

// call when you're no longer interested in updates
unsubscribe();

Reading a channel

Read a channel to automatically read all channel messages.

const result = await kitty.readChannel({ channel });

if (result.succeeded) {
  const channel = result.channel; // Handle channel
}

if (result.failed) {
  const error = result.error; // Handle error
}

Checking if a channel is unread

A channel is unread if it has any unread messages by the current user.

const result = await kitty.getChannelUnread({
  channel: channel,
});

if (result.succeeded) {
  const unread = result.unread; // Handle if unread 
}