Skip to main content
Version: v6

Building a Messaging UI with Tabs, Sidebar, and Message View

This guide walks you through creating a tab-based messaging UI using React and CometChat UIKit. The UI will include different sections for Chats, Calls, Users, and Groups, allowing seamless navigation.

Edit React - Tab-Based Chat Experience

Tip: You can fork the sandbox, insert your CometChat credentials (App ID, Region, Auth Key.) in the code, and immediately preview how the UI and messages respond in real time.

User Interface Preview​

Image

This layout consists of:

  1. Sidebar (Conversation List) – Displays recent conversations with active users and groups.
  2. Message View – Shows the selected chat with real-time messages.
  3. Message Input Box – Allows users to send messages seamlessly.

Step-by-Step Guide​

Step 1: Create a Tab Component​

To manage navigation, let's build a CometChatTabs component. This component will render different tabs and allow switching between sections dynamically.

Folder Structure​

Create a CometChatTabs folder inside your src directory and add the following files:

src/
│── CometChatTabs/
│   ├── assets # These are the images you need to save
│   │   ├── chats.svg 
│   │   ├── calls.svg 
│   │   ├── users.svg 
│   │   ├── groups.svg
│   ├── CometChatTabs.tsx
│   ├── CometChatTabs.css

Download the Icons​

These icons are available in the CometChat UI Kit assets folder. You can find them at:
🔗 GitHub Assets Folder

Implementation​

CometChatTabs.tsx
import { useState } from "react";
import chatsIcon from "./assets/chats.svg";
import callsIcon from "./assets/calls.svg";
import usersIcon from "./assets/users.svg";
import groupsIcon from "./assets/groups.svg";
import "./CometChatTabs.css";

export const CometChatTabs = (props: {
    onTabClicked?: (tabItem: { name: string; icon?: string; }) => void;
    activeTab?: string;
}) => {

    const {
        onTabClicked = () => { },
        activeTab
    } = props;

    const [hoverTab, setHoverTab] = useState("");

    const tabItems = [
        {
            "name": "CHATS",
            "icon": chatsIcon
        },
        {
            "name": "CALLS",
            "icon": callsIcon
        },
        {
            "name": "USERS",
            "icon": usersIcon
        },
        {
            "name": "GROUPS",
            "icon": groupsIcon
        }
    ]

    return (
        <div className="cometchat-tab-component">
            {
                tabItems.map((tabItem) => (
                    <div
                        key={tabItem.name}
                        className="cometchat-tab-component__tab"
                        onClick={() => onTabClicked(tabItem)}
                    >
                        <div
                            className={(activeTab === tabItem.name.toLowerCase() || hoverTab === tabItem.name.toLowerCase()) ? "cometchat-tab-component__tab-icon cometchat-tab-component__tab-icon-active" : "cometchat-tab-component__tab-icon"}
                            style={tabItem.icon ? {
                                WebkitMaskImage: `url("${tabItem.icon}")`,
                                maskImage: `url("${tabItem.icon}")`,
                            } : undefined}
                            onMouseEnter={() => setHoverTab(tabItem.name.toLowerCase())}
                            onMouseLeave={() => setHoverTab("")}
                        />
                        <div
                            className={(activeTab === tabItem.name.toLowerCase() || hoverTab === tabItem.name.toLowerCase()) ? "cometchat-tab-component__tab-text cometchat-tab-component__tab-text-active" : "cometchat-tab-component__tab-text"}
                            onMouseEnter={() => setHoverTab(tabItem.name.toLowerCase())}
                            onMouseLeave={() => setHoverTab("")}
                        >
                            {tabItem.name}
                        </div>
                    </div>
                ))
            }
        </div>
    )

}

Step 2: Create Sidebar​

Let's create the Sidebar component which will render different conversations.

Folder Structure​

Create a CometChatSelector folder inside your src directory and add the following files:

src/
│── CometChatSelector/ 
│   ├── CometChatSelector.tsx
│   ├── CometChatSelector.css
CometChatSelector.tsx
import { useEffect, useState } from "react";
import { Call, Conversation, Group, User, CometChat } from "@cometchat/chat-sdk-javascript";
import { CometChatCallLogs, CometChatConversations, CometChatGroups, CometChatUIKitLoginListener, CometChatUsers } from "@cometchat/chat-uikit-react";
import { CometChatTabs } from "../CometChatTabs/CometChatTabs";
import "./CometChatSelector.css";

interface SelectorProps {
    onSelectorItemClicked?: (input: User | Group | Conversation | Call, type: string) => void;
    onHide?: () => void;
    onNewChatClicked?: () => void;
}

export const CometChatSelector = (props: SelectorProps) => {
    const {
        onSelectorItemClicked = () => { },
    } = props;

    const [loggedInUser, setLoggedInUser] = useState<CometChat.User | null>();
    const [activeItem, setActiveItem] = useState<CometChat.Conversation | CometChat.User | CometChat.Group | CometChat.Call | undefined>();
    const [activeTab, setActiveTab] = useState<string>("chats");

    useEffect(() => {
        const loggedInUsers = CometChatUIKitLoginListener.getLoggedInUser();
        setLoggedInUser(loggedInUsers)
    }, [])

    return (
        <>
            {loggedInUser && <>
                {activeTab == "chats" ? (
                    <CometChatConversations
                        activeConversation={activeItem instanceof CometChat.Conversation ? activeItem : undefined}
                        onItemClick={(e) => {
                            setActiveItem(e);
                            onSelectorItemClicked(e, "updateSelectedItem");
                        }}
                    />
                ) : activeTab == "calls" ? (
                    <CometChatCallLogs
                        activeCall={activeItem instanceof CometChat.Call ? activeItem : undefined}
                        onItemClick={(e: Call) => {
                            setActiveItem(e);
                            onSelectorItemClicked(e, "updateSelectedItemCall");
                        }}
                    />
                ) : activeTab == "users" ? (
                    <CometChatUsers
                        activeUser={activeItem instanceof CometChat.User ? activeItem : undefined}
                        onItemClick={(e) => {
                            setActiveItem(e);
                            onSelectorItemClicked(e, "updateSelectedItemUser");
                        }}
                    />
                ) : activeTab == "groups" ? (
                    <CometChatGroups
                        activeGroup={activeItem instanceof CometChat.Group ? activeItem : undefined}
                        onItemClick={(e) => {
                            setActiveItem(e);
                            onSelectorItemClicked(e, "updateSelectedItemGroup");
                        }}
                    />
                ) : null}
            </>}
            <CometChatTabs activeTab={activeTab} onTabClicked={(item: { name: string; icon?: string; }) => {
                setActiveTab(item.name.toLowerCase())
            }} />
        </>
    );
}

Step 3: Update App​

Now we will update the App.tsx & App.css files to import these new components as below,

App.tsx
import { useState } from "react";
import { CometChatMessageComposer, CometChatMessageHeader, CometChatMessageList } from "@cometchat/chat-uikit-react";
import { CometChat } from "@cometchat/chat-sdk-javascript";
import { CometChatSelector } from "./CometChatSelector/CometChatSelector";
import "./App.css";

function App() {
  const [selectedUser, setSelectedUser] = useState<CometChat.User | undefined>(undefined);
  const [selectedGroup, setSelectedGroup] = useState<CometChat.Group | undefined>(undefined);
  const [selectedCall, setSelectedCall] = useState<CometChat.Call | undefined>(undefined);

  return (
    <div className="conversations-with-messages">
      <div className="conversations-wrapper">
        <CometChatSelector onSelectorItemClicked={(activeItem) => {
          let item = activeItem;
          if (activeItem instanceof CometChat.Conversation) {
            item = activeItem.getConversationWith();
          }
          if (item instanceof CometChat.User) {
            setSelectedUser(item as CometChat.User);
            setSelectedCall(undefined);
            setSelectedGroup(undefined);
          } else if (item instanceof CometChat.Group) {
            setSelectedUser(undefined);
            setSelectedGroup(item as CometChat.Group);
            setSelectedCall(undefined);
          }
          else if (item instanceof CometChat.Call) {
            //custom logic to open call details
            setSelectedUser(undefined);
            setSelectedGroup(undefined);
            setSelectedCall(item as CometChat.Call);
          }
        }} />
      </div>
      {selectedUser || selectedGroup || selectedCall ? (
        <div className="messages-wrapper">
          <CometChatMessageHeader user={selectedUser} group={selectedGroup} />
          <CometChatMessageList user={selectedUser} group={selectedGroup} />
          <CometChatMessageComposer user={selectedUser} group={selectedGroup} />
        </div>
      ) : (
        <div className="empty-conversation">Select Conversation to start</div>
      )}
    </div>
  );
};

export default App;

Step 4: Run the project​

npm start

Next Steps​

Enhance the User Experience​