Channel

The Channel component is the main entry point for many Stream Chat customizations and contains the majority of the content providers and a significant amount of the logic utilized by Stream Chat for React Native. Components, custom and out of the box, channel information, and UI integrated chat functions are disseminated by the contexts contained in Channel. MessageList, MessageInput, and Thread all rely on Channel to function correctly.

Basic Usage

Channel takes an instance of a StreamChat channel as a prop. You can create a channel, or if you are navigating from the ChannelList, access the selected channel via the parameter passed to the onSelect function.

import { StreamChat } from "stream-chat";
import {
  Channel,
  Chat,
  MessageInput,
  MessageList,
  OverlayProvider,
} from "stream-chat-react-native";

const client = StreamChat.getInstance("api_key");

export const App = () => {
  const [channel, setChannel] = useState();

  useEffect(() => {
    const createAndWatchChannel = async () => {
      const newChannel = client.channel("messaging", "channel_id");
      await newChannel.watch();
      setChannel(newChannel);
    };

    createAndWatchChannel();
  }, []);

  return (
    <OverlayProvider>
      <Chat client={client}>
        <Channel channel={channel}>
          <MessageList />
          <MessageInput />
        </Channel>
      </Chat>
    </OverlayProvider>
  );
};

Context Providers

Channel contains providers for the ChannelContext, KeyboardContext, MessageInputContext, MessagesContext, PaginatedMessageListContext, SuggestionsContext, ThreadContext, and TypingContext. These can be accessed using the corresponding hooks.

UI Customizations

Channel is the entry point for customizing the majority of the Stream Chat for React Native SDK. The UI can be tailored to your design by replacing any number of components with custom components. Custom components provided as props to Channel will be utilized throughout the SDK where appropriate.

Customizing the message avatar can be done easily by providing a custom component to the appropriate prop.

import { Image } from "react-native";
import { Channel, useMessageContext } from "stream-chat-react-native";

const CustomAvatar = () => {
  const { message } = useMessageContext();

  return <Image source={{ uri: message.user?.image }} />;
};

<Channel MessageAvatar={CustomAvatar} />;

MessagesAttachmentsindicatorsinput

Props

channel

Channel instance from the StreamChat client.

keyboardVerticalOffset

Distance between top of the screen and top of Channel component. This is often the header height.

additionalKeyboardAvoidingViewProps

Additional props provided to the underlying KeyboardAvoidingView.

additionalTextInputProps

Additional props provided to the underlying TextInput within MessageInput.

additionalTouchableProps

Additional props provided to the underlying TouchableOpacity used by components within a message such as MessageContent.

allowThreadMessagesInChannel

Display the Show thread message in channel button inside the thread MessageInput.

autoCompleteSuggestionsLimit

Maximum number of suggestions to display as part of autocomplete feature within input box.

AutoCompleteSuggestionHeader

Component to render the autocomplete suggestion header.

AutoCompleteSuggestionItem

Component to render the autocomplete suggestion item.

AutoCompleteSuggestionList

Component to render the autocomplete suggestion list.

autoCompleteTriggerSettings

Function that returns the trigger settings for the auto complete input.

compressImageQuality

Image compression quality prior to uploading.

deletedMessagesVisibilityType

Controls the visibility of the deleted messages within the channel.

• always: The deleted messages in the channel will be visible to both the sender and receiver.
• never: The deleted messages will not be visible to anyone.
• sender: The deleted messages in the channel will only be visible to sender.
• receiver: The deleted messages in the channel will only be visible to receiver.

disableIfFrozenChannel

Disable all interaction with the Channel component if the channel is frozen.

disableKeyboardCompatibleView

Enable or disable the underlying KeyboardAvoidingView.

disableTypingIndicator

Disable typing indicator in MessageList.

dismissKeyboardOnMessageTouch

Dismiss the keyboard when a user touches any of the messages in the list.

doDocUploadRequest

Override of the file upload request when a user selects a file from the file picker. The function must return a Promise that is resolved to an object with the key file that is the URL of the uploaded file.

doImageUploadRequest

Override of the image upload request when a user selects an image from the image picker. The function must return a Promise that is resolved to an object with the key file that is the URL of the uploaded image.

doMarkReadRequest

Override the mark read request.

Example

const doMarkReadRequest = (channel) => {
  if (/** Some custom logic here */) {
    channel.markRead();
  }
};

doSendMessageRequest

Override the send message request. This function must return a Promise equivalent to client.sendMessage.

Example

const doSendMessageRequest = (channelId, messageObject) => {
  if (/** Some custom logic here */) {
    messageObject.isSpecial = true;
  }
  return channel.sendMessage(messageObject);
}

doUpdateMessageRequest

Override the update message request. This function must return a Promise equivalent to client.updateMessage.

const doUpdateMessageRequest = (channelId, messageObject) => {
  const numberOfUpdates = (messageObject.numberOfUpdates ?? 0) + 1;
  const messageToSend = { ...messageObject, numberOfUpdates };
  return client.updateMessage(messageToSend);
};

enableMessageGroupingByUser

Note: This prop is available only in SDK version >= v3.9.0

If false, consecutive messages from same user won’t be grouped together.

enforceUniqueReaction

Limits reactions to one per user. If a user selects another reaction, their previous reaction will be replaced. This is similar to reaction UX of iMessage.

forceAlignMessages

Forces alignment of messages in the list to either the left or right side of the screen. By default, received messages are aligned on the left side of the screen, and sent messages are aligned on the right.

formatDate

Format function that returns a string to be used for the date in the message status and delete message component.

giphyEnabled

Enable Giphy commands feature on the MessageInput component.

globalUnreadCountLimit

Maximum number of unread messages to show as a count on a channel before adding a +. The max allowable is 255, which when reached displays as 255+.

giphyVersion

The Giphy version to render - check the keys of the Image Object for possible values.

handleBlock

Function called when the Block User action is invoked from message actions list. This function does not override the default behavior of the Block User action. Please refer to the guide on customizing message actions for details.

handleCopy

Function called when the Copy Message action is invoked from message actions list. This function does not override the default behavior of the Copy Message action. Please refer to the guide on customizing message actions for details.

handleDelete

Function called when the Delete Message action is invoked from message actions list. This function does not override the default behavior of the Delete Message action. Please refer to the guide on customizing message actions for details.

handleEdit

Function called when the Edit Message action is invoked from message actions list. This function does not override the default behavior of the Edit Message action. Please refer to the guide on customizing message actions for details.

handleFlag

Function called when the Flag Message action is invoked from message actions list. This function does not override the default behavior of the Flag Message action. Please refer to the guide on customizing message actions for details.

handleMute

Function called when the Mute User action is invoked from message actions list. This function does not override the default behavior of the Mute User action. Please refer to the guide on customizing message actions for details.

handlePinMessage

Function called when the Pin to Conversation or Unpin from Conversation action is invoked from message actions list. This function does not override the default behavior of the Pin to Conversation or Unpin from Conversation action. Please refer to the guide on customizing message actions for details.

handleReaction

Function called when a reaction is selected in the message overlay, this is called on both the add and remove action. This function does not override the default behavior of the reaction being selected. Please refer to the guide on customizing message actions for details.

handleQuotedReply

Function called when the Reply action is invoked from message actions list. This function does not override the default behavior of the Reply action. Please refer to the guide on customizing message actions for details.

handleRetry

Function called when the Retry action is invoked from message actions list. This function does not override the default behavior of the Retry action. Please refer to the guide on customizing message actions for details.

handleThreadReply

Function called when the Thread Reply action is invoked from message actions list. This function does not override the default behavior of the Thread Reply action. Please refer to the guide on customizing message actions for details.

hasCommands

Enable commands on the MessageInput component.

hasFilePicker

Enable the file picker on the MessageInput component.

hasImagePicker

Enable the image picker on the MessageInput component.

hideDateSeparators

Hide inline date separators in MessageList component.

hideStickyDateHeader

Note: This prop is available only in SDK version >= v3.9.0

Hide sticky date header in MessageList component.

initialScrollToFirstUnreadMessage

Load messages in a channel at the first unread message.

initialValue

The initial value for the MessageInput component.

isAttachmentEqual

Function which returns true if passing nextAttachment to render would return the same result as passing prevAttachment to render, otherwise return false.

keyboardBehavior

Behavior for the keyboard passed to the underlying KeyboardAvoidingView.

legacyImageViewerSwipeBehaviour

Note: This prop is available only in SDK version >= v3.9.0

Enables/disables the legacy image viewer behavior.

When true, within the image viewer you can keep swiping left to scroll through all the images that have been loaded within a channel so far. Be aware that this creates quite a lot of extra work for the JS thread to keep track of image attachments loaded in a channel and pre-populating them in the viewer for smooth transitions.

loadingMore

Override the loadingMore value supplied by the channel query logic.

loadingMoreRecent

Override the loadingMoreRecent value supplied by the channel query logic.

markdownRules

Object specifying rules defined within simple-markdown.

maxMessageLength

Maximum length of the message text. The default value is supplied by the channel config.

maxNumberOfFiles

Maximum number of files (documents & images), that can be attached per message.

maxTimeBetweenGroupedMessages

Maximum time in milliseconds between consecutive messages from the same user to still consider them grouped together.

mentionAllAppUsersEnabled

Allows any of the app users to be mentioned in a message, as part of autocomplete feature within input box. By default only members of channel can be mentioned while composing a message.

mentionAllAppUsersQuery

Query to be used for searching users as part of autocomplete mention feature within input box. Please check the Querying Users docs for more details on filters/sort/options.

mentionAllAppUsersQuery={{
  filters: {
    id: {
      $in: ['vishal', 'lucas']
    }
  },
  sort: {},
  options: {}
}}

messageId

Load the channel at a specified message instead of the most recent message.

messageActions

An array of, or function that returns and array of, actions that can be performed on a message shown in the message overlay. Please refer to the guide on customizing message actions for details.

messageContentOrder

Order in which to render the content of a message.

myMessageTheme

Theme applied to messages of the current user.

newMessageStateUpdateThrottleInterval

Note: This prop is available only in SDK version >= v3.9.0

Throttling interval (in milliseconds) for react state update for channel, when new messages arrive in chat. By default state updates are throttled at 500 ms, but for high concurrency application this prop should be adjusted to 1000 ms to avoid excessive overload on JS thread.

numberOfLines

Maximum number of lines that underlying TextInput component within MessageInput should expand to.

onChangeText

Callback that is called when the text input’s text changes.

onLongPressMessage

Function called when a user long presses a message. The default opens the message actions overlay.

onPressMessage

Function called when a user presses a message.

The additionalInfo prop is handy for getting information from certain click events. A good example of this is getting the user details when a textMention (for example @Enigma-I-am) is clicked.

For example:

    <Channel
      onPressMessage={({ additionalInfo, defaultHandler, emitter }) => {

          if (emitter === 'textMention') {
            console.log(additionalInfo?.user);
            return;
          }

          if (emitter === 'card' || emitter === 'textLink') {
            console.log(additionalInfo?.url);
            return;
          }

          defaultHandler?.();
      }}
    >

:::info

The additionalInfo prop will change over time as we explore more use-cases for different emitter's.

onPressInMessage

Function called immediately when a touch is engaged on a message, before onPressMessage.

overrideOwnCapabilities

Object to override the capabilities of current user, which are affected by number of factors such as user permissions, channel type configurations and channel settings. These capabilities are used to enable or disable certain UI features within the SDK. To know more about capabilities, please take a look at following documentation:

/chat/docs/javascript/channel_capabilities/

For example:

<Channel
  overrideOwnCapabilities={{
    uploadFile: false,
    sendLinks: false
  }}

Available keys for the object:

• banChannelMembers When false, “Block User” message action won’t be available within overlay.
• deleteAnyMessage When false, “Delete Message” action won’t be available for received message within overlay.
• deleteOwnMessage When false, “Delete Message” action won’t be available for own message within overlay.
• flagMessage When false, “Flag Message” message action won’t be available within overlay.
• pinMessage When false, “Pin Message” action won’t be available within overlay.
• quoteMessage When false, “Reply” message action won’t be available within overlay.
• readEvents When false, read receipts for message won’t be rendered.
• sendLinks When false, user will not be allowed to send URLs in message.
• sendMessage When false, message input component will render SendMessageDisallowedIndicator instead of input box.
• sendReaction When false, reaction selector (OverlayReactionList) component won’t be available within overlay.
• sendReply When false, “Thread Reply” message action won’t be available within overlay.
• sendTypingEvents When false, typing events won’t be sent from current user.
• updateAnyMessage When false, “Edit Message” action won’t be available for received messages within overlay.
• updateOwnMessage When false, “Edit Message” action won’t be available for own messages within overlay.
• uploadFile When false, upload file button (AttachButton) won’t be available within MessageInput component.

selectReaction

Full override of the reaction function on a message. This function must return a function that takes as a parameter the reactionType as a string. Please refer to the guide on customizing message actions for details.

sendImageAsync

Sends a message with attachments in asynchronous way. By default, a message can’t be sent until all the image/file attachments have been uploaded. If this prop is set to true, every attachment will be sent as a separate message, as soon as the upload is complete.

setInputRef

Callback function to set the ref on the underlying TextInput in MessageInput.

stateUpdateThrottleInterval

Note: This prop is available only in SDK version >= v3.9.0

Throttling interval (in milliseconds) for react state update for channel, (except new messages). By default state updates are throttled at 500 ms, but for high concurrency application this prop should be adjusted to 1000 ms to avoid excessive overload on JS thread.

supportedReactions

List of reactions which can be added on message. Please refer to the guide on customizing reactions for details.

thread

A message object that when set indicates a thread is open. When used with the Thread component this will display the thread. When used with the standard MessageList component this will prevent any singleton components in the OverlayProvider form getting out of sync.

threadList

Tells the Channel component if it is rendering a thread. We use this flag to avoid concurrency problems between a regular channel and a channel containing a thread.

AttachButton

Component to render the attach button next to input box.

Attachment

Component for rendering attachments in MessageList.

Available props:

• attachment {object}

AttachmentActions

Component to render additional actions on attachment. for example send, shuffle, cancel in case of Giphy.

Card

Component to render any custom type of attachment. Please check the guides for Custom Attachment

CardCover

Component to render main body for Card component which renders custom type of attachment. Please check the guides for Custom Attachment.

CardFooter

Component to render footer for Card component which renders custom type of attachment. Please check the guides for Custom Attachment.

CardHeader

Component to render header for Card component which renders custom type of attachment. Please check the guides for Custom Attachment.

CommandsButton

Component to render button next to input box, which when pressed opens commands list.

DateHeader

Component to render sticky date header within enclosed MessageList component.

EmptyStateIndicator

Component to render, when channel has no messages.

FileAttachmentIcon

Component to render file icon for file type attachment.

FileAttachment

Component to render ‘file’ type attachment in MessageList.

FileAttachmentGroup

Component to render group of file type attachments, when there are multiple file type attachments in message.

FileUploadPreview

Component to render preview of attached file, within enclosed MessageInput component.

FlatList

FlatList component for underlying MessageList component.

Gallery

Component to render ‘image’ type attachments in the MessageList.

Giphy

Component to render Giphy type attachments in MessageList.

ImageLoadingFailedIndicator

Component to render when image fails to load in Gallery.

ImageLoadingIndicator

Component to render when image is loading in Gallery.

ImageUploadPreview

Component to render preview of attached images, within enclosed MessageInput component

InlineDateSeparator

Component to render inline date separators between messages which were created at a difference of more than a day.

InlineUnreadIndicator

Component to render inline separator in MessageList, to indicate the position of last read message in list.

Input

Component to render UI part of enclosed MessageInput component. Please read section in guides about Customizing Message Input.

InputButtons

Component to render action buttons (CommandsButton and AttachButton) on left side of input box, within enclosed MessageInput component.

InputEditingStateHeader

Component to render the header when a message is been edited on the message input.

InputGiphySearch

Component to render the message input when the Giphy command is triggered.

InputReplyStateHeader

Component to render the header on the message input when a message is been replied to.

KeyboardCompatibleView

Component to override underlying default KeyboardCompatibleView. Generally you won’t need to use this prop at all, you can simply use following props instead:

• keyboardVerticalOffset
• disableKeyboardCompatibleView

LoadingErrorIndicator

Component to render full screen error indicator, when channel fails to load.

LoadingIndicator

Component to render full screen error indicator, when channel fails to load.

Message

MessageAvatar

Component to render avatar of sender for message, within MessageList. This component is only rendered for messages from other users.

MessageContent

Component to render content of message including status, attachments, reactions etc., within MessageList.

MessageDeleted

Component to render deleted message.

MessageFooter

Component to render footer for message, within MessageList.

MessageHeader

Component to render header for message, within MessageList.

MessagePinnedHeader

Component to render pinned message label for message, within MessageList.

MessageReplies

Component to show number of thread replies and avatars of members who replied on message

MessageRepliesAvatars

Component to show avatars of members who thread replied on message.

MessageSimple

Component to render a message within MessageList.

Please check guides section for Customizing Message UI for details.

MessageStatus

Component to render status of message, which includes time and read-receipts.

MessageSystem

Component to render system type messages. Purpose of system messages is to inform user about changes to channel. System messages are part of message history, and have a property type set as system. You can add system messages within message history in following scenarios:

• A user gets added to or removed from channel
• A user accepts invite to join a channel
• Channel is updated

MessageText

Component to render text of message. By default, we use Simple Markdown package to render the text content of message. If you decide to use this prop, please be aware that you will need to handle the markdown rendering yourself.

MoreOptionsButton

Component to render a button within enclosed MessageInput, which when pressed shows more options such as AttachButton, CommandsButton.

NetworkDownIndicator

Component to render an indicator at top of the channel, which shows up when there is some issue with network or connection.

OverlayReactionList

Reaction selector component displayed within the message overlay when user long presses a message.

ReactionList

Component to render list of reactions at top of message bubble.

Reply

Component to render preview of parent of message for quoted reply.

ScrollToBottomButton

Component to render a button which when pressed, scrolls the message list to bottom.

SendButton

Component to render a send message button, within enclosed MessageInput component.

SendMessageDisallowedIndicator

Component to render indicator stating send message feature is not allowed for current user.

ShowThreadMessageInChannelButton

Component to render a checkbox within enclosed Thread component, which when checked sets a show_in_channel property to true on a message.

TypingIndicator

Component to render typing indicator within enclosed MessageList component.

TypingIndicatorContainer

Component to render container in which typing indicator gets rendered within enclosed MessageList component.

UploadProgressIndicator

Component to render upload progress indicator as an overlay above ImageUploadPreview and FileUploadPreview.

UrlPreview

Component to render preview of URLs in MessageList.