cometchat-flutter-v6-core

Ground truth: cometchat_chat_uikit@6 (6.1.0) + cometchat_sdk@^5.0.6. Every CometChat* symbol here is in catalogs/flutter-v6.json — compiler-verified against the published package. Signatures marked [verified] were compiled because the docs were wrong, or (for initFromSettings) deliberately silent (DOCS-BACKLOG.md PART 4): trust this file for those, fetch the rest via references/docs-map.md. THIN map loaded every run; depth in references/*.

Use this skill when

"add chat to my Flutter app", "integrate CometChat in Flutter", "set up CometChat credentials", "show a conversations + messages screen". An unscoped "add chat" means a production-ready core surface — a CometChatConversations screen pushing a message screen, with threaded replies and search wired, in Scaffold/SafeArea, keyboard-safe, every screen popping back — NOT a two-widget demo, NOT the whole tab-based app (see the golden path). It grows on request → cometchat-flutter-v6-placement.

Install

flutter pub add cometchat_chat_uikit

Pin the major in pubspec.yaml — cometchat_chat_uikit: ^6.1.0 (a bare any can resolve across majors). The Chat SDK (cometchat_sdk) comes transitively and is re-exported by the kit barrel — do NOT add it separately unless you import SDK-only paths. Voice/video calling = a settings flag + native config (cometchat_calls_sdk is already a transitive kit dependency — see below) → cometchat-flutter-v6-calls.

Platform minimums — Android minSdk = 26 in android/app/build.gradle.kts; iOS platform :ios, '15.1' in ios/Podfile. The getting-started page says 24 / 13.0 and both are too low (DOCS-BACKLOG D7). The kit's own AAR allows 21, but transitive deps set the real floor and this one is not optional: cometchat_chat_uikit depends on cometchat_calls_sdk unconditionally — it sits in the main dependencies: block — and that package pins minSdkVersion 26 / platform :ios, '15.1' (5.0.7). Gradle and CocoaPods take the maximum across the graph, so a lower value is a build error whether or not the app uses calling.

Setup & credentials (essentials — full detail: `references/setup-credentials.md`)

Detect by READING the repo — pubspec.yaml + lockfile (deps and the kit major), lib/main.dart, state management, navigation, and how config is handled. Reuse an existing .cometchat/config.json or settings asset (skip re-setup). Signal table: references/setup-credentials.md.
version_conflict — STOP if the project already has cometchat_chat_uikit v5 (or any non-v6 major); reconcile first, never mix majors (RULES.md). A v5 project that wants v6 → cometchat-flutter-v6-migration.
Credentials — OFFER the dashboard fetch FIRST; never default to "paste it yourself." When App ID / Region / Auth Key are missing, offer (a) fetch from your dashboard (recommended) — load the CLI on demand, pick an EXISTING app (never auto-create) — or (b) manual paste. Then the SKILL writes cometchat-settings.json (§4) from those creds; the CLI is dashboard/API-only and never writes Dart (RULES.md §21). Never defer credentials to a "add them yourself" TODO. Exact commands + the app-picker flow: references/setup-credentials.md.
Write the settings asset + register it — commit only a placeholder (no real Auth Key) and do not gitignore it (a registered asset must exist or a fresh-clone flutter build fails — see the note in §Integration ordering); never echo the Auth Key. Prod → server-minted auth token, not the Auth Key.
Authorize = init then login both hit onSuccess. An auth error is almost always the wrong Region.

Integration ordering (BAKED — invariant; docs: init must complete before login, login before any widget)

initFromSettings() once at startup → login(UID) after init succeeds → only THEN render any CometChat* widget.

Init via initFromSettings — the file-based, telemetry-attributed path (RULES.md §5). It reads a cometchat-settings.json asset and persists integrationSource="ai-agent". Flutter's signature takes NO settings argument (unlike web, which passes a settings object) — the file IS the input:

// [verified vs 6.1.0] — INTENTIONALLY undocumented upstream (@nodoc, owner decision:
// DOCS-BACKLOG F4 WONTFIX). Prefer it over the docs' UIKitSettingsBuilder + init()
// path, which loses telemetry attribution. The shape below is the contract.
import 'package:cometchat_chat_uikit/cometchat_chat_uikit.dart';

await CometChatUIKit.initFromSettings(
  onSuccess: (String message) => debugPrint('CometChat initialized'),
  onError: (CometChatException e) => debugPrint('Init failed: ${e.message}'),
);

cometchat-settings.json at the project root, registered in pubspec.yaml under flutter: assets::

{
  "appId": "APP_ID",
  "region": "REGION",
  "credentials": { "authKey": "AUTH_KEY" },
  "uiKit": { "subscribePresenceForAllUsers": true, "enableCalling": false },
  "chatSDK": { "autoEstablishSocketConnection": true }
}

Keys are read exactly as above. uiKit.enableCalling is the only way to turn calling on via this path (UIKitSettings defaults it to false) — leave it false until the user asks for calls. credentials.authKey is dev-only; omit it for production and log in with a server-minted token. Make a fresh clone build. A file registered under flutter: assets: MUST exist at build time or flutter build bundle fails with "No file or variants found for asset: cometchat-settings.json." So do not gitignore the registered asset. Instead commit a placeholder cometchat-settings.json — same shape, with a placeholder/empty authKey (NEVER a real dev Auth Key) — and have each developer and CI overwrite it locally/at build time with real credentials. (Enforce "no real key committed" via a pre-commit check or CI, not .gitignore.) For production, CI generates the prod-flavoured file (no Auth Key) at build time (cometchat-flutter-v6-production).

// login AFTER init succeeds. CometChatUIKit.login already checks getLoggedInUser()
// internally and no-ops if that UID is signed in, so no host-side re-login guard is needed.
await CometChatUIKit.login(
  uid,
  onSuccess: (User user) => debugPrint('Logged in: ${user.name}'),
  onError: (CometChatException e) => debugPrint('Login failed: ${e.message}'),
);

Which UID? login() needs a user that ALREADY EXISTS — never invent one. ASK, or take one from Dashboard → Users; fresh apps seed cometchat-uid-1…. The only tentative suggestion is cometchat-uid-1, labelled "if this is a fresh app." Prod → CometChatUIKit.loginWithAuthToken(authToken, …) with a token minted server-side. Init-once, hot-restart, and gating the first frame: references/lifecycle.md.

Widget / API map (BAKED closed list — from the catalog)

Init/session: CometChatUIKit (initFromSettings · login · loginWithAuthToken · logout · loggedInUser), UIKitSettingsBuilder, CometChatSubscriptionType, CometChatException. Core surface: CometChatConversations, CometChatMessageHeader, CometChatMessageList, CometChatMessageComposer; wired affordances CometChatThreadedHeader, CometChatSearch. Grow set (added on request): CometChatUsers, CometChatGroups, CometChatGroupMembers, CometChatChangeScope, CometChatCallLogs. Incoming calls need NO widget — with calling on, the kit presents the overlay itself (-calls).

TWO BARRELS — a real compile trap. package:cometchat_chat_uikit/cometchat_chat_uikit.dart gives you the chat widgets and the re-exported Chat SDK (User, Group, Conversation, BaseMessage, TextMessage — no separate import). Every calls symbol (CometChatIncomingCall, CometChatOutgoingCall, CometChatCallButtons, CometChatCallLogs, CometChatCallBubble, CometChatCalls) lives ONLY in package:cometchat_chat_uikit/cometchat_calls_uikit.dart, and that barrel does NOT re-export the chat widgets — a calls screen imports both. Verified: using CometChatIncomingCall with only the chat import fails to compile. The v6 widget is CometChatThreadedHeader — CometChatThreadHeader (the React name) does NOT exist here. Never carry a name across families.

Hot-path props (BAKED — the golden path needs NO fetch)

CometChatConversations: onItemTap(Conversation) (select → push the message screen) · hideSearch · searchReadOnly (set true so the field acts as a button) · onSearchTap (→ push CometChatSearch) · conversationsRequestBuilder (scope to user/group when the ask is DM-only or groups-only — reuse the builder, don't client-filter) · hideAppbar · appBarOptions · onBack.
CometChatMessageHeader: user: / group: (pass the SAME target as the list) · showBackButton (default true) + onBack · hideVoiceCallButton / hideVideoCallButton (call buttons are built in — leave them unless calls are out of scope) · auxiliaryButtonView / trailingView (where a custom action goes — see search below).
CometChatMessageList: user: / group: · parentMessageId (thread mode) · onThreadRepliesClick [verified] — the type is ThreadRepliesClick = void Function(BaseMessage message, BuildContext context, {CometChatMessageTemplate? template}); a one-argument closure does not compile (DOCS-BACKLOG F2).
CometChatMessageComposer: user: / group: · parentMessageId (thread mode). A plain send needs nothing else.
CometChatSearch [verified]: onConversationClicked / onMessageClicked (not the docs' onConversationItemClick / onMessageItemClick — DOCS-BACKLOG F3) · onBack · user: / group: / searchIn to scope it to one chat.

Any OTHER widget or a rarer prop → fetch its .md twin via references/docs-map.md. Full catalog: cometchat-flutter-v6-components.

Golden path — the production-ready CORE surface (default for an unscoped "add chat"; grows on request)

Setup → init/login → gate the first frame on both resolving (show a loader; never render a CometChat* widget before login succeeds) → then:

Conversations screen — CometChatConversations inside Scaffold + SafeArea. Wire onItemTap → Navigator.push the message screen for that conversation's User/Group. Wire the global search the documented way: searchReadOnly: true + onSearchTap → push a CometChatSearch screen, whose onConversationClicked/onMessageClicked navigate to the hit and whose onBack pops. (Or set hideSearch: true — but never leave the field dead.)
Message screen — CometChatMessageHeader + Expanded(child: CometChatMessageList(...)) + CometChatMessageComposer, all carrying the SAME user:/group:. Expanded is what makes the list fill the screen; the header/composer keep their intrinsic height. Leave Scaffold.resizeToAvoidBottomInset at its default true so the composer rides above the keyboard. The header's showBackButton defaults to true — wire onBack to Navigator.pop.
Thread screen (DEFAULT — include unless the user opts out) — wire the list's onThreadRepliesClick to push a screen with CometChatThreadedHeader(parentMessage:, loggedInUser:) — both required, and it has no onBack, so the screen's own AppBar provides back — plus a CometChatMessageList + CometChatMessageComposer that each take parentMessageId: parentMessage.id AND the same user:/group: as the parent chat. Passing parentMessageId without the user/group target makes thread replies silently never send.
In-chat scoped search — Flutter's CometChatMessageHeader has no search prop (unlike React). Put the action in the header's auxiliaryButtonView/trailingView slot — custom UI goes IN the slot, never stacked on top — and push CometChatSearch(user: …/group: …) so it searches only that chat.

// [verified vs 6.1.0] the message screen — the shape the whole surface hangs off.
import 'package:cometchat_chat_uikit/cometchat_chat_uikit.dart';
import 'package:flutter/material.dart';

class MessageScreen extends StatelessWidget {
  final User? user;
  final Group? group;
  const MessageScreen({super.key, this.user, this.group});

  @override
  Widget build(BuildContext context) {
    return Scaffold(                       // resizeToAvoidBottomInset defaults to true = keyboard-safe
      body: SafeArea(
        child: Column(
          children: [
            CometChatMessageHeader(user: user, group: group, onBack: () => Navigator.pop(context)),
            Expanded(                      // REQUIRED — the list fills the remaining height
              child: CometChatMessageList(
                user: user,
                group: group,
                onThreadRepliesClick: (BaseMessage message, BuildContext context,
                    {CometChatMessageTemplate? template}) {
                  Navigator.push(context, MaterialPageRoute(
                    builder: (_) => ThreadScreen(parentMessage: message, user: user, group: group),
                  ));
                },
              ),
            ),
            CometChatMessageComposer(user: user, group: group),
          ],
        ),
      ),
    );
  }
}

// The thread screen the callback pushes — part of the DEFAULT surface, not an extra.
// NOTE: the list AND composer each take parentMessageId *and* the same user:/group:
// as the parent chat. parentMessageId alone => replies silently never send.
class ThreadScreen extends StatelessWidget {
  final BaseMessage parentMessage;
  final User? user;
  final Group? group;
  const ThreadScreen({super.key, required this.parentMessage, this.user, this.group});

  @override
  Widget build(BuildContext context) {
    return Scaffold(
      // The thread screen's back affordance is the AppBar — CometChatThreadedHeader
      // has NO onBack/onError param (the docs show one; it does not exist, DOCS-BACKLOG F5).
      // A pushed route gets the back button automatically.
      appBar: AppBar(title: const Text('Thread')),
      body: SafeArea(
        child: Column(
          children: [
            CometChatThreadedHeader(                      // note the 'ed' — see the map above
              parentMessage: parentMessage,               // NOT `message:` (DOCS-BACKLOG F1)
              loggedInUser: CometChatUIKit.loggedInUser!, // required
            ),
            Expanded(
              child: CometChatMessageList(
                user: user, group: group, parentMessageId: parentMessage.id,
              ),
            ),
            CometChatMessageComposer(
              user: user, group: group, parentMessageId: parentMessage.id,
            ),
          ],
        ),
      ),
    );
  }
}

SIZE it the mobile way — references/layout.md. The kit's list widgets expand to fill their parent, so the failure mode here is an unbounded height error or a collapsed list, and the fix is always the same: give the list a bounded box (Expanded/Flexible inside a Column, or a sized parent) instead of letting content drive it. Never nest the surface in an unbounded SingleChildScrollView/Column without Expanded. Match the data scope to the REQUEST. Real apps ship seeded groups, so a plain CometChatConversations lists both 1:1s and groups. A DM-only ask scopes the list to user conversations via conversationsRequestBuilder; a groups-only app scopes to groups; a generic "add chat" keeps BOTH. Reuse the builder — never hand-roll a client-side filter, and don't add a Groups tab to a 1:1-only app. Prod auth: mint a per-user auth token server-side and call loginWithAuthToken — the Auth Key is dev-only (references/lifecycle.md).

Growing on request

Add each only when asked: Users / Groups / Calls tabs (CometChatUsers · CometChatGroups · CometChatCallLogs) · group details (CometChatGroupMembers + CometChatChangeScope) · calls (→ -calls; incoming calls = only navigatorKey: CallNavigationContext.navigatorKey on the root MaterialApp — never mount CometChatIncomingCall yourself, that doubles the kit's overlay) · features (→ -features). The full tab-based app is the union of these — recipe in -placement. A scoped-DOWN ask (chat tab, bottom sheet, embedded panel) → the matching -placement variant.

Deep references (load ONLY when the task needs them)

setup-credentials.md — detect signals · version_conflict · dashboard creds · the settings asset.
lifecycle.md — init-once + hot restart · gating the first frame · prod auth-token · logout.
layout.md — mobile sizing (bounded height · Expanded · SafeArea · keyboard).
docs-map.md — intent → live doc page (component twins + the SDK-docs section) · DOCS-GAP protocol · the pages that are wrong.
anti-patterns.md — v5 carry-overs · unbounded height · render-before-login · the two-barrel trap.
troubleshooting.md — symptom → cause → fix.

Common pitfalls (top 5 — full list in `references/anti-patterns.md`)

version_conflict (v5 installed) · wrong Region · Auth Key shipped to prod · rendering a widget before login succeeds.
Emitting v5 architecture into a v6 app. v6 REMOVED the extension pattern — no UIKitSettings.extensions, no CometChatUIKitChatExtensions, no DataSource/ChatConfigurator/*ExtensionDecorator, no CometChatUIKit.getDataSource(). Dashboard-enabled extensions surface automatically with zero client code. Also gone: the v5 combined shells (CometChatConversationsWithMessages, CometChatUsersWithMessages, CometChatMessages, CometChatUI) — v6 has no shell widget; the host composes screens. Full map: cometchat-flutter-v6-migration.
Trusting the docs on the [verified] signatures above. The thread-header params, onThreadRepliesClick, and the search callbacks were wrong on the live pages (DOCS-BACKLOG.md PART 4 F1/F2/F3/F5) — all four are now corrected upstream (re-verified against cometchat/docs@2ebb1db, 2026-09-09), so the [verified] names now agree with the pages; keep them. initFromSettings is different: it is deliberately undocumented and stays that way (F4 WONTFIX), so this skill is its only reference.

Verify it works

Run the app: init then login both hit onSuccess → the conversations screen renders full-size (no sliver, no unbounded-height exception) → tap a conversation → messages send/receive → "reply in thread" opens the thread screen and back returns → the search field pushes search, a result navigates, back pops → the composer stays visible with the keyboard open → every pushed screen pops back. Blank screen ⇒ rendered before login resolved, or wrong Region/App ID. No bounded height, no thread wiring, or a dead search field ⇒ under-delivery. Tab-based app ⇒ verify per -placement.

Build the feature; do not write tests or run a test framework unless asked (RULES.md) — the above is an advisory human pass.

Explain what you built (REQUIRED close — `RULES.md` §19)

Don't end on a silent code dump. Briefly: (1) what I wired (3–5 bullets, NAME the files); (2) decisions & why, flagging dev-only AS dev-only (Auth Key → server token for prod; the <uid>); (3) what I did NOT touch (additive — routing/state/theme intact). Then offer THREE options as a selectable choice and WAIT for the pick:

① Add another feature — first check what's already wired, and ASK which dashboard extensions are already on (you can't read per-app state). Suggest 3–4 that are neither (calls · push · polls · stickers · translation · AI smart replies · moderation). Never suggest reactions, mentions, quoted reply or threads — they are ON by default in v6; offer to customize them instead. → -features / -calls.
② Customize theming — ask for a brand/preset theme or talk through options → -customization.
③ Test it manually — do NOTHING further; hand it back.

A capability not in this pack: say so honestly + link CometChat's docs.