Campaigns - CometChat Docs

CometChat Campaigns lets you deliver targeted, rich notifications to users via an in-app notification feed. Each notification is a Card Schema JSON — a structured layout rendered natively by the CometChat Cards library. The SDK provides APIs to fetch feed items, listen for real-time delivery, mark items as read/delivered, report engagement, and retrieve unread counts.

Before using the SDK, set up your channels, categories, templates, and campaigns in the CometChat Dashboard. See the Dashboard Setup Guide for step-by-step instructions.

Card Messages

A Card Message is a structured, interactive message rendered as a card bubble inside a conversation. Cards are receive-only on the SDK: they are created through the Platform REST API or the Dashboard Bubble Builder and delivered to clients like any other message — the SDK does not send them.

Type: CardMessage (CometChatSDK)
Category: "card" (MessageCategory.card)

Properties

Method	Returns	Description
`getCard()`	`[String: Any]?`	The raw card schema/payload passed to the Cards renderer.
`getText()`	`String?`	Optional text shown alongside the card.
`getFallbackText()`	`String?`	Text displayed when the card payload cannot be rendered.
`getTags()`	`[String]?`	Tags associated with the message.

Listening for card messages

To be notified when a card message arrives, implement onCardMessageReceived on your CometChatMessageDelegate.

Swift

import CometChatSDK

extension ViewController: CometChatMessageDelegate {

    func onCardMessageReceived(cardMessage: CardMessage) {
        print("Card message received: \(String(describing: cardMessage.getCard()))")
    }
}

See Message Delegate Methods for the full CometChatMessageDelegate reference.

CometChatCardsSwift

CometChatCardsSwift is the rendering library for Campaigns. The NotificationFeedItem.content field contains a Card Schema JSON — a structured layout definition. CometChatCardsSwift takes this JSON and produces a native UIKit view. Without it, content is just a raw dictionary. The library:

Parses the JSON schema into typed Swift models.
Renders native UIKit views (no web views) for each element (text, images, buttons, rows, etc.).
Handles light/dark mode color resolution from themed color pairs.
Manages interactive actions — button taps emit structured CometChatCardActionEvent objects with the action type and element ID.
Supports dynamic content — accordions expand/collapse, tabs switch panels, all with proper auto-layout height changes.

If you use CometChatNotificationFeed (UI Kit), the Cards library is used internally and you don’t interact with it directly. If you’re building a custom feed UI, you import CometChatCardsSwift and use CometChatCardView to render each item’s content.

Setting Up CometChatCardsSwift

Installation

Swift Package Manager In Xcode: File → Add Package Dependencies → enter:

https://github.com/cometchat/cometchat-cards-sdk-ios

Add CometChatCardsSwift to your target. CocoaPods

pod 'CometChatCardsSwift'

pod install

No initialization is required. The library is stateless — import it and start rendering.

Rendering Feed Items as Cards

import CometChatSDK
import CometChatCardsSwift

// After fetching items via NotificationFeedRequest
request.fetchNext(onSuccess: { items in
    for item in items {
        guard let jsonData = try? JSONSerialization.data(withJSONObject: item.content),
              let jsonString = String(data: jsonData, encoding: .utf8) else { continue }

        let cardView = CometChatCardView(frame: .zero)
        cardView.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false
        cardView.themeMode = .auto
        cardView.cardJson = jsonString

        cardView.actionCallback = { actionEvent in
            // Report engagement on every action
            CometChat.reportFeedEngagement(item, interactionString: actionEvent.elementId, onSuccess: {}, onError: { _ in })

            switch actionEvent.action {
            case .openUrl(let url, _):
                if let link = URL(string: url) {
                    UIApplication.shared.open(link)
                }
            case .chatWithUser(let uid):
                // Navigate to 1-on-1 chat
                break
            case .chatWithGroup(let guid):
                // Navigate to group chat
                break
            default:
                break
            }
        }

        container.addSubview(cardView)
    }
}, onError: { error in
    print("Error: \(error?.errorDescription ?? "")")
})

CometChatCardView Properties

Property	Type	Description
`cardJson`	`String?`	Set this to render a card. Triggers a full re-render.
`themeMode`	`CometChatCardThemeMode`	`.auto` (follows system), `.light`, or `.dark`.
`actionCallback`	`((CometChatCardActionEvent) -> Void)?`	Called when user taps a button, link, or icon button inside the card.
`themeOverride`	`CometChatCardThemeOverride?`	Override default theme colors without modifying card JSON.

Theme Override

Override default card theme colors to match your app’s brand:

var override = CometChatCardThemeOverride()
override.textColor = CometChatCardColorValue(light: "#1A1A1A", dark: "#F0F0F0")
override.buttonFilledBg = CometChatCardColorValue(light: "#6852D6", dark: "#8B7AE8")
override.buttonFilledText = CometChatCardColorValue(light: "#FFFFFF", dark: "#FFFFFF")
override.fontFamily = "Avenir"

cardView.themeOverride = override

Content Size Changes

Cards with expandable content (accordions, tabs) change height dynamically. Observe size changes to update your layout:

NotificationCenter.default.addObserver(
    forName: CometChatCardView.contentSizeDidChangeNotification,
    object: cardView,
    queue: .main
) { _ in
    tableView.beginUpdates()
    tableView.endUpdates()
}

Key Concepts

Concept	Description
NotificationFeedItem	A single notification in the feed. Contains Card Schema JSON in its `content` field, a category for filtering, timestamps, and metadata.
NotificationCategory	A category label used for filter chips (e.g., “Promotions”, “Updates”).
Card Schema JSON	The fully rendered card layout (images, text, buttons) inside `NotificationFeedItem.content`. Passed directly to the CometChat Cards renderer.
PushNotification	Represents a campaign push notification payload received via APNs.

How Cards Render in the Notification Feed

Each NotificationFeedItem has a content field containing a [String: Any] dictionary — this is the Card Schema JSON. This JSON is passed directly to the CometChat Cards renderer library. The rendering flow:

Fetch feed items via NotificationFeedRequest
For each item, extract item.content — this is the Card Schema JSON
Pass to the Cards renderer (CometChatCardView)
The renderer produces a native UIKit view from the JSON

Card Schema JSON Structure

{
  "version": "1.0",
  "body": [
    { "type": "image", "id": "img_1", "url": "https://...", "height": 200 },
    { "type": "text", "id": "txt_1", "content": "Flash Sale!", "variant": "heading2" },
    { "type": "button", "id": "btn_1", "label": "Shop Now", "action": { "type": "openUrl", "url": "https://..." } }
  ],
  "style": { "background": {"light": "#FFFFFF", "dark": "#1E1E1E"}, "borderRadius": 12, "padding": 16 },
  "fallbackText": "Flash Sale! Shop Now: https://..."
}

The body array contains elements (text, image, button, row, column, etc.) rendered top-to-bottom. Interactive elements like buttons emit actions via a callback — the consumer handles navigation, deep links, or API calls.

Retrieve Notification Feed Items

Use NotificationFeedRequest to fetch a paginated list of feed items. Uses cursor-based pagination internally.

Build the Request

let request = NotificationFeedRequest.NotificationFeedRequestBuilder()
    .set(limit: 20)
    .set(readState: .unread)
    .set(category: "Updates")
    .build()

Builder Parameters

Method	Type	Default	Description
`set(limit:)`	`Int`	20	Items per page.
`set(readState:)`	`FeedReadState`	All	Filter by `.read` or `.unread`. Omit for all.
`set(category:)`	`String`	nil	Filter by category name. Sent as `templateCategory` query param. If `categoryId` is also set, `categoryId` takes priority.
`set(categoryId:)`	`String`	nil	Filter by category ID. Sent as `templateCategory` query param. Takes priority over `category` if both are set.
`set(channelId:)`	`String`	nil	Filter by channel.
`set(tags:)`	`[String]`	nil	Filter by tags (comma-joined).
`set(dateFrom:)`	`String`	nil	ISO 8601 date — items sent on or after.
`set(dateTo:)`	`String`	nil	ISO 8601 date — items sent on or before.

set(category:) and set(categoryId:) both map to the same server-side filter (templateCategory). Use one or the other — not both. If both are provided, categoryId silently overwrites category.

Fetch Items

request.fetchNext(onSuccess: { items in
    for item in items {
        let cardJson = item.content
        // Pass cardJson to CometChatCardView
    }
}, onError: { error in
    print("Error: \(error?.errorDescription ?? "")")
})

Call fetchNext() repeatedly for pagination. When the server has no more items, subsequent calls return an empty array.

NotificationFeedItem Fields

Field	Type	Description
`id`	`String`	Unique item identifier.
`category`	`String`	Notification category (e.g., “promotions”).
`categoryId`	`String`	Category ID.
`content`	`[String: Any]`	Card Schema JSON — pass to CometChat Cards renderer.
`readAt`	`Double`	Unix timestamp when read, or 0 if unread.
`deliveredAt`	`Double`	Unix timestamp when delivered, or 0.
`sentAt`	`Double`	Unix timestamp when sent.
`metadata`	`[String: Any]`	Custom key-value metadata.
`tags`	`[String]`	Tags for filtering.
`sender`	`String`	Sender identifier.
`receiver`	`String`	Receiver identifier.
`receiverType`	`String`	Receiver type.
`isRead`	`Bool`	Computed — `true` if `readAt != 0`.

Retrieve Notification Categories

Use NotificationCategoriesRequest to fetch available categories for filter chips.

let categoriesRequest = NotificationCategoriesRequest.NotificationCategoriesRequestBuilder()
    .set(limit: 50)
    .build()

categoriesRequest.fetchNext(onSuccess: { categories in
    for category in categories {
        print("Category: \(category.label)")
    }
}, onError: { error in
    print("Error: \(error?.errorDescription ?? "")")
})

NotificationCategory Fields

Field	Type	Description
`id`	`String`	Category identifier.
`label`	`String`	Display label for filter UI.

Real-Time Notification Feed Listener

Listen for new feed items arriving via WebSocket. This listener is independent from CometChatMessageDelegate, CometChatGroupDelegate, and CometChatCallDelegate.

CometChat.addNotificationFeedListener("feedListener", self)

// Implement CometChatNotificationFeedDelegate
extension MyViewController: CometChatNotificationFeedDelegate {
    func onFeedItemReceived(feedItem: NotificationFeedItem) {
        print("New item: \(feedItem.id)")
        let cardJson = feedItem.content
        // Insert at top of feed and render
    }
}

Remove the listener when no longer needed:

CometChat.removeNotificationFeedListener("feedListener")

Mark Feed Item as Read

Mark a single item as read. Idempotent — safe to call multiple times.

CometChat.markFeedItemAsRead(feedItem, onSuccess: {
    print("Marked as read")
}, onError: { error in
    print("Error: \(error?.errorDescription ?? "")")
})

Mark Feed Item as Delivered

Mark a single item as delivered. Idempotent.

CometChat.markFeedItemAsDelivered(feedItem, onSuccess: {
    // Success
}, onError: { error in
    print("Error: \(error?.errorDescription ?? "")")
})

Report Engagement

Report that a user engaged with a feed item (e.g., viewed, clicked, interacted). Idempotent per topic.

CometChat.reportFeedEngagement(feedItem, interactionString: "clicked", onSuccess: {
    // Success
}, onError: { error in
    print("Error: \(error?.errorDescription ?? "")")
})

The interactionString parameter is a free-form string describing the engagement (e.g., “viewed”, “clicked”, “interacted”).

Get Unread Count

Fetch the total number of unread notification feed items. Optionally filter by category.

CometChat.getNotificationFeedUnreadCount(category: nil, onSuccess: { count in
    print("Unread: \(count)")
}, onError: { error in
    print("Error: \(error?.errorDescription ?? "")")
})

Fetch Single Feed Item

Fetch a specific item by ID — useful for deep linking from push notifications.

CometChat.getNotificationFeedItem(id: "item-id-123", onSuccess: { item in
    let cardJson = item.content
    // Render the card
}, onError: { error in
    print("Error: \(error?.errorDescription ?? "")")
})

Push Notification Tracking

When a campaign push notification arrives via APNs, use these methods to report delivery and click engagement.

Setting Up Notification Service Extension

In Xcode: File → New → Target → select Notification Service Extension.
Enable App Groups on both your main app target and the extension target with the same group ID (e.g., group.com.yourapp.cometchat).
Add CometChatSDK as a dependency to the extension target.

Identifying Campaign Push Notifications

Campaign pushes contain a cometchat dictionary with "type": "business_messaging":

func isCampaignNotification(userInfo: [AnyHashable: Any]) -> Bool {
    if let cometchat = userInfo["cometchat"] as? [String: Any],
       let type = cometchat["type"] as? String,
       type == "business_messaging" {
        return true
    }
    return false
}

Push Payload Structure

{
  "aps": { "alert": { "title": "...", "body": "..." }, "badge": 1, "mutable-content": 1 },
  "cometchat": {
    "type": "business_messaging",
    "appId": "your-app-id",
    "campaignId": "campaign-cuid",
    "notificationId": "notification-cuid",
    "pushNotificationId": "uuid-for-push-tracking",
    "uid": "target-user-id",
    "sentAt": "2026-05-21T12:43:55.206Z"
  }
}

Mark Push Notification as Delivered

Call this in your Notification Service Extension:

import UserNotifications
import CometChatSDK

class NotificationService: UNNotificationServiceExtension {
    override func didReceive(_ request: UNNotificationRequest,
                             withContentHandler contentHandler: @escaping (UNNotificationContent) -> Void) {
        let bestAttemptContent = (request.content.mutableCopy() as? UNMutableNotificationContent)!

        // Required for extensions to share auth state via App Group container
        CometChat.setExtensionGroupID(id: "group.your.app.group")

        let userInfo = bestAttemptContent.userInfo
        if let cometchat = userInfo["cometchat"] as? [String: Any],
           let type = cometchat["type"] as? String,
           type == "business_messaging" {
            let push = PushNotification.fromPayload(cometchat)
            CometChat.markPushNotificationDelivered(push, onSuccess: {}, onError: { _ in })
        }

        contentHandler(bestAttemptContent)
    }
}

Mark Push Notification as Clicked

Call this when the user taps the push notification:

func userNotificationCenter(_ center: UNUserNotificationCenter,
                            didReceive response: UNNotificationResponse,
                            withCompletionHandler completionHandler: @escaping () -> Void) {
    let userInfo = response.notification.request.content.userInfo

    if let cometchat = userInfo["cometchat"] as? [String: Any],
       let type = cometchat["type"] as? String,
       type == "business_messaging" {
        let push = PushNotification.fromPayload(cometchat)
        CometChat.markPushNotificationClicked(push, onSuccess: {}, onError: { _ in })
        navigateToNotificationsTab()
        completionHandler()
        return
    }

    completionHandler()
}

PushNotification Fields

Field	Type	Description
`id`	`String`	Push notification ID from the push payload.
`announcementId`	`String`	Notification/announcement ID.
`campaignId`	`String?`	Campaign ID if from a campaign.
`source`	`String`	Always “campaign” for notification feed pushes.

FeedReadState Enum

Case	Value	Description
`.read`	`"read"`	Only read items.
`.unread`	`"unread"`	Only unread items.

If not set, returns all items (default).

Supported Card Actions

When a user taps a button or link inside a card, the action callback receives one of these action types:

Action Type	Parameters	Description
`openUrl`	url, openIn	Open a URL in browser or webview.
`chatWithUser`	uid	Navigate to 1:1 chat.
`chatWithGroup`	guid	Navigate to group chat.
`sendMessage`	text, receiverUid, receiverGuid	Send a text message.
`copyToClipboard`	value	Copy text to clipboard.
`downloadFile`	url, filename	Download a file.
`initiateCall`	callType (audio/video), uid, guid	Start a call.
`apiCall`	url, method, headers, body	Make an HTTP request.
`customCallback`	callbackId, payload	App-specific logic.

​Card Messages

​Properties

​Listening for card messages

​CometChatCardsSwift

​Setting Up CometChatCardsSwift

​Installation

​Rendering Feed Items as Cards

​CometChatCardView Properties

​Theme Override

​Content Size Changes

​Key Concepts

​How Cards Render in the Notification Feed

​Card Schema JSON Structure

​Retrieve Notification Feed Items

​Build the Request

​Builder Parameters

​Fetch Items

​NotificationFeedItem Fields

​Retrieve Notification Categories

​NotificationCategory Fields

​Real-Time Notification Feed Listener

​Mark Feed Item as Read

​Mark Feed Item as Delivered

​Report Engagement

​Get Unread Count

​Fetch Single Feed Item

​Push Notification Tracking

​Setting Up Notification Service Extension

​Identifying Campaign Push Notifications

​Push Payload Structure

​Mark Push Notification as Delivered

​Mark Push Notification as Clicked

​PushNotification Fields

​FeedReadState Enum

​Supported Card Actions

Card Messages

Properties

Listening for card messages

CometChatCardsSwift

Setting Up CometChatCardsSwift

Installation

Rendering Feed Items as Cards

CometChatCardView Properties

Theme Override

Content Size Changes

Key Concepts

How Cards Render in the Notification Feed

Card Schema JSON Structure

Retrieve Notification Feed Items

Build the Request

Builder Parameters

Fetch Items

NotificationFeedItem Fields

Retrieve Notification Categories

NotificationCategory Fields

Real-Time Notification Feed Listener

Mark Feed Item as Read

Mark Feed Item as Delivered

Report Engagement

Get Unread Count

Fetch Single Feed Item

Push Notification Tracking

Setting Up Notification Service Extension

Identifying Campaign Push Notifications

Push Payload Structure

Mark Push Notification as Delivered

Mark Push Notification as Clicked

PushNotification Fields

FeedReadState Enum

Supported Card Actions