One-to-One / Group Chat

Build a single chat window for one-to-one or group messaging in React Router with CometChat UI Kit.

AI Integration Quick Reference

Field	Value
Package	@cometchat/chat-uikit-react
Framework	React Router
Components	CometChatMessageHeader, CometChatMessageList, CometChatMessageComposer
Layout	Single chat window — no sidebar, no conversation list
Prerequisite	Complete React Router Integration first
SSR	N/A — client-side SPA by default
Pattern	Support chat, embedded widgets, focused messaging

This guide builds a single chat window — no sidebar, no conversation list. Users go directly into a one-to-one or group chat. Good for support chat, embedded widgets, or any focused messaging experience.

This assumes you’ve already completed React Router Integration (project created, UI Kit installed, init + login working).

---

What You’re Building

Three components stacked vertically:

1. Chat header — displays recipient name, avatar, online status, and optional call buttons
2. Message list — real-time chat history with scrolling
3. Message composer — text input with media, emojis, and reactions

---

Full Code

Create a route component for the chat page. This assumes init() and login() already happen in src/main.tsx (as shown in the integration guide).

src/pages/DirectChatPage.tsx

import { useEffect, useState } from "react";
import { CometChat } from "@cometchat/chat-sdk-javascript";
import {
  CometChatProvider,
  CometChatMessageHeader,
  CometChatMessageList,
  CometChatMessageComposer,
} from "@cometchat/chat-uikit-react";
import "@cometchat/chat-uikit-react/styles";
import "./DirectChatPage.css";

const RECIPIENT_UID = "cometchat-uid-2"; // Replace with the UID you want to chat with

export default function DirectChatPage() {
  const [chatUser, setChatUser] = useState<CometChat.User | undefined>(undefined);

  useEffect(() => {
    CometChat.getUser(RECIPIENT_UID).then(
      (user) => setChatUser(user),
      (error) => console.error("User fetch failed:", error)
    );
  }, []);

  if (!chatUser) return <div>Loading chat...</div>;

  return (
    <CometChatProvider>
      <div className="chat-window">
        <CometChatMessageHeader user={chatUser} />
        <CometChatMessageList user={chatUser} />
        <CometChatMessageComposer user={chatUser} />
      </div>
    </CometChatProvider>
  );
}

src/pages/DirectChatPage.css

.chat-window {
  display: flex;
  flex-direction: column;
  height: 100vh;
  width: 100%;
}

Register the route in your App.tsx:

src/App.tsx

import { Routes, Route, Navigate } from "react-router-dom";
import DirectChatPage from "./pages/DirectChatPage";

function App() {
  // ... login logic from integration guide ...

  return (
    <Routes>
      <Route path="/chat" element={<DirectChatPage />} />
      <Route path="*" element={<Navigate to="/chat" replace />} />
    </Routes>
  );
}

export default App;

Key points:

• CometChat.getUser(UID) fetches the full user object from the SDK — you need a real user object, not a manually constructed one.
• Pass either user or group to the message components, never both.
• The RECIPIENT_UID should be a user that exists in your CometChat app. Use one of the pre-created test UIDs: cometchat-uid-1 through cometchat-uid-5.
• The chat page is a route component — React Router handles navigation.

---

Switching to Group Chat

To load a group chat instead of one-to-one, fetch a Group object and pass it to the message components:

src/pages/DirectChatPage.tsx

import { useEffect, useState } from "react";
import { CometChat } from "@cometchat/chat-sdk-javascript";
import {
  CometChatProvider,
  CometChatMessageHeader,
  CometChatMessageList,
  CometChatMessageComposer,
} from "@cometchat/chat-uikit-react";
import "@cometchat/chat-uikit-react/styles";
import "./DirectChatPage.css";

const GROUP_ID = "cometchat-guid-1"; // Replace with your Group ID

export default function DirectChatPage() {
  const [chatGroup, setChatGroup] = useState<CometChat.Group | undefined>(undefined);

  useEffect(() => {
    CometChat.getGroup(GROUP_ID).then(
      (group) => setChatGroup(group),
      (error) => console.error("Group fetch failed:", error)
    );
  }, []);

  if (!chatGroup) return <div>Loading chat...</div>;

  return (
    <CometChatProvider>
      <div className="chat-window">
        <CometChatMessageHeader group={chatGroup} />
        <CometChatMessageList group={chatGroup} />
        <CometChatMessageComposer group={chatGroup} />
      </div>
    </CometChatProvider>
  );
}

The only difference: use CometChat.getGroup(GUID) instead of CometChat.getUser(UID), and pass group instead of user.

---

Run

npm run dev

Open http://localhost:5173/chat. You should see the chat window load with the conversation for the UID or GUID you set.

---

Next Steps

Conversation List + Messages

Two-panel layout with a sidebar

Tab-Based Chat

Tabbed navigation with Chats, Calls, Users

Components Overview

Browse all prebuilt UI components