Methods

Static methods on CometChatUIKit for initialization, authentication, and message sending.

AI Integration Quick Reference

Field	Value
Class	CometChatUIKit
Package	@cometchat/chat-uikit-react
Usage	Static methods — no instantiation needed
Note	You must call init() and login() before rendering CometChatProvider

Overview

CometChatUIKit is a static class that provides imperative methods for SDK initialization, authentication, and message sending. The UI Kit wraps the Chat SDK methods to manage internal eventing and keep UI components synchronized. Use these wrapper methods instead of raw SDK calls.

You must call CometChatUIKit.init() and CometChatUIKit.login() (or loginWithAuthToken()) before mounting CometChatProvider. These methods are also useful for:

• Sending messages programmatically outside the composer
• Checking initialization/login state

---

Initialization

CometChatUIKit.init(settings)

Initialize the CometChat SDK and UIKit.

import { CometChatUIKit, UIKitSettingsBuilder } from "@cometchat/chat-uikit-react";

const settings = new UIKitSettingsBuilder()
  .setAppId("APP_ID")
  .setRegion("us")
  .setAuthKey("AUTH_KEY")
  .subscribePresenceForAllUsers()
  .build();

const user = await CometChatUIKit.init(settings);
// user is non-null if an existing session was found

Parameter	Type	Description
settings	UIKitSettings	Built via UIKitSettingsBuilder

Returns: Promise<CometChat.User | null> — the logged-in user if a session exists, otherwise null.

What it does:

1. Initializes the CometChat SDK with app settings
2. Sets source metadata for analytics
3. Creates the plugin registry (default + user plugins)
4. Initializes the localization singleton
5. Resumes existing session (if any)
6. Initializes Calls SDK (if enabled)

Setting Session Storage Mode

By default, session data is stored in localStorage. To use sessionStorage instead, configure it during initialization via the UIKitSettingsBuilder:

import { CometChat } from "@cometchat/chat-sdk-javascript";
import { CometChatUIKit, UIKitSettingsBuilder } from "@cometchat/chat-uikit-react";

const settings = new UIKitSettingsBuilder()
  .setAppId("APP_ID")
  .setRegion("REGION")
  .setAuthKey("AUTH_KEY")
  .setStorageMode(CometChat.StorageMode.SESSION)
  .build();

CometChatUIKit.init(settings).then(() => {
  console.log("Initialization completed with session storage");
});

When using sessionStorage, configure it in your UIKitSettingsBuilder before calling CometChatUIKit.init():

<CometChatProvider>
  <App />
</CometChatProvider>

Session storage is cleared when the browser tab is closed. Use this mode if you want users to re-authenticate on every new tab/session.

---

Authentication

CometChatUIKit.login(uid)

Log in a user by UID. Requires authKey in UIKitSettings.

const user = await CometChatUIKit.login("superhero1");

Parameter	Type	Description
uid	string	The user’s UID

Returns: Promise<CometChat.User>

CometChatUIKit.loginWithAuthToken(authToken)

Log in with a server-generated auth token. Preferred for production.

const user = await CometChatUIKit.loginWithAuthToken(token);

Parameter	Type	Description
authToken	string	Server-generated auth token

Returns: Promise<CometChat.User>

CometChatUIKit.logout()

Log out the current user.

await CometChatUIKit.logout();

Returns: Promise<void>

---

User Management

Both methods require authKey in your UIKitSettings — they throw if it is missing. Intended for development/testing; in production, create and update users server-side via the REST API.

CometChatUIKit.createUser(user)

Create a new user.

import { CometChat } from "@cometchat/chat-sdk-javascript";

const user = new CometChat.User("new-uid");
user.setName("Alice");

const created = await CometChatUIKit.createUser(user);

Parameter	Type	Description
user	CometChat.User	The user to create

Returns: Promise<CometChat.User>

CometChatUIKit.updateUser(user)

Update an existing user.

const user = new CometChat.User("existing-uid");
user.setName("Alice Updated");

const updated = await CometChatUIKit.updateUser(user);

Parameter	Type	Description
user	CometChat.User	The user to update

Returns: Promise<CometChat.User>

---

State Getters

CometChatUIKit.getLoggedInUser()

Get the currently logged-in user (synchronous).

const user = CometChatUIKit.getLoggedInUser();

Returns: CometChat.User | null

CometChatUIKit.isInitialized()

Check if the SDK has been initialized.

if (CometChatUIKit.isInitialized()) { ... }

Returns: boolean

CometChatUIKit.isCallingReady()

Check if the Calls SDK is ready.

Returns: boolean

CometChatUIKit.getPluginRegistry()

Get the plugin registry instance.

Returns: CometChatPluginRegistry | null

CometChatUIKit.getSettings()

Get the UIKitSettings used during initialization.

Returns: UIKitSettings | null

CometChatUIKit.getConversationUpdateSettings()

Get conversation update settings fetched from the dashboard.

Returns: CometChat.ConversationUpdateSettings | null

---

Message Sending

These methods are low-level utilities. They send messages via the SDK but do not publish ui:message/sent events. This means:

• The message won’t appear in CometChatMessageList automatically
• The CometChatConversations list won’t update

For messages to appear in the UI, use the CometChatMessageComposer component, or manually publish the event after sending:

const publish = usePublishEvent();
const msg = await CometChatUIKit.sendTextMessage(message);
publish({ type: "ui:message/sent", message: msg, status: CometChatMessageStatus.success });

CometChatUIKit.sendTextMessage(message)

Send a text message. Sets muid and sentAt if not already set.

const textMessage = new CometChat.TextMessage("receiverUid", "Hello!", "user");
const sent = await CometChatUIKit.sendTextMessage(textMessage);

Returns: Promise<CometChat.BaseMessage>

CometChatUIKit.sendMediaMessage(message)

Send a media message (image, video, audio, file).

const mediaMessage = new CometChat.MediaMessage("receiverUid", file, "image", "user");
const sent = await CometChatUIKit.sendMediaMessage(mediaMessage);

Returns: Promise<CometChat.BaseMessage>

CometChatUIKit.sendCustomMessage(message)

Send a custom message (polls, location, etc.).

const customMessage = new CometChat.CustomMessage("receiverUid", "user", "location", { latitude: 37.7749, longitude: -122.4194 });
const sent = await CometChatUIKit.sendCustomMessage(customMessage);

Returns: Promise<CometChat.BaseMessage>