Message Structure and Hierarchy

Understand the message categories, types, and class hierarchy in CometChat Flutter SDK including TextMessage, MediaMessage, CustomMessage, InteractiveMessage, and Action.

AI Integration Quick Reference

Message class hierarchy:

BaseMessage (extends AppEntity)
├── TextMessage      → category: message, type: text
├── MediaMessage     → category: message, type: image/video/audio/file
├── CustomMessage    → category: custom, type: developer-defined
├── InteractiveMessage → category: interactive, type: form/card/scheduler/customInteractive
├── Action           → category: action, type: groupMember/message
├── Call             → category: call, type: audio/video
└── AIAssistantMessage → category: agentic, type: assistant

Message categories and types:

• message → text, image, video, audio, file
• custom → Developer-defined types (e.g., location, poll)
• interactive → form, card, scheduler, customInteractive
• action → groupMember (joined/left/kicked/banned), message (edited/deleted)
• call → audio, video
• agentic → assistant, tool-result, tool-arguments

// Common BaseMessage Properties
message.id;              // int - Unique message ID
message.sender;          // User? - Message sender
message.receiverUid;     // String - Receiver UID or GUID
message.receiverType;    // String - "user" or "group"
message.category;        // String - message/custom/action/interactive/call/agentic
message.type;            // String - text/image/video/audio/file/custom
message.sentAt;          // DateTime? - When message was sent
message.deliveredAt;     // DateTime? - When message was delivered
message.readAt;          // DateTime? - When message was read
message.metadata;        // Map<String, dynamic>? - Custom data

// Type-specific Properties
textMessage.text;                    // String - Text content
mediaMessage.attachment;             // Attachment? - File details
customMessage.customData;            // Map<String, dynamic>? - Custom payload
interactiveMessage.interactiveData;  // Map<String, dynamic> - Interactive element data

Every message in CometChat belongs to a category (message, custom, interactive, action, call) and has a specific type within that category. On the SDK side, all messages extend BaseMessage, with subclasses like TextMessage, MediaMessage, CustomMessage, InteractiveMessage, Action, and Call. Understanding this hierarchy helps you handle different message types correctly.

Message Hierarchy

The below diagram helps you better understand the various message categories and types that a CometChat message can belong to.

The calling feature is not currently supported by the CometChat Flutter SDK.

Categories Overview

Category	Types	SDK Class	Description
message	text, image, video, audio, file	TextMessage, MediaMessage	Standard user messages
custom	Developer-defined	CustomMessage	Custom data (location, polls, etc.)
interactive	form, card, scheduler, customInteractive	InteractiveMessage	Messages with actionable UI elements
action	groupMember, message	Action	System-generated events
call	audio, video	Call	Call-related messages

BaseMessage Properties

All message types extend BaseMessage, which provides these common properties:

Property	Type	Description
id	int	Unique message identifier
muid	String	Message unique identifier (client-side)
sender	User?	The user who sent the message
receiver	AppEntity?	The receiver (User or Group)
receiverUid	String	UID of the receiver (user UID or group GUID)
type	String	Message type (e.g., text, image, custom)
receiverType	String	"user" or "group"
category	String	Message category (message, custom, action, interactive, call)
sentAt	DateTime?	Timestamp when the message was sent
deliveredAt	DateTime?	Timestamp when the message was delivered
readAt	DateTime?	Timestamp when the message was read
metadata	Map<String, dynamic>?	Custom key-value data attached to the message
readByMeAt	DateTime?	Timestamp when the current user read the message
deliveredToMeAt	DateTime?	Timestamp when the message was delivered to the current user
deletedAt	DateTime?	Timestamp when the message was deleted
editedAt	DateTime?	Timestamp when the message was last edited
deletedBy	String?	UID of the user who deleted the message
editedBy	String?	UID of the user who edited the message
updatedAt	DateTime?	Timestamp of the last update
conversationId	String?	ID of the conversation this message belongs to
parentMessageId	int	ID of the parent message (for threaded messages)
replyCount	int	Number of replies to this message
unreadRepliesCount	int	Number of unread replies
mentionedUsers	List<User>	Users mentioned in this message
hasMentionedMe	bool?	Whether the current user is mentioned
reactions	List<ReactionCount>	Reactions on this message
quotedMessage	BaseMessage?	The message being quoted/replied to
quotedMessageId	int?	ID of the quoted message

Message

A message belonging to the category message can be classified into either 1 of the below types:

1. text - A plain text message
2. image- An image message
3. video- A video message
4. audio- An audio message
5. file- A file message

TextMessage Properties

Property	Type	Description
text	String	The text content of the message
tags	List<String>?	Tags associated with the message
moderationStatus	ModerationStatusEnum?	Content moderation status

Inherits all BaseMessage properties.

MediaMessage Properties

Property	Type	Description
caption	String?	Caption for the media file
attachment	Attachment?	Primary file attachment details
file	String?	Local file path
files	List<String>?	Multiple local file paths
attachments	List<Attachment>?	Multiple file attachments
tags	List<String>?	Tags associated with the message
moderationStatus	ModerationStatusEnum?	Content moderation status

Inherits all BaseMessage properties.

Attachment Properties

Property	Type	Description
fileUrl	String	URL of the uploaded file
fileName	String	Name of the file
fileExtension	String	File extension (e.g., jpg, mp4)
fileMimeType	String	MIME type (e.g., image/jpeg)
fileSize	int?	File size in bytes

Custom

In the case of messages that belong to the custom category, there are no predefined types. Custom messages can be used by developers to send messages that do not fit in the default category and types provided by CometChat. For messages with the category custom, the developers can set their own type to uniquely identify the custom message. A very good example of a custom message would be the sharing of location co-ordinates. In this case, the developer can decide to use the custom message with type set to location.

CustomMessage Properties

Property	Type	Description
subType	String?	Sub-type for further classification
customData	Map<String, dynamic>?	Custom key-value payload
tags	List<String>?	Tags associated with the message
conversationText	String?	Text shown in conversation list
updateConversation	bool?	Whether to update the conversation list
sendNotification	bool?	Whether to send a push notification

Inherits all BaseMessage properties.

Interactive

An InteractiveMessage is a specialized object that encapsulates an interactive unit within a chat message, such as an embedded form that users can fill out directly within the chat interface. Messages belonging to the interactive category can further be classified into one of the below types:

1. form- for interactive form
2. card- for interactive card
3. scheduler- for scheduler message
4. customInteractive- for custom interaction messages

To know about Interactive messages please click here.

InteractiveMessage Properties

Property	Type	Description
interactiveData	Map<String, dynamic>	Data defining the interactive element (form fields, card content, etc.)
interactions	List<Interaction>?	List of user interactions with this message
interactionGoal	InteractionGoal?	Goal criteria for the interactive element
tags	List<String>?	Tags associated with the message
allowSenderInteraction	bool	Whether the sender can interact with the element

Inherits all BaseMessage properties.

Action

Action messages are system-generated messages. Messages belonging to the action category can further be classified into one of the below types:

1. groupMember - action performed on a group member.

2. message - action performed on a message.

Action Properties

Property	Type	Description
message	String?	Human-readable action description
rawData	String?	Raw action data
action	String?	The action performed (e.g., joined, kicked, edited)
oldScope	String?	Previous member scope (for scope changes)
newScope	String?	New member scope (for scope changes)
actionBy	AppEntity?	Entity that performed the action
actionFor	AppEntity?	Entity the action was performed for
actionOn	AppEntity?	Entity the action was performed on

Inherits all BaseMessage properties.

Action messages hold another property called action which actually determine the action that has been performed For the type groupMember the action can be either one of the below:

1. joined - when a group member joins a group
2. left - when a group member leaves a group
3. kicked - when a group member is kicked from the group
4. banned - when a group member is banned from the group
5. unbanned - when a group member is unbanned from the group
6. added - when a user is added to the group
7. scopeChanged - When the scope of a group member is changed.

For the type message, the action can be either one of the below:

1. edited - when a message is edited.
2. deleted - when a message is deleted.

Call

Messages with the category call are Calling related messages. These can belong to either one of the 2 types

1. audio
2. video

Call Properties

Property	Type	Description
sessionId	String?	Unique call session identifier
callStatus	String?	Current status of the call
action	String?	Call action type
rawData	String?	Raw call data
initiatedAt	DateTime?	When the call was initiated
joinedAt	DateTime?	When the receiver joined the call
callInitiator	AppEntity?	The user who initiated the call
callReceiver	AppEntity?	The user/group receiving the call

Inherits all BaseMessage properties.

The call messages have a property called status that helps you figure out the status of the call. The status can be either one of the below values:

Status	Description
initiated	Call started to a user/group
ongoing	Receiver accepted the call
cancelled	Initiator canceled the call
rejected	Receiver rejected the call
unanswered	Call was not answered
busy	Receiver was on another call
ended	Call completed successfully

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Next Steps

Send Messages

Learn how to send text, media, and custom messages

Receive Messages

Handle incoming messages with real-time listeners

Interactive Messages

Create forms, cards, and interactive elements

Edit & Delete Messages

Modify or remove sent messages