cometchat-ios-calls

Companion skills (read first)

• cometchat-ios-core owns setup and the chat surface. This skill ADDS calling. Note core ALREADY links CometChatCallsSDK at exactly 5.0.3 — on 5.1.22 (as since 5.1.19) the kit's interface imports it, so it is required even for chat-only builds. Do not add it twice or at a different version.

Use this skill when

"add voice/video calling", "show an incoming call screen", "add call history".

Calls has its OWN login — the UI Kit's login is not enough

CometChatUIKit.login(uid:) does NOT authenticate the Calls SDK. Built without the bootstrap below, CometChatCallLogs shows "Oops! Looks like something went wrong" — its request goes out with an EMPTY authToken (measured on 5.1.19/5.0.3). No error points at the cause. After the UI Kit login succeeds, run:

// DEFAULT — the ai-agent / telemetry-attributed init (persists integrationSource="ai-agent").
// Takes NO settings argument: it reads the SAME bundled cometchat-settings.json the core skill
// already ships (Copy Bundle Resources) — do not build a second settings object.
_ = CometChatCalls.initFromSettings(onSuccess: { _ in
    guard let token = CometChat.getUserAuthToken() else { return }
    CometChatCalls.login(authToken: token,
                         onSuccess: { _ in /* calls surfaces are now live */ },
                         onError:   { error in debugPrint("calls login:", error.errorDescription) })
}, onError: { error in debugPrint("calls init:", error?.errorDescription ?? "nil") })

⚠️ Init the Calls SDK via CometChatCalls.initFromSettings, NOT the classic CometChatCalls(callsAppSettings: CallAppSettingsBuilder()…) builder — that path attributes the app to "manual" and loses the ai-agent telemetry (RULES §5 / AUDIT-175, the SAME rule the headless cometchat-ios-v5-sdk follows). The builder init is the FALLBACK ONLY, for an app that does not bundle cometchat-settings.json:

// FALLBACK — only when no cometchat-settings.json is bundled. Loses ai-agent attribution.
let callSettings = CallAppSettingsBuilder().set(appID: appID).set(region: region).build()
_ = CometChatCalls(callsAppSettings: callSettings, onSuccess: { _ in /* … login as above … */ },
                   onError: { error in debugPrint("calls init:", error?.errorDescription ?? "nil") })

Never do both — a builder init AFTER initFromSettings re-attributes the app to "manual". initFromSettings fails SETTINGS_FILE_NOT_FOUND if the file is not in Copy Bundle Resources — the core skill already adds it for chat, so a UI-Kit app that shipped chat first already satisfies this.

The docs' calling-integration page says linking the SDK is enough; it is not — that gap is logged for the docs. Chat-only apps skip all of this (they link the Calls SDK purely to satisfy 5.1.19's import — see the core skill's install notes).

The five components

CometChatCallLogs callbacks are Any-typed — cast before touching anything. Unlike every other list component, five of its setters hand back untyped values and will not compile if you use them directly: set(onItemClick:) → (_ callLog: Any) · set(onCallButtonClicked:) → (Any) · set(options:) → (_ callLog: Any) · set(onLoad:) → ([Any]) · set(onError:) → (_ error: Any), not CometChatException like everywhere else.

logs.set(onItemClick: { callLog in
    guard let log = callLog as? CallLog else { return }   // NOT `as? Call` — that cast FAILS at
    …  // runtime and makes the tap a silent no-op (measured: RUNTIME TYPE = CallLog).
    // CallLog exposes status, type, mode, initiator, receiver — not the Call spellings
    // (callStatus/callType/callInitiator/callReceiver). CallLog is a Calls-SDK type.
})
logs.set(onError: { error in
    // The value is the CALLS SDK's exception type — casting to the chat SDK's
    // CometChatException fails and prints nothing useful (measured).
    debugPrint((error as? CometChatCallException)?.errorDescription ?? "\(error)")
})

sessionID vs sessionId — the same concept, spelled two ways. The SDK's Call exposes sessionID (capital), while the kit's CometChatOngoingCall takes set(sessionId:) (lowercase). Reading a log and starting a call in the same function means using both spellings; neither compiles in the other's place.

Voice/video click handlers on CometChatCallButtons are properties: callButtons.onVoiceCallClick = { user, group in … }, onVideoCallClick likewise. And it is set(callSettingsBuilder:) — plural "Settings".

@MainActor if you construct these in a factory. Inside a UIViewController this wiring is free (already main-actor). But if you wrap it in a standalone factory/enum/static method, mark that context @MainActor — the components' setters are main-actor-isolated. CometChatOutgoingCall is the strictest: unlike CometChatIncomingCall/CometChatCallButtons it carries no @preconcurrency, so under Swift 5 its set(call:)/set(onCancelClick:) are a HARD ERROR from a nonisolated context ("call to main actor-isolated instance method … in a synchronous nonisolated context"), not just a warning. (Same rule as cometchat-ios-core's @MainActor-factory note.)

// Minimum voice-video-calls wiring — all five components (inside a @MainActor context, e.g. a UIViewController)
let callButtons = CometChatCallButtons(width: 180, height: 40)
callButtons.set(user: user)          // or .set(group:) for a group call
callButtons.set(controller: self)
callButtons.onVoiceCallClick = { user, group in /* initiate voice call */ }
callButtons.onVideoCallClick = { user, group in /* initiate video call */ }

// Present incoming call over any screen via a global app-level listener
let incoming = CometChatIncomingCall()
incoming.set(call: incomingCall)
// accept/cancel closures are TWO-arg: (call: Call?, controller: UIViewController?). A one-arg
// `{ call in … }` does NOT compile ("expects 2 arguments, but 1 was used").
incoming.set(onAcceptClick: { call, _ in /* push CometChatOngoingCall */ })
incoming.set(onCancelClick: { call, _ in self.dismiss(animated: true) })

let outgoing = CometChatOutgoingCall()
outgoing.set(call: pendingCall)
outgoing.set(onCancelClick: { call, _ in self.dismiss(animated: true) })

let ongoing = CometChatOngoingCall()
// `Call.sessionID` (uppercase D, SDK) is OPTIONAL (String?); `set(sessionId:)` (lowercase d, kit)
// wants a non-optional String — so GUARD it. Passing the optional directly does not compile.
if let sid = pendingCall.sessionID { ongoing.set(sessionId: sid) }

let logs = CometChatCallLogs()
// NOTE: CometChatCallLogs has NO `set(controller:)` — present/push it like any UIViewController
// (e.g. UINavigationController(rootViewController: logs)). Its only setters are the Any-typed
// callbacks below plus set(callRequestBuilder:).
logs.set(onItemClick: { callLog in guard let log = callLog as? CallLog else { return } /* … */ })

Incoming calls are app-level, not screen-level

A call can arrive on any screen, so listen at the app level (CometChatCallEventListener / CometChatCallEvents) and present CometChatIncomingCall over whatever is showing. Wiring it inside one chat screen means calls are missed everywhere else.

Permissions and background

Camera and microphone usage descriptions in Info.plist, or the app crashes on first call rather than failing gracefully. Ringing while backgrounded is handled by the CometChatPushNotifications SDK — it owns CallKit + PushKit for you. Do NOT hand-roll PKPushRegistryDelegate / CXProviderDelegate or call UIKitSettings.set(voipToken:) (that setter is the legacy path the current docs no longer use). Full VoIP wiring: cometchat-ios-v5-sdk § "VoIP call notifications" and cometchat-ios-push; needs an APNs VoIP provider in the Dashboard and a physical device.

Gotchas

• Simulator limits. No camera; a WebRTC surface may behave differently than on device. Verify calling on a real device.
• Every call screen needs an exit. Accept, decline and hang-up must all lead somewhere.
• Version lock. Kit 5.1.22 / SDK 4.1.7 / Calls 5.0.3 are exact; mixing versions fails to build or crashes at runtime.

Verify it works

On a device: the call button appears in the header, tapping it rings the other side, the incoming screen shows over whatever was on screen, accept connects with audio and video, hang-up releases camera and microphone, and the call appears in call logs.