Send and receive messages

Requires Message Persistence

To store data about messages, you must enable Message Persistence for your app's keyset in the Admin Portal and set the desired message retention period.

Send​

Send a message to a previously defined channel using the sendText() method.

sendText() prepares the final message content for publishing, including text, any attached files, metadata, mentioned users, or referenced channels.

Method signature​

This method takes the following parameters:

channel.sendText(
    text: String,
    meta: Map<String, Any>? = null,
    shouldStore: Boolean = true,
    usePost: Boolean = false,
    ttl: Int? = null,
    quotedMessage: Message? = null,
    files: List<InputFile>? = null,
    usersToMention: Collection<String>? = null,
): PNFuture<PNPublishResult>

Input​

* required
ParameterDescription
text *
Type: String
Default:
n/a
Text that you want to send to the selected channel.
meta
Type: Map<String, Any>
Default:
n/a
Publish additional details with the request.
shouldStore
Type: Boolean
Default:
true
If true, the messages are stored in Message Persistence.
usePost
Type: Boolean
Default:
false
When true, the SDK uses HTTP POST to publish the messages. The message is sent in the BODY of the request instead of the query string when HTTP GET is used. The messages are also compressed to reduce their size.
ttl
Type: Int
Default:
n/a
Defines if / how long (in hours) the message should be stored in Message Persistence.
  1. If shouldStore = true, and ttl = 0, the message is stored with no expiry time.
  2. If shouldStore = true and ttl = X, the message is stored with an expiry time of X hours unless you have message retention set to Unlimited on your keyset configuration in the Admin Portal.
  3. If shouldStore = false, the ttl parameter is ignored.
  4. If ttl is not specified, then the expiration of the message defaults back to the expiry value for the keyset.
quotedMessage
Type: Message
Default:
n/a
Object added to a message when you quote another message. This object stores the following info about the quoted message: timetoken for the time when the quoted message was published, text with the original message content, and userId as the identifier of the user who published the quoted message.

Refer to Quotes for more details and example.
files
Type: List<InputFile>?
Default:
n/a
One or multiple files attached to the text message. Each InputFile contains a name, type, and source: class InputFile(val name: String, val type: String, val source: Uploadable).

Refer to Files for more details and example.
usersToMention
Type: Collection<String>?
Default:
n/a
A collection of user IDs to automatically notify with a mention after this message is sent. Refer to Mentions for more details and example.

Output​

TypeDescription
PNFuture<PNPublishResult>
Returned object with a value of any type.

Basic usage​

Send the Hi Everyone! message to the support channel. Mark its high priority and state that it should be stored in Message Persistence for 15 hours.

chat.getChannel("support").async { result ->
    result.onSuccess { channel ->
        // handle success
        channel.sendText(
            text = "Hi Everyone!",
            meta = mapOf("messageImportance" to "high"),
            shouldStore = true,
            ttl = 15 // 15 hours
        ).async { sendResult ->
            sendResult.onSuccess { publishResult ->
                // handle success
                println("Message sent successfully: ${publishResult.timetoken}")
            }.onFailure { exception ->
                // handle failure
                println("Error sending message: ${exception.message}")
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Receive​

To receive messages on a given channel, you must connect to the channel and start listening to message events.

Send (deprecated)​

Send a message to a previously defined channel using the sendText() method.

sendText() prepares the final message content for publishing, including text, any attached files, metadata, mentioned users, or referenced channels.

Method signature​

This method takes the following parameters:

channel.sendText(
    text: String,
    meta: Map<String, Any>?,
    shouldStore: Boolean?,
    usePost: Boolean?,
    ttl: Int?,
    mentionedUsers: MessageMentionedUsers?,
    referencedChannels: Map<Int, MessageReferencedChannel>?,
    textLinks: List<TextLink>?,
    quotedMessage: Message?,
    files: List<InputFile>?
): PNFuture<PNPublishResult>
Input​
* required
ParameterDescription
text *
Type: String
Default:
n/a
Text that you want to send to the selected channel.
meta
Type: Map<String, Any>
Default:
n/a
Publish additional details with the request.
shouldStore
Type: Boolean
Default:
true
If true, the messages are stored in Message Persistence.
usePost
Type: Boolean
Default:
false
When true, the SDK uses HTTP POST to publish the messages. The message is sent in the BODY of the request instead of the query string when HTTP GET is used. The messages are also compressed to reduce their size.
ttl
Type: Int
Default:
n/a
Defines if / how long (in hours) the message should be stored in Message Persistence.
  1. If shouldStore = true, and ttl = 0, the message is stored with no expiry time.
  2. If shouldStore = true and ttl = X, the message is stored with an expiry time of X hours unless you have message retention set to Unlimited on your keyset configuration in the Admin Portal.
  3. If shouldStore = false, the ttl parameter is ignored.
  4. If ttl is not specified, then the expiration of the message defaults back to the expiry value for the keyset.
mentionedUsers
Type: MessageMentionedUsers
Default:
n/a
Object mapping a mentioned user (with name and ID) with the number of mention (like @Mar) in the message (relative to other user mentions). For example, { 0: { id: 123, name: "Mark" }, 2: { id: 345, name: "Rob" } } means that Mark will be shown on the first mention (@) in the message and Rob on the third.

Refer to User mentions for more details and example.
referencedChannels
Type: Map<Int, MessageReferencedChannel>
Default:
n/a
Object mapping the referenced channel (with name and ID) with the place (Int) where this reference (like #Sup) was mentioned in the message (relative to other channel references). For example, { 0: { id: 123, name: "Support" }, 2: { id: 345, name: "Off-topic" } } means that Support will be shown on the first reference in the message and Off-topic on the third.

Refer to Reference channels for more details and example.
textLinks
Type: List<TextLink>
Default:
n/a
Returned list of text links that are shown as text in the message Each TextLink contains these fields: class TextLink(val startIndex: Int, val endIndex: Int, val link: String) where startIndex indicates the position in the whole message where the link should start and endIndex where it ends. Note that indexing starts with 0.

Refer to Links for more details and example.
quotedMessage
Type: Message
Default:
n/a
Object added to a message when you quote another message. This object stores the following info about the quoted message: timetoken for the time when the quoted message was published, text with the original message content, and userId as the identifier of the user who published the quoted message.

Refer to Quotes for more details and example.
files
Type: List<InputFile>
Default:
n/a
One or multiple files attached to the text message. Each InputFile contains a name, type, and source: class InputFile(val name: String, val type: String, val source: Uploadable).

Refer to Files for more details and example.
Output​
TypeDescription
PNFuture<PNPublishResult>
Returned object with a value of any type.

Basic usage​

Send the Hi Everyone! message to the support channel. Mark its high priority and state that it should be stored in Message Persistence for 15 hours.

chat.getChannel("support").async { result ->
    result.onSuccess { channel ->
        // handle success
        channel.sendText(
            text = "Hi Everyone!",
            meta = mapOf("messageImportance" to "high"),
            shouldStore = true,
            ttl = 15 // 15 hours
        ).async { sendResult ->
            sendResult.onSuccess { publishResult ->
                // handle success
                println("Message sent successfully: ${publishResult.timetoken}")
            }.onFailure { exception ->
                // handle failure
                println("Error sending message: ${exception.message}")
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