Chat object

The Chat object is your entry point to the Chat SDK after initialization. Use the Chat object to create and manage channels, users, messages, memberships, and other entities.

Key capabilities:

• Create and delete channels and users
• Track user presence across channels
• Send custom events
• Access the underlying JavaScript SDK

Properties

The Chat object has the following properties:

1class Chat {
2    sdk: PubNub,
3    config: ChatConfig,
4    mutedUsersManager: MutedUsersManager
5}

Parameter	Description
sdk Type: PubNub	sdk lets you access any JavaScript SDK method. For example, if you want to call a method available in the App Context API, you'd use chat.sdk.objects.getAllUUIDMetadata().
config Type: ChatConfig	ChatConfig contains chat app configuration settings, such as saveDebugLog or typingTimeout that you provide when initializing your chat app with the init() method. You can later directly access these properties, like: chat.storeUserActivityInterval.
mutedUsersManager Type: MutedUsersManager	Manages the client-side muted users list. Available when syncMutedUsers is enabled.

ChatConfig includes these properties:

1type ChatConfig = {
2    // For logging errors
3    saveDebugLog: boolean;
4    // For typing indicator
5    typingTimeout: number;
6    // Two properties for enabling user's global presence & for tracking the user's last online activity
7    storeUserActivityInterval: number;
8    storeUserActivityTimestamps: boolean;
9    // For push notifications
10    pushNotifications: {
11        sendPushes: boolean;
12        deviceToken?: string;
13        deviceGateway: "apns2" | "gcm";
14        apnsTopic?: string;
15        apnsEnvironment: "development" | "production";
16    };
17    // Two properties for client-side rate limiting (message spam prevention)
18    rateLimitFactor: number;
19    rateLimitPerChannel: {
20        [key in ChannelType]: number;
21    };
22    // Controls whether read receipt events are emitted automatically
23    emitReadReceiptEvents?: { direct?: boolean; group?: boolean; public?: boolean; unknown?: boolean };
24    errorLogger?: ErrorLoggerImplementation;

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To initialize the Chat SDK, you must provide three parameters: publishKey, subscribeKey, and userId, while all other settings (mentioned above) are optional. Read the Configuration page for details.

Methods

You can call the following methods on the Chat object.

Regular methods

• createUser()
• createDirectConversation()
• createGroupConversation()
• createPublicConversation()
• (getter) currentUser
• deleteChannel()
• deleteUser()
• destroy()
• downloadDebugLog()
• fetchUnreadMessagesCounts()
• getChannel()
• getChannelGroup()
• getChannels()
• getChannelSuggestions()
• getCurrentUserMentions()
• getEventsHistory()
• getPushChannels()
• getUser()
• getUsers()
• getUserSuggestions()
• init()
• isPresent()
• markAllMessagesAsRead
• registerPushChannels()
• removeChannelGroup()
• setRestrictions()
• unregisterPushChannels()
• unregisterAllPushChannels()
• updateChannel()
• updateUser()
• wherePresent()
• whoIsPresent()
• emitEvent() (deprecated)

Event listeners

• addConnectionStatusListener()
• disconnectSubscriptions()
• reconnectSubscriptions()
• listenForEvents() (deprecated)

Use case

For example, you can use the Chat object methods to:

• Create a channel or user.
• Get channel or user data.