User Management

Create and update CometChat users with the Android SDK, and use REST APIs when deletion is required.

AI Integration Quick Reference

// Create user (use API Key - dev/testing only)
val apiKey = "API_KEY"
val user = User()
user.uid = "user1"
user.name = "Kevin"

CometChat.createUser(user, apiKey, object : CometChat.CallbackListener<User>() {
    override fun onSuccess(user: User) { }
    override fun onError(e: CometChatException) { }
})

// Update logged-in user (no API Key needed)
val updatedUser = User()
updatedUser.name = "Andrew Joseph"

CometChat.updateCurrentUserDetails(updatedUser, object : CallbackListener<User>() {
    override fun onSuccess(user: User) { }
    override fun onError(e: CometChatException) { }
})

Note: User creation/updates should ideally happen on your backend using REST API.

When a user registers in your app, create them in CometChat. When they log in, log them into CometChat as well.

Creating a user

Ideally, user creation should happen on your backend using the REST API. For on-the-fly creation during development, use the createUser() method with a User object and your API Key.

Java

String apiKey = "AUTH_KEY"; // Replace with your API Key.
User user = new User();
user.setUid("user1"); // Replace with your uid for the user to be created.
user.setName("Kevin"); // Replace with the name of the user

CometChat.createUser(user, apiKey, new CometChat.CallbackListener<User>() {
@Override
public void onSuccess(User user) {
  Log.d("createUser", user.toString());
}

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

Kotlin

val apiKey = "API_KEY" // Replace with your API Key.
val user = User()
user.uid = "user1" // Replace with your uid for the user to be created.
user.name = "Kevin" // Replace with the name of the user

CometChat.createUser(user, apiKey, object : CometChat.CallbackListener<User>() {
override fun onSuccess(user: User) {
  Log.d("createUser", user.toString())
}

override fun onError(e: CometChatException) {
  Log.e("createUser", e.message)
}
})

API Key Security: The API Key should only be used for development and testing. In production, create and update users on your backend server using the REST API to keep your API Key secure. Never expose API Keys in production client code.

UID can be alphanumeric with underscore and hyphen. Spaces, punctuation and other special characters are not allowed.

Updating a user

Use updateUser() with a User object and API Key. Ideally done on your backend via the REST API.

Java

String apiKey = "AUTH_KEY"; // Replace with your API Key.
User user = new User();
user.setUid("user1"); // Replace with your uid for the user to be updated.
user.setName("Kevin Fernandez"); // Replace with the name of the user

CometChat.updateUser(user, apiKey, new CometChat.CallbackListener<User>() {
@Override
public void onSuccess(User user) {
  Log.d("updateUser", user.toString());
}

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

Kotlin

val apiKey = "API_KEY" // Replace with your API Key.
val user = User()
user.uid = "user1" // Replace with your uid for the user to be updated.
user.name = "Kevin Fernandez" // Replace with the name of the user

CometChat.updateUser(user, apiKey, object : CometChat.CallbackListener<User>() {
override fun onSuccess(user: User) {
  Log.d("updateUser", user.toString())
}

override fun onError(e: CometChatException) {
  Log.e("updateUser", e.message)
}
})

Please make sure the User object provided to the updateUser() method has the UID of the user to be updated.

Updating logged-in user

Use updateCurrentUserDetails() to update the currently logged-in user’s profile. No API Key required.

Java

User user = new User();
user.setName("Andrew Joseph");

CometChat.updateCurrentUserDetails(user, new CometChat.CallbackListener<User>() {
@Override
public void onSuccess(User user) {
  Log.d(TAG, user.toString());
}

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

Kotlin

val user = User()
user.name = "Andrew Joseph"

CometChat.updateCurrentUserDetails(user, object : CallbackListener<User>() {
override fun onSuccess(user: User) {
  Log.d(TAG, user.toString())
}

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

By using the updateCurrentUserDetails() method, you can only update the logged-in user regardless of the UID passed. Also, it is not possible to update the role of a logged-in user.

Deleting a user

Deleting a user can only be achieved via the RESTful APIs. For more information, see the delete a user section.

User Class

Field	Editable	Information
uid	specified on user creation. Not editable after that	Unique identifier of the user
name	Yes	Display name of the user
avatar	Yes	URL to profile picture of the user
link	Yes	URL to profile page
role	Yes	User role of the user for role based access control
metadata	Yes	Additional information about the user as JSON
status	No	Status of the user. Could be either online/offline
statusMessage	Yes	Any custom status message that needs to be set for a user
lastActiveAt	No	The unix timestamp of the time the user was last active.
hasBlockedMe	No	A boolean that determines if the user has blocked the logged in user
blockedByMe	No	A boolean that determines if the logged in user has blocked the user
tags	Yes	A list of tags to identify specific users

User Payload Structure

User Object

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

Parameter	Type	Description
uid	String	Unique identifier of the user
name	String	Display name of the user
avatar	String	URL to user’s profile picture
link	String	URL to user’s profile page
role	String	User role for role-based access control
metadata	JSONObject	Custom data set by developer. Can contain any key-value pairs
status	String	User online status. Values: "online", "offline"
statusMessage	String	Custom status message set by user
lastActiveAt	long	Unix timestamp of last activity (milliseconds)
hasBlockedMe	boolean	Whether this user has blocked the logged-in user
blockedByMe	boolean	Whether the logged-in user has blocked this user
tags	Array<String>	List of tags for user identification and filtering
deactivatedAt	long	Unix timestamp when user was deactivated (0 if active)

Sample User Object:

{
  "uid": "user_123",
  "name": "John Doe",
  "avatar": "https://example.com/avatar.png",
  "link": "https://example.com/profile/user_123",
  "role": "default",
  "metadata": {
    "customKey": "customValue",
    "preferences": {
      "theme": "dark",
      "notifications": true
    }
  },
  "status": "online",
  "statusMessage": "Available",
  "lastActiveAt": 1699900000000,
  "hasBlockedMe": false,
  "blockedByMe": false,
  "tags": ["premium", "verified"],
  "deactivatedAt": 0
}

---

Next Steps

Authentication

Log users into CometChat after creating their accounts

Retrieve Users

Fetch user lists and search for specific users

User Presence

Track user online/offline status in real-time

Block Users

Implement user blocking and unblocking features