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Channels

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.

Schema​

id
required
integer <int64>

64-bit integer identifier associated with this resource

type
required
string
Enum: "DIRECT" "PUBLIC" "PRIVATE"

The type of this channel

name
string

The unique name of this channel used to reference the channel

displayName
string

Human readable name of this channel shown to users

object (ChatUserProperties)
Array of objects (ChatUserProperties) [ items ]

The members of this channel. Present if this is a direct channel. For other channel types, use get channel members

object (MessageProperties)

The message last received associated with this channel

required
object

Custom data associated with this channel

createdTime
required
string <date-time>

The ISO date-time this channel was created

object (Links)
{}

Channel types​

There are three types of channels:

Direct Channels​

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

note

A direct channel can have up to 10 members. Public and private channels are better suited for group chats; supporting up to hundreds-of-thousands of members.

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​

NameTypeDescriptionRequired
membersUser [ ]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: 'jane@chatkitty.com' },
    { username: 'john@chatkitty.com' },
  ],
});

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 REST API, registered channel observers are notified.

const unsubscribe = kitty.onChannelJoined((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
}

Deleting a channel

Delete a channel and all its related resources

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

if (result.succeeded) {
  // Handle result
}
const result = await kitty.deleteChannel({
  channel: channel
});

if (succeeded(result)) {
  // Handle result
}
curl -X DELETE "https://api.chatkitty.com/v1/applications/APP-ID/channels/CHANNEL-ID" -H  "Authorization: Bearer OAUTH-TOKEN"