Message List - CometChat Docs

Overview

MessageList is a Composite Component that displays a list of messages and effectively manages real-time operations. It includes various types of messages such as Text Messages, Media Messages, Stickers, and more. MessageList is primarily a list of the base component MessageBubble. The MessageBubble Component is utilized to create different types of chat bubbles depending on the message type.

Usage

Integration

The following code snippet illustrates how you can directly incorporate the CometChatMessageList component into your app.

import { CometChatMessageList } from "@cometchat/chat-uikit-react-native";
//code
return <CometChatMessageList group={group}/>;

Simply adding the CometChatMessageList component to the layout will result in an error. To fetch messages, you need to supplement it with user or group prop.

Actions

Actions dictate how a component functions. They are divided into two types: Predefined and User-defined. You can override either type, allowing you to tailor the behavior of the component to fit your specific needs.

1. onThreadRepliesPress

onThreadRepliesPress is triggered when you press on the threaded message bubble. The onThreadRepliesPress action doesn’t have a predefined behavior. You can override this action using the following code snippet.

import { CometChatMessageList } from "@cometchat/chat-uikit-react-native";
import { CometChat } from "@cometchat/chat-sdk-react-native";
//code
const threadRepliesCallback = (
  msg: CometChat.BaseMessage,
  messageBubbleView: () => JSX.Element | null
) => {
  //handle thread
};

return (
  <CometChatMessageList
    group={group}
    onThreadRepliesPress={threadRepliesCallback}
  />
);

2. onError

This action doesn’t change the behavior of the component but rather listens for any errors that occur in the MessageList component.

import { CometChatMessageList } from "@cometchat/chat-uikit-react-native";
import { CometChat } from "@cometchat/chat-sdk-react-native";
//code
const errorHandler = (e: CometChat.CometChatException) => {
  //handle error
};

return (
  <CometChatMessageList
    group={group}
    onError={errorHandler}
  />
);

onReactionLongPress

Function triggered when a user long presses on a reaction pill, allowing developers to override the default behavior.

import { CometChatMessageList } from "@cometchat/chat-uikit-react-native";
import { CometChat } from "@cometchat/chat-sdk-react-native";
//code
const onReactionLongPress = (
  reaction: CometChat.ReactionCount,
  messageObject: CometChat.BaseMessage
) => {};

return (
  <CometChatMessageList
    group={group}
    onReactionLongPress={onReactionLongPress}
  />
);

onAddReactionPress

Function triggered when a user clicks on the ‘Add More Reactions’ button, allowing developers to handle this action.

import { CometChatMessageList } from "@cometchat/chat-uikit-react-native";
import { CometChat } from "@cometchat/chat-sdk-react-native";
//code
const onAddReactionPress = () => {};

return (
  <CometChatMessageList
    group={group}
    onAddReactionPress={onAddReactionPress}
  />
);

onReactionPress

Function triggered when a reaction is clicked, enabling developers to customize reaction interactions.

import { CometChatMessageList } from "@cometchat/chat-uikit-react-native";
import { CometChat } from "@cometchat/chat-sdk-react-native";
//code
const onReactionPress = (
  reaction: CometChat.ReactionCount,
  messageObject: CometChat.BaseMessage
) => {};

return (
  <CometChatMessageList
    group={group}
    onReactionPress={onReactionPress}
  />
);

onReactionListItemPress

Function triggered when a reaction list item is clicked, allowing developers to override its behavior in CometChatReactionsList.

import { CometChatMessageList } from "@cometchat/chat-uikit-react-native";
import { CometChat } from "@cometchat/chat-sdk-react-native";
//code
const onReactionListItemPress = (
  reaction: CometChat.Reaction,
  messageObject: CometChat.BaseMessage
) => {};

return (
  <CometChatMessageList
    group={group}
    onReactionListItemPress={onReactionListItemPress}
  />
);

Filters

You can adjust the MessagesRequestBuilder in the MessageList Component to customize your message list. Numerous options are available to alter the builder to meet your specific needs. For additional details on MessagesRequestBuilder, please visit MessagesRequestBuilder. In the example below, we are applying a filter to the messages based on a search substring and for a specific user. This means that only messages that contain the search term and are associated with the specified user will be displayed


import { CometChat } from '@cometchat/chat-sdk-react-native';
import { CometChatMessageList } from '@cometchat/chat-uikit-react-native';

function App(): React.JSX.Element {
    const [chatUser, setChatUser] = React.useState<CometChat.User| undefined>();

    React.useEffect(() => {
        CometChat.getUser("uid").then((user) => {
            setChatUser(user);
        })
    }, []);

    const messageRequestBuilder = new CometChat.MessagesRequestBuilder().setLimit(5);

    return (
     <>
         { chatUser && <CometChatMessageList
              user={chatUser}
              messageRequestBuilder={messageRequestBuilder}
           />
          }
     </>
   );
}

The following parameters in messageRequestBuilder will always be altered inside the message list

UID
GUID
types
categories

Events

Events are emitted by a Component. By using event you can extend existing functionality. Being global events, they can be applied in Multiple Locations and are capable of being Added or Removed. The list of events emitted by the Message List component is as follows.

Event	Description
openChat	this event alerts the listeners if the logged-in user has opened a user or a group chat
ccMessageEdited	Triggers whenever a loggedIn user edits any message from the list of messages. It will have two states such as: inProgress & sent
ccMessageDeleted	Triggers whenever a loggedIn user deletes any message from the list of messages
ccActiveChatChanged	This event is triggered when the user navigates to a particular chat window.
ccMessageRead	Triggers whenever a loggedIn user reads any message.
ccMessageDelivered	Triggers whenever messages are marked as delivered for the loggedIn user

Adding CometChatMessageEvents Listener’s

import { CometChatUIEventHandler } from "@cometchat/chat-uikit-react-native";

CometChatUIEventHandler.addUIListener("UI_LISTENER_ID", {
  openChat: ({ user, group }) => {
    //code
  },
});

CometChatUIEventHandler.addMessageListener("MESSAGE_LISTENER_ID", {
  ccMessageEdited: ({ message }) => {
    //code
  },
});

CometChatUIEventHandler.addMessageListener("MESSAGE_LISTENER_ID", {
  ccMessageDeleted: ({ message }) => {
    //code
  },
});

CometChatUIEventHandler.addMessageListener("MESSAGE_LISTENER_ID", {
  ccMessageDelivered: ({ message }) => {
    //code
  },
});

CometChatUIEventHandler.addMessageListener("MESSAGE_LISTENER_ID", {
  ccMessageRead: ({ message }) => {
    //code
  },
});

CometChatUIEventHandler.addMessageListener("MESSAGE_LISTENER_ID", {
  addMessageListener: ({ message, user, group, theme, parentMessageId }) => {
    //code
  },
});

Removing Listeners

import { CometChatUIEventHandler } from "@cometchat/chat-uikit-react-native";

CometChatUIEventHandler.removeUIListener("UI_LISTENER_ID");
CometChatUIEventHandler.removeMessageListener("MESSAGE_LISTENER_ID");

Customization

To fit your app’s design requirements, you can customize the appearance of the conversation component. We provide exposed methods that allow you to modify the experience and behavior according to your specific needs.

Style

Using Style you can customize the look and feel of the component in your app, These parameters typically control elements such as the color, size, shape, and fonts used within the component.

import { CometChatMessageList } from "@cometchat/chat-uikit-react-native";
import { CometChat } from "@cometchat/chat-sdk-react-native";
//code

return (
  <CometChatMessageList
    group={group}
    style={{
      containerStyle: {
        backgroundColor: "#FEEDE1",
      },
      outgoingMessageBubbleStyles: {
        containerStyle: {
          backgroundColor: "#F76808",
        },
      },
    }}
  />
);

Functionality

These are a set of small functional customizations that allow you to fine-tune the overall experience of the component. With these, you can change text, set custom icons, and toggle the visibility of UI elements. Below is a list of customizations along with corresponding code snippets

Property	Description	Code
user	Used to pass user object of which header specific details will be shown	`user={chatUser}`
group	Used to pass group object of which header specific details will be shown	`group={chatGroup}`
alignment	used to set the alignmet of messages in CometChatMessageList. It can be either leftAligned or standard. Type: MessageListAlignmentType	`alignment={"standard"}`
disableSoundForMessages	used to enable/disable sound for incoming/outgoing messages , default false	`disableSoundForMessages={true}`
customSoundForMessages	used to set custom sound for outgoing message	`customSoundForMessages="your custom sound for messages"`
avatarVisibility	used to toggle visibility for avatar	`avatarVisibility={true}`
scrollToBottomOnNewMessage	should scroll to bottom on new message? , by default false	`scrollToBottomOnNewMessages={true}`
receiptsVisibility	Used to control the visibility of read receipts without affecting the functionality of marking messages as read and delivered.	`receiptsVisibility={true}`
hideError	used to toggle visibility of error state in MessageList	`hideError={true}`
quickReactionList	The list of quick reactions to be set.This list will replace the predefined set of reactions	`quickReactionList=["👻","😈","🙀","🤡","❤️"];`
hideReplyInThreadOption	used to toggle visibility of Reply in thread option in MessageList	`hideReplyInThreadOption={true}`
hideShareMessageOption	used to toggle visibility of share message option in MessageList	`hideShareMessageOption={true}`
hideEditMessageOption	used to toggle visibility of hide edit message option in MessageList	`hideEditMessageOption={true}`
hideTranslateMessageOption	used to toggle visibility of translate message option in MessageList	`hideTranslateMessageOption={true}`
hideDeleteMessageOption	used to toggle visibility of Delete message option in MessageList	`hideDeleteMessageOption={true}`
hideMessagePrivatelyOption	used to toggle visibility of hide message privately option in MessageList	`hideMessagePrivatelyOption={true}`
hideCopyMessageOption	used to toggle visibility of hide copy message option in MessageList	`hideCopyMessageOption={true}`
hideMessageInfoOption	used to toggle visibility of hide message info option in MessageList	`hideMessageInfoOption={true}`
hideGroupActionMessages	used to toggle visibility of hide group action info option in MessageList	`hideGroupActionMessages={true}`
hideTimestamp	used to toggle visibility of hide timestamp in MessageList	`hideTimestamp={true}`

Advance

For advanced-level customization, you can set custom views to the component. This lets you tailor each aspect of the component to fit your exact needs and application aesthetics. You can create and define your views, layouts, and UI elements and then incorporate those into the component.

Templates

CometChatMessageTemplate is a pre-defined structure for creating message views that can be used as a starting point or blueprint for creating message views often known as message bubbles. For more information, you can refer to CometChatMessageTemplate. You can set message Templates to MessageList by using the following code snippet

import { CometChat } from '@cometchat/chat-sdk-react-native';
import { CometChatMessageList, BorderStyleInterface, AvatarStyleInterface } from '@cometchat/chat-uikit-react-native';

function App(): React.JSX.Element {
    const [chatUser, setChatUser] = React.useState<CometChat.User| undefined>();

    React.useEffect(() => {
        CometChat.getUser("uid").then((user) => {
            setChatUser(user);
        })
    }, []);

    const getTemplates = () => {
      let templates : CometChatMessageTemplate[] = ChatConfigurator.getDataSource().getAllMessageTemplates(theme);
      templates.map((data) => {
        if(data.type == "text") {
          data.ContentView =  (messageObject: CometChat.BaseMessage, alignment: MessageBubbleAlignmentType) => {
            const textMessage : CometChat.TextMessage = (messageObject as CometChat.TextMessage);
            return <Text style={{backgroundColor: "#fff5fd", padding: 10}}>{textMessage.getText()}</Text>
          }
        }
      });
      return templates;
    };

    return (
     <>
         { chatUser && <CometChatMessageList
              user={chatUser}
              templates={getTemplates()}
           />
          }
     </>
   );
}

DateSeperatorPattern

Specifies a custom format for displaying sticky date separators in the chat. Use Cases:

Customize date formats to match regional preferences.
Use relative formats like “Yesterday” instead of full dates.
Highlight weekend conversations with different styles.

import React from "react";
import { CometChat } from '@cometchat/chat-sdk-react-native';
import { CometChatMessageList, BorderStyleInterface, AvatarStyleInterface } from '@cometchat/chat-uikit-react-native';

function App(): React.JSX.Element {
    const [chatUser, setChatUser] = React.useState<CometChat.User| undefined>();

    React.useEffect(() => {
        CometChat.getUser("uid").then((user) => {
            setChatUser(user);
        })
    }, []);

    const customDateSeparatorPattern = (date: number) => {
       const timeStampInSeconds = new Date(date * 1000);

       const day = String(timeStampInSeconds.getUTCDate()).padStart(2, '0');
       const month = String(timeStampInSeconds.getUTCMonth() + 1).padStart(2, '0'); // Months are 0-indexed
       const year = timeStampInSeconds.getUTCFullYear();

       const hours = String(timeStampInSeconds.getUTCHours()).padStart(2, '0');
       const minutes = String(timeStampInSeconds.getUTCMinutes()).padStart(2, '0');

       return `${day}/${month}/${year}, ${hours}:${minutes}`;
    }

    return (
     <>
         { chatUser && <CometChatMessageList
              user={chatUser}
              dateSeperatorPattern = {customDateSeparatorPattern}
           />
          }
     </>
   );
}

DatePattern

Defines the format in which time appears for each message bubble. Use Cases:

Use 12-hour or 24-hour formats based on user preference.
Display relative time (“Just now”, “5 min ago”).
Add AM/PM indicators for clarity.

import React from "react";
import { CometChat } from '@cometchat/chat-sdk-react-native';
import { CometChatMessageList, BorderStyleInterface, AvatarStyleInterface } from '@cometchat/chat-uikit-react-native';

function App(): React.JSX.Element {
    const [chatUser, setChatUser] = React.useState<CometChat.User| undefined>();

    React.useEffect(() => {
        CometChat.getUser("uid").then((user) => {
            setChatUser(user);
        })
    }, []);

    const generateDateString = (message: CometChat.BaseMessage) : any => {
       const days = [
         'Sunday',
         'Monday',
         'Tuesday',
         'Wednesday',
         'Thursday',
         'Friday',
         'Saturday',
       ];
      const timeStamp = message['sentAt'];
      if(timeStamp) {
         const timeStampInSeconds = new Date(timeStamp * 1000);
         const day = days[timeStampInSeconds.getUTCDay()].substring(0, 3);
         const hours = timeStampInSeconds.getUTCHours();
         const minutes = String(timeStampInSeconds.getUTCMinutes()).padStart(2, '0');

         return `${day}, ${hours}:${minutes}`;
      }

      return `---, --:--`;
    };

    return (
     <>
         { chatUser && <CometChatMessageList
          user={chatUser}
          datePattern={generateDateString}
           />
          }
     </>
   );
}

LoadingView

Customizes the loading indicator when messages are being fetched. Use Cases:

Show a spinner or skeleton loader for smooth UX.
Display a “Fetching messages…” text.

import { CometChatMessageList } from "@cometchat/chat-uikit-react-native";
import { CometChat } from "@cometchat/chat-sdk-react-native";
//code

const getLoadingView = (): JSX.Element => {
  //return jsx;
};

return (
  <CometChatMessageList
    group={group}
    LoadingView={getLoadingView}
  />
);

EmptyView

Defines a custom view to be displayed when no messages are available. Use Cases:

Show a friendly message like “No messages yet. Start the conversation!”.

import { CometChatMessageList } from "@cometchat/chat-uikit-react-native";
import { CometChat } from "@cometchat/chat-sdk-react-native";
//code

const getEmptyView = (): JSX.Element => {
  //return jsx;
};

return (
  <CometChatMessageList
    group={group}
    EmptyView={getEmptyView}
  />
);

ErrorView

Custom error state view displayed when fetching messages fails. Use Cases:

Show a retry button when an error occurs.
Display a friendly message like “Couldn’t load messages. Check your connection.

import { CometChatMessageList } from "@cometchat/chat-uikit-react-native";
import { CometChat } from "@cometchat/chat-sdk-react-native";
//code

const getErrorView = (): JSX.Element => {
  //return jsx;
};

return (
  <CometChatMessageList
    group={group}
    ErrorView={getErrorView}
  />
);

TextFormatters

Assigns the list of text formatters. If the provided list is not null, it sets the list. Otherwise, it assigns the default text formatters retrieved from the data source. To configure the existing Mentions look and feel check out MentionsFormatter Guide

import { CometChatMessageList } from "@cometchat/chat-uikit-react-native";
import { CometChat } from "@cometchat/chat-sdk-react-native";
//code

const getTextFomatters = () => {
  const textFormatters: CometChatTextFormatter[] = [];
  const customMentionsFormatter = new CustomMentionsFormatter();
  textFormatters.push(customMentionsFormatter);
  return textFormatters;
};

return (
  <CometChatMessageList
    group={group}
    textFormatters={getTextFomatters()}
  />
);

Example

HeaderView

This method allows you to set a custom header view for the message list. By providing a View object, you can customize the appearance and content of the header displayed at the top of the message list. Use Cases:

Add a custom branding/logo to the chat.
Display chat status (“John is typing…”).
Show last seen status.

import { CometChatMessageList } from "@cometchat/chat-uikit-react-native";
import { CometChat } from "@cometchat/chat-sdk-react-native";
//code

const getMessageListHeaderView = ({
  user,
  group,
  id,
}: {
  user?: CometChat.User;
  group?: CometChat.Group;
  id?: {
    uid?: string;
    guid?: string;
    parentMessageId?: string;
  };
}) => {
  //return jsx;
};

return (
  <CometChatMessageList
    group={group}
    HeaderView={getMessageListHeaderView}
  />
);

Example

FooterView

This method allows you to set a custom footer view for the message list. By providing a View object, you can customize the appearance and content of the footer displayed at the bottom of the message list. Use Cases:

Add quick reply buttons.
Display typing indicators (“John is typing…”).
Show a disclaimer or privacy notice.

import { CometChatMessageList } from "@cometchat/chat-uikit-react-native";
import { CometChat } from "@cometchat/chat-sdk-react-native";
//code

const getMessageListFooterView = ({
  user,
  group,
  id,
}: {
  user?: CometChat.User;
  group?: CometChat.Group;
  id?: {
    uid?: string;
    guid?: string;
    parentMessageId?: string;
  };
}) => {
  //return jsx;
};

return (
  <CometChatMessageList
    group={group}
    FooterView={getMessageListFooterView}
  />
);

Example

​Overview

​Usage

​Integration

​Actions

1. onThreadRepliesPress

2. onError

onReactionLongPress

onAddReactionPress

onReactionPress

onReactionListItemPress

​Filters

​Events

​Customization

​Style

​Functionality

​Advance

​Templates

​DateSeperatorPattern

​DatePattern

​LoadingView

​EmptyView

​ErrorView

​TextFormatters

​HeaderView

​FooterView

Overview

Usage

Integration

Actions

Filters

Events

Customization

Style

Functionality

Advance

Templates

DateSeperatorPattern

DatePattern

LoadingView

EmptyView

ErrorView

TextFormatters

HeaderView

FooterView