Cometchat features

Companion skills: cometchat-core covers initialization and the provider pattern; cometchat-customization is the next step when a feature is enabled but needs visual customization; cometchat-troubleshooting handles post-feature-enable failures.

Purpose

This skill teaches Claude how CometChat features are structured and what work is actually required to enable each one. Most features require zero code — they are either already built into the UI Kit, toggled via the cometchat apply-feature CLI (which hits the dashboard API), or activated by a single npm install. Understanding which type a feature is prevents unnecessary work.

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1. Use this skill when

The user wants to add a specific feature to an already-integrated CometChat project. Trigger phrases:

• /cometchat features
• /cometchat features <name> (e.g. /cometchat features reactions)
• /cometchat <feature> (e.g. /cometchat polls, /cometchat calls)
• "add reactions to my chat"
• "add video calling"
• "enable polls"
• "add file sharing"
• "enable smart replies"
• "add typing indicators"

2. Preconditions

The user must have an existing integration:

npx @cometchat/skills-cli info --json

If integrated is false, stop and tell the user to run /cometchat first to create the integration.

3. Why features fall into each type

CometChat features split into six types based on what work is actually needed to enable each one:

• default (compiled-in): Shipped inside the UI Kit component bundle unconditionally. CometChat builds reactions, typing indicators, mentions, etc. into CometChatMessageList and CometChatMessageComposer at compile time. The feature is always present; the only question is whether the prop that surfaces it is enabled. No action needed.

• extension (backend boolean toggle): Pure on/off backend extension. The CLI's apply-feature command flips the toggle via the same REST API the dashboard UI uses (POST /apps/{id}/extensions), so no browser visit required. Once enabled, the UI Kit renders the matching UI automatically. Examples: polls, link-preview, voice-transcription, message-translation, stickers.

• ai-feature (backend AI toggle + OpenAI key): Same API path as extensions but split out because the AI feature requires an OpenAI API key on the app's AI settings (PUT /apps/{id}/ai/settings) before the toggle (POST /apps/{id}/features/ai.{key}/enabled) succeeds. The CLI handles both calls in one invocation when given --openai-key sk-…. Examples: smart-replies, conversation-summary, conversation-starter.

• dashboard-only (third-party config): Requires entering config the user has to fetch themselves — third-party API keys (Giphy, Stipop, Tenor), webhooks (Chatwoot), or multi-field choices (disappearing-messages interval, message-shortcuts list). The CLI cannot automate these; the skill prints the dashboard path and stops.

• package-install (separate SDK): Voice/video calling requires @cometchat/calls-sdk-javascript because it links against browser media APIs that would bloat every integration if bundled unconditionally. Once installed, the UI Kit detects it via dynamic import.

• component-swap (variant component): Replaces one UI Kit component with a drop-in variant whose default behavior differs (e.g. CometChatCompactMessageComposer enables rich text by default). The CLI does a safe word-boundary replace in state.files_owned. Requires cometchat apply to have run (i.e. web/RN integrations only — native cohorts can't use this path).

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4. The feature catalog

Type 1 — Default features (~14, already enabled in UI Kit)

These are already part of the components your integration uses. The skill's job is to tell the user they're already there and point at the relevant component:

• Instant Messaging
• Media Sharing (file/image/audio/video)
• Read Receipts
• Mark as Unread
• Typing Indicator
• User Presence (online/offline)
• Reactions
• Mentions (incl. @all)
• Threaded Conversations
• Quoted Replies
• Group Chat
• Report Message
• Conversation/Advanced Search

For these: query the docs MCP for the feature's component/usage docs, show the user where it is in their integration. No code changes needed.

Type 2a — Extensions (pure boolean, CLI-toggleable)

These are backend extensions enabled by a single API call (POST /apps/{id}/extensions). Use the CLI — no browser visit required:

cometchat apply-feature <id>

For native cohorts (iOS / Android / Flutter / Angular) where there's no .cometchat/state.json, pass --app-id explicitly:

cometchat apply-feature <id> --app-id <your-app-id>

Once enabled, the UI Kit auto-integrates them. No code changes needed.

Note: Conversation and Advanced Search has its own toggle on the Features page. It is on by default but can be disabled. If a user reports that search is missing, check this toggle.

Extensions — User Experience: Avatar, Bitly, Link Preview, Message Shortcuts, Pin Message, Rich Media Preview, Save Message, Thumbnail Generation, TinyURL, Voice Transcription

Extensions — User Engagement: Broadcast, Giphy, Gfycat, Message Translation, Polls, Reminders, Stickers, Stipop, Tenor

Extensions — Collaboration: Collaborative Document, Collaborative Whiteboard

Extensions — Security: Disappearing Messages, E2E Encryption (Enterprise plan only)

Extensions — Moderation (on the separate Extensions page, not Features): Data Masking, Image Moderation, Profanity Filter, Sentiment Analysis, XSS Filter, Human Moderation, Report User, Slow Mode, Virus/Malware Scanner

Extensions — Notifications (on the separate Extensions page): Email Notification, Push Notification, SMS Notification

Extensions — Customer Support: Chatwoot, Intercom

Type 2b — AI features (CLI-toggleable, OpenAI key required)

smart-replies, conversation-summary, conversation-starter. These need an OpenAI API key on the app's AI settings before the toggle succeeds. The CLI does both calls in one invocation:

cometchat apply-feature smart-replies --openai-key sk-...
# native:
cometchat apply-feature smart-replies --app-id <id> --openai-key sk-...

After the first AI feature is enabled the key is stored on the app, so subsequent ai-feature applies don't need --openai-key repeated.

Get an OpenAI key: https://platform.openai.com/api-keys

Type 2c — Dashboard-only (third-party config required)

These extensions require config the user has to provide themselves (third-party API keys / webhooks / multi-field setup) — apply-feature returns manual-action-required and prints the dashboard path. The CLI cannot automate these:

• Third-party API keys: Giphy, Stipop, Tenor, Intercom
• Webhooks: Chatwoot
• Multi-field config: Message Shortcuts (shortcut list), Disappearing Messages (interval)

Manual flow for these:

1. https://app.cometchat.com → select your app
2. Sidebar → Extensions (or Chat & Messaging → Features for Disappearing Messages)
3. Find the extension, enter the third-party config, toggle ON

Moderation and Notification extensions

Live on a separate Extensions page (not Features). Both currently require dashboard navigation (Phase 1 didn't cover moderation rules):

• Moderation: Data Masking, Image Moderation, Profanity Filter, Sentiment Analysis, XSS Filter, Human Moderation, Report User, Slow Mode, Virus/Malware Scanner
• Notifications: Email, Push, SMS

Sidebar → Extensions → find extension → configure + enable.

After enabling any feature, run cometchat verify to ensure the existing integration still passes. No code changes are needed — the UI Kit picks up enabled features automatically.

Type 3 — Package-install features (4, calls)

These require installing @cometchat/calls-sdk-javascript. Once installed, the UI Kit auto-detects it and surfaces the call UI in CometChatMessageHeader, CometChatConversations, etc.

• Call Buttons (in message headers)
• Incoming Call notifications
• Outgoing Call interface
• Call Logs (call history)

For these, the user opting in IS consent — run the install directly:

npm install @cometchat/calls-sdk-javascript
npx @cometchat/skills-cli verify --json

The UI Kit's initiateAfterLogin() auto-calls enableCalling() after the package is installed. No manual wiring needed for default call buttons in CometChatMessageHeader. Restart the dev server.

Type 4 — Component-swap features (drop-in variant)

Some features require swapping one component for a variant that has different default behavior. The CLI handles the swap automatically — it walks state.files_owned, performs a word-boundary regex replace, updates state.json checksums, and records the applied feature so re-runs are no-ops. Idempotent.

Currently available:

• rich-text-formatting — swaps CometChatMessageComposer → CometChatCompactMessageComposer (the compact variant enables rich text formatting by default; the regular composer has enableRichTextEditor=false baked in)

npx @cometchat/skills-cli apply-feature rich-text-formatting

Do NOT hand-edit the swap. The CLI is the source of truth. If future SDK releases add new variant components, they will follow this same apply-feature <id> pattern.

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4b. Deep patterns for three most-requested features

For calls, AI smart replies, and presence, the catalog above only says "install a package" or "toggle in dashboard." Here are the concrete compositional patterns so common requests don't require a docs MCP round-trip.

Calls (audio + video)

After npm install @cometchat/calls-sdk-javascript, call buttons auto-appear in CometChatMessageHeader and the call UI renders in place. No manual wiring needed for basic 1:1 audio/video calls.

For custom integration — e.g. putting a "Start video call" button outside the message header, or handling an incoming call notification in a custom way — use CometChatCallButtons + CometChatIncomingCall + CometChatOngoingCall:

import { useState, useEffect } from "react";
import {
  CometChatCallButtons,
  CometChatIncomingCall,
  CometChatOngoingCall,
} from "@cometchat/chat-uikit-react";
import { CometChat } from "@cometchat/chat-sdk-javascript";

export function CustomCallUI({ targetUser }: { targetUser: CometChat.User }) {
  const [ongoingCall, setOngoingCall] = useState<CometChat.Call>();

  useEffect(() => {
    // Listen for call state changes
    const listenerId = "custom-call-listener";
    CometChat.addCallListener(
      listenerId,
      new CometChat.CallListener({
        onOutgoingCallAccepted: (call: CometChat.Call) => setOngoingCall(call),
        onIncomingCallCancelled: () => setOngoingCall(undefined),
        onCallEnded: () => setOngoingCall(undefined),
      }),
    );
    return () => CometChat.removeCallListener(listenerId);
  }, []);

  return (
    <>
      <CometChatCallButtons user={targetUser} />
      <CometChatIncomingCall />
      {ongoingCall && <CometChatOngoingCall call={ongoingCall} />}
    </>
  );
}

Common gotchas:

• Calls require a logged-in CometChat user on both sides. Test from two browsers (or incognito) logged in as different UIDs.
• CometChatIncomingCall must be mounted globally (e.g. in your provider or layout) so incoming calls ring on every page.
• Group calls use CometChat.Group instead of CometChat.User on CometChatCallButtons.

AI smart replies

Smart replies is an ai-feature. Enable with one CLI call (the first time also sets the OpenAI key on the app):

cometchat apply-feature smart-replies --openai-key sk-...
# native cohorts: add --app-id <your-app-id>

No code changes are required — the CometChatMessageComposer automatically renders suggested replies as chips above the input when there's a recent incoming message.

For a custom UI — e.g. showing smart replies inline instead of above the composer, or only for certain conversation types — you read the extension data from the incoming message and render your own chips:

function SmartReplyChips({ message }: { message: CometChat.BaseMessage }) {
  const metadata = message.getMetadata() as Record<string, unknown> | undefined;
  const extensions = (metadata?.["@injected"] as Record<string, unknown>)?.["extensions"] as
    | Record<string, unknown>
    | undefined;
  const smartReply = extensions?.["smart-reply"] as { reply_positive?: string; reply_neutral?: string; reply_negative?: string } | undefined;

  if (!smartReply) return null;

  const replies = [smartReply.reply_positive, smartReply.reply_neutral, smartReply.reply_negative].filter(Boolean) as string[];
  return (
    <div style={{ display: "flex", gap: 8, padding: 8 }}>
      {replies.map((r) => (
        <button key={r} onClick={() => sendTextMessage(r)}>{r}</button>
      ))}
    </div>
  );
}

Smart replies are server-generated and attached to messages via the @injected.extensions.smart-reply metadata path — the AI feature runs on CometChat's backend, not in your code.

Presence (online / offline status)

Presence is a default feature (Type 1) — online status indicators appear automatically on user avatars in CometChatConversations, CometChatUsers, and CometChatGroupMembers. Nothing to install, nothing to enable.

For custom UI that needs to know a specific user's online state — e.g. a "Sold by Aria Chen · online now" label on a product page — subscribe to user events:

import { useEffect, useState } from "react";
import { CometChat } from "@cometchat/chat-sdk-javascript";

export function useUserPresence(uid: string): "online" | "offline" | "unknown" {
  const [status, setStatus] = useState<"online" | "offline" | "unknown">("unknown");

  useEffect(() => {
    // 1. Fetch initial state
    CometChat.getUser(uid).then((u) => {
      setStatus(u.getStatus() === "online" ? "online" : "offline");
    });

    // 2. Subscribe to live changes
    const listenerId = `presence-${uid}`;
    CometChat.addUserListener(
      listenerId,
      new CometChat.UserListener({
        onUserOnline: (user: CometChat.User) => {
          if (user.getUid() === uid) setStatus("online");
        },
        onUserOffline: (user: CometChat.User) => {
          if (user.getUid() === uid) setStatus("offline");
        },
      }),
    );
    return () => CometChat.removeUserListener(listenerId);
  }, [uid]);

  return status;
}

Common gotchas:

• Presence events only fire for users the current user has interacted with (conversation exists, in same group, etc.). For arbitrary UIDs with no prior interaction, you may need to call CometChat.getUser(uid) periodically instead.
• getStatus() returns "online" or "offline" — also check getLastActiveAt() for a "last seen X ago" timestamp.
• "Last seen" is disabled by default on free-tier apps. Enable it in the dashboard (Settings → Chat → Last Seen).

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5. Docs MCP contract

The CometChat docs MCP at cometchat-docs is a hard requirement for this skill. It's the canonical source for:

• Per-feature SDK reference (props, callbacks, builders, events)
• Per-feature configuration details beyond the dashboard path above
• Feature compatibility notes (which features need backend setup, which auto-wire, which require explicit setExtensions([...]))

Hard rules:

1. Always query the docs MCP first before answering any feature question that's not in our local catalog (cometchat features info).
2. If the docs MCP is not installed, STOP. Tell the user: "I need the CometChat docs MCP to walk you through this feature. Install it with claude mcp add --transport http cometchat-docs https://www.cometchat.com/docs/mcp and re-run."
3. Use cometchat apply-feature <id> for extension and ai-feature types. The CLI is the canonical path. Only fall back to the dashboard URL when the CLI returns manual-action-required, auth-required, or error.
4. Canonical reference URLs (use as starting points if the agent doesn't have an MCP query handy):
   • Extensions: https://www.cometchat.com/docs/ui-kit/react/extensions
   • AI features: https://www.cometchat.com/docs/ui-kit/react/ai-features
   • Calls: https://www.cometchat.com/docs/ui-kit/react/call-features
   • Core features: https://www.cometchat.com/docs/ui-kit/react/core-features

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6. Steps

Step 1 — Read state

npx @cometchat/skills-cli info --json

If not integrated, stop. Otherwise note the framework + experience so you can find the right files.

Step 2 — Determine feature

If the user named a feature, use it. Otherwise list the categories above and ask which feature they want.

Step 3 — Classify the feature

Match the feature name against the 4 types in section 4. If you don't know the type, query the docs MCP first.

Step 4 — Execute the right sub-flow

• Default: show the user it's already there. Point at the component. Use npx @cometchat/skills-cli features info <id> to surface the walkthrough verbatim.

  • CRITICAL — if the user explicitly wants a UI element to surface the default feature (e.g. "implement conversation search", "add a search bar", "show typing indicators in the header", "expose mentions in the composer"), do NOT add a new component yet. Most default features are exposed via PROPS on the components your integration already mounts:
    • "search bar" → showSearchBar on CometChatConversations (and onSearchBarClicked to swap in <CometChatSearch> for advanced dual-scope search if the user wants that)
    • "filter conversations / messages" → conversationsRequestBuilder / messagesRequestBuilder
    • "custom empty / error / loading state" → emptyStateView, errorStateView, loadingStateView
    • "custom message bubble" → templates prop on CometChatMessageList (NOT a custom bubble component)
    • "hide / disable a sub-feature" → disable* boolean props
    • "click handler" → onItemClick, onMessageClick, onSearchBarClicked, onBack
    • "custom subtitle / status / timestamp" → subtitleView, statusView, timestampView Process before any code change:
    1. Read the files in .cometchat/state.json files_owned and grep for the <CometChat[A-Z] JSX components actually in use:

       grep -hoE '<CometChat[A-Z][a-zA-Z]*' \
         $(jq -r '.files_owned[]' .cometchat/state.json 2>/dev/null) \
         2>/dev/null | sort -u
       

    2. Query the docs MCP for "<ComponentName> props" for each one.
    3. If a prop matches the user's intent, add the prop and stop. No new components, no custom CSS, no new files.
    4. Only if no prop matches, route to the cometchat-customization skill for the full four-tier discovery.

• Extension / AI feature: run cometchat apply-feature <id>. The CLI hits the dashboard API directly using the bearer token from cometchat auth login (stored in the OS keychain). For native cohorts (iOS / Android / Flutter / Angular), pass --app-id <id> explicitly because there's no .cometchat/state.json. AI features also take --openai-key sk-… the first time:

  # Web/RN (state.json present):
  cometchat apply-feature polls
  cometchat apply-feature smart-replies --openai-key sk-...
  
  # Native (stateless):
  cometchat apply-feature polls --app-id A1B2C3
  cometchat apply-feature smart-replies --app-id A1B2C3 --openai-key sk-...
  

  Response shapes (--json):

  • "status": "applied" → done. Tell the user to hard-refresh (Cmd+Shift+R) the browser tab running their dev server.
  • "status": "already-applied" → the feature is already enabled in this integration's state.applied_features.
  • "status": "auth-required" → run cometchat auth login first.
  • "status": "openai-key-required" (ai-feature only) → re-run with --openai-key sk-….
  • "status": "error" → surface next_steps verbatim.

  Only fall back to the dashboard when the CLI returns error or isn't available. Manual flow for extensions: app.cometchat.com → Chat & Messaging → Features → flip Status toggle.

  Note: if the feature has auto_wired_in_uikit: false in the catalog (most non-default extensions), the toggle alone isn't enough — you also need to register the extension via UIKitSettingsBuilder.setExtensions([...]) before init. Query the docs MCP for the exact builder syntax.

• Dashboard-only: the CLI returns manual-action-required and prints the dashboard path. These need third-party config (Giphy API key, Chatwoot webhook, etc.) that only the user can supply. Walk them through the dashboard.

• Package-install (calls): run npm install @cometchat/calls-sdk-javascript directly. The user opted in, that IS consent.

• Component-swap: run cometchat apply-feature <id> (web/RN only — needs state.json). The CLI handles the swap deterministically. Do NOT hand-edit.

Step 5 — Verify

npx @cometchat/skills-cli verify --json

Surface any failed checks verbatim. If anything looks off after enabling a feature (drift, unexpected build error, env warning), run cometchat doctor for combined drift + env + AST diagnostics with per-issue fix instructions, or route to the cometchat-troubleshooting skill for deeper triage.

Hard rules

• Never modify a project without an existing CometChat integration.
• Always query the docs MCP for SDK reference (do not invent function names).
• For component-swap, extension, and ai-feature types, always use cometchat apply-feature <id> — the CLI is the source of truth, never hand-edit and never tell the user to navigate the dashboard unless the CLI itself returns manual-action-required.
• For ai-feature types, the OpenAI key prerequisite is the only manual input — pass it as --openai-key sk-… the first time per app.
• For native cohorts (iOS / Android / Flutter / Angular), always pass --app-id <id> because their projects don't write .cometchat/state.json.
• For package-install features (calls), the user opting in IS consent — run npm install <package> directly.
• For dashboard-only features (third-party API keys, webhooks, multi-field config), walk the user through the dashboard — these cannot be automated.
• Always use npx @cometchat/skills-cli.

Sources

• Core features
• Extensions
• AI features
• Call features