Retrieve Groups

Fetch and filter CometChat groups with the Android SDK using request builders, tags, joined groups, and search.

AI Integration Quick Reference

// Fetch groups with filters
val groupsRequest = GroupsRequestBuilder()
    .setLimit(30)
    .joinedOnly(true)
    .setSearchKeyWord("search")
    .build()

groupsRequest.fetchNext(object : CallbackListener<List<Group>>() {
    override fun onSuccess(groups: List<Group>) { }
    override fun onError(e: CometChatException) { }
})

// Get specific group details
CometChat.getGroup("GUID", callback)

Retrieve List of Groups

Use GroupsRequestBuilder to configure filters, then call fetchNext() to retrieve groups.

Set Limit

Set the number of groups to fetch per request.

Java

GroupsRequest groupsRequest = new GroupsRequest.GroupsRequestBuilder()
.setLimit(limit)
.build();

Kotlin

val groupsRequest = GroupsRequestBuilder()
.setLimit(limit)
.build()  

Set Search Keyword

Filter groups by a search string.

Java

GroupsRequest groupsRequest = new GroupsRequest.GroupsRequestBuilder()
.setSearchKeyWord("abc")
.build();

Kotlin

val groupsRequest = GroupsRequestBuilder()
.setSearchKeyWord("abc")
.build()

Joined Only

Return only groups the logged-in user has joined.

Java

GroupsRequest groupsRequest = new GroupsRequest.GroupsRequestBuilder()
.joinedOnly(true)
.build();

Kotlin

val groupsRequest = GroupsRequestBuilder()
.joinedOnly(true)
.build()  

Set Tags

Filter groups by tags. Only groups tagged with the specified tags are returned.

Java

List<String> tags = new ArrayList<>();
tags.add("tag1");
tags.add("tag2");
GroupsRequest groupsRequest = new GroupsRequest.GroupsRequestBuilder()
.setLimit(limit)
.setTags(tags)
.build();  

Kotlin

val tags: MutableList<String> = ArrayList()
tags.add("tag1")
tags.add("tag2")
val groupsRequest = GroupsRequestBuilder()
.setLimit(limit)
.setTags(tags)
.build()

With Tags

Include tag data in the response when set to true.

Java

GroupsRequest groupsRequest = new GroupsRequest.GroupsRequestBuilder()
.setLimit(limit)
.withTags(true)
.build();

Kotlin

val groupsRequest = GroupsRequestBuilder()
.setLimit(limit)
.withTags(true)
.build()

Fetch Groups

After configuring the builder, call build() then fetchNext() to retrieve groups. Public and password-protected groups are always included. Private groups only appear if the user is a member.

Java

private GroupsRequest groupsRequest = null;
private int limit = 30;

groupsRequest = new GroupsRequest.GroupsRequestBuilder().setLimit(limit).build();

groupsRequest.fetchNext(new CometChat.CallbackListener<List<Group>>() {
@Override
public void onSuccess(List <Group> list) {
  Log.d(TAG, "Groups list fetched successfully: " + list.size());
}
@Override
public void onError(CometChatException e) {
  Log.d(TAG, "Groups list fetching failed with exception: " + e.getMessage());
}
});

Kotlin

val limit = 30
val groupsRequest = GroupsRequestBuilder().setLimit(limit).build()

groupsRequest.fetchNext(object : CallbackListener<List<Group?>>() {
override fun onSuccess(list: List<Group?>) {
  Log.d(TAG, "Groups list fetched successfully: " + list.size)
}

override fun onError(e: CometChatException) {
  Log.d(TAG, "Groups list fetching failed with exception: " + e.message)
}
})

Retrieve Particular Group Details

Use getGroup() to fetch details for a specific group by GUID.

Java

private String GUID = "GUID";

CometChat.getGroup(GUID, new CometChat.CallbackListener<Group>() {
@Override
public void onSuccess(Group group) {
  Log.d(TAG, "Group details fetched successfully: " + group.toString());        
}

@Override
public void onError(CometChatException e) { 
  Log.d(TAG, "Group details fetching failed with exception: " + e.getMessage());   

}
});

Kotlin

val GUID : String = "GUID"

CometChat.getGroup(GUID,object :CometChat.CallbackListener<Group>(){
override fun onSuccess(p0: Group?) {
  Log.d(TAG, "Group details fetched successfully: " + p0?.toString())
}
override fun onError(p0: CometChatException?) {
  Log.d(TAG, "Group details fetching failed with exception: " +p0?.message)
}
})

Parameter	Description
GUID	The GUID of the group for whom the details are to be fetched

On success, the Group object containing the details of the group is returned.

Get Online Group Member Count

Use getOnlineGroupMemberCount() to get the count of online members for specific groups.

Java

List<String> guids = new ArrayList<>();
guids.add("cometchat-guid-1");
guids.add("cometchat-guid-11");

CometChat.getOnlineGroupMemberCount(guids, new CometChat.CallbackListener<HashMap<String, Integer>>() {
@Override
public void onSuccess(HashMap<String, Integer> stringIntegerHashMap) {
  Log.d(TAG, "Online count fetched successfully " + stringIntegerHashMap.toString());
}

@Override
public void onError(CometChatException e) {
  Log.d(TAG, e.getMessage());
}
});

Kotlin

val guids: MutableList<String> = ArrayList()
guids.add("cometchat-guid-1")
guids.add("cometchat-guid-11")

CometChat.getOnlineGroupMemberCount(guids, object : CallbackListener<HashMap<String?, Int?>>() {
override fun onSuccess(stringIntegerHashMap: HashMap<String?, Int?>) {
  Log.d(TAG, "Online count fetched successfully $stringIntegerHashMap")
}

override fun onError(e: CometChatException) {
  Log.d(TAG, e.message!!)
}
})

This method returns a Hashmap with the GUID of the group as the key and the online member count for that group as the value.

Group Payload Structure

Group Object

The Group object returned by SDK methods contains the following fields:

Parameter	Type	Description
guid	String	Unique identifier of the group
name	String	Display name of the group
type	String	Group type. Values: "public", "private", "password"
password	String	Password for protected groups (null for public/private groups)
icon	String	URL to group icon image
description	String	Description of the group
owner	String	UID of the group owner
metadata	JSONObject	Custom data set by developer. Can contain any key-value pairs
createdAt	long	Unix timestamp when group was created
updatedAt	long	Unix timestamp of last group update
hasJoined	boolean	Whether the logged-in user has joined this group
joinedAt	long	Unix timestamp when logged-in user joined the group
scope	String	Logged-in user’s scope in group. Values: "admin", "moderator", "participant"
membersCount	int	Total number of members in the group
tags	Array<String>	List of tags for group identification and filtering
isBannedFromGroup	boolean	Whether the logged-in user is banned from this group

Sample Group Object:

{
  "guid": "group_123",
  "name": "Developers",
  "type": "public",
  "password": null,
  "icon": "https://example.com/icon.png",
  "description": "A group for developers",
  "owner": "user_123",
  "metadata": {
    "category": "tech",
    "isVerified": true
  },
  "createdAt": 1699800000,
  "updatedAt": 1699900000,
  "hasJoined": true,
  "joinedAt": 1699850000,
  "scope": "admin",
  "membersCount": 25,
  "tags": ["official", "support"],
  "isBannedFromGroup": false
}

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Next Steps

Create Group

Create new groups for your users

Join Group

Join groups to participate in conversations

Retrieve Members

Fetch list of group members

Additional Filtering

Learn more about advanced filtering options