Channels
Our channels enable developers to implement different types of chat messaging capabilities into their applications easily
Users can create and join channels where they will be able to participate and chat with other users. A channel can support up to 300,000 members and can contain an unlimited number of messages. Any message exchanged in the channels will be pushed to all other members of the channel in real-time.
Name | Data Type | Description | Attributes |
channelId | String | ID of the channel | |
isDistinct | Boolean | Is channel distinct? | |
metadata | Object | Additional properties to support custom fields | |
type | String | Type of channel | Enum:[standard, private, conversation, broadcast, community, live] |
tags | Array.<String> | Tags used for searching | |
isMuted | Boolean | Is this channel muted? | Computed by using muteTimeout |
isRateLimited | Boolean | This channel has limited sending rate? | Computed by using muteTimeout |
rateLimit | Integer | Number of messages within rate limit | |
displayName | String | Channel name for displaying | |
memberCount | Integer | Number of members in channel | |
messageCount | Integer | Number of messages in channel | |
lastActivity | string($date-time) | Date/time of user's last activity related to the channel (E.g. add/remove member) | |
createdAt | string($date-time) | Date/time the channel was created | |
updatedAt | string($date-time) | Date/time the channel was last updated | |
avatar | Object | Data of the avatar | |
Amity's Chat SDK supports the creations of 4 types of chat channels. Each type is designed to match a particular use-case for chat channels. Here's a table showing what features each channel offers:
Channel Type | Discoverable by | Message sending privileges | Moderation access |
Community | All users and admins | Users and admins | All Moderation tools |
Live | Only members and admins | Users and admins | All Moderation tools |
Broadcast | All users and admins | Admins | Admin Moderation tools |
Conversation | Only members | Users | No Moderation tools |
The community channel is our default channel type and can be discovered by all users and admins. It acts as a public chat channel that showcases all of the features that our SDK's have to offer.
Typical use cases:
- Team collaboration
- Online gaming
- Celebrity fan club
- Live streaming
- Any type of public chat
Live channels offer the ability for users and admins to create channels with exclusive memberships. The live channel is identical to our Community channel in features with the caveat that users will not be able to discover the channel when querying for all channels unless they are already a member of it. However, users and admins can still invite other users to join the channel.
Typical use cases:
- Healthcare
- Project Discussion
- Any type of chat
Community and Live channel types can use our SDK moderation tools:
- Message and user flagging
- Muting/Unmuting users
- Banning/Unbanning users from channel
- Profanity filters
- Whitelisted URLs
- User rate-limiting
All broadcast channels are visible on the Amity Social Cloud Console.
The Broadcast channel is heavily adopted by corporate users who constantly promote or advertise their products, or make the announcement to drive awareness. Unlike other channel types, broadcast channels only allow admin users to send messages from Console, and everyone else in the channel will be under read-only mode.
Since this is a one-way communication channel, tailored moderation tools are provided as well, for instance, users won't be able to flag message / user in the channel.
Typical use cases:
- Marketing & Advertising
- School / Government Announcements
Conversation channels are NOT visible on the Amity Social Cloud Console.
The Conversation channel is our solution to 1-on-1 messaging. Unlike the other channel types, a Conversation channel can be created simply by knowing the userId of the user we want to converse with. Users can start conversations with any other user and only they will be able to see their conversation.
There are no moderation tools for Conversation channels, users will be able to converse freely with no oversight!
Typical use cases:
- Hospitality
- Financial Consultancy
- Customer Support
Since this is similar to 1-on-1 messaging, Conversation channels have some limitations. The following are not allowed:
- Join and leave channel
- Ban and unban channel members
- Add and remove channel members
Channel types can be created through SDK i.eCommunity,LiveandConversation. Creation ofPrivateandStandardtype has been removed. Creation ofBroadcastchannel type is not supported through the SDK. But for query,getChannels:method supports all channel types includingBroadcast,PrivateandStandard.
Last modified 2d ago