Azure Communication Chat (Java)

Build real-time chat applications with thread management, messaging, participants, and read receipts.

Installation

xml

<dependency>
    <groupId>com.azure</groupId>
    <artifactId>azure-communication-chat</artifactId>
    <version>1.6.0</version>
</dependency>

Client Creation

java

import com.azure.communication.chat.ChatClient;
import com.azure.communication.chat.ChatClientBuilder;
import com.azure.communication.chat.ChatThreadClient;
import com.azure.communication.common.CommunicationTokenCredential;

// ChatClient requires a CommunicationTokenCredential (user access token)
String endpoint = "https://<resource>.communication.azure.com";
String userAccessToken = "<user-access-token>";

CommunicationTokenCredential credential = new CommunicationTokenCredential(userAccessToken);

ChatClient chatClient = new ChatClientBuilder()
    .endpoint(endpoint)
    .credential(credential)
    .buildClient();

// Async client
ChatAsyncClient chatAsyncClient = new ChatClientBuilder()
    .endpoint(endpoint)
    .credential(credential)
    .buildAsyncClient();

Key Concepts

Class	Purpose
`ChatClient`	Create/delete chat threads, get thread clients
`ChatThreadClient`	Operations within a thread (messages, participants, receipts)
`ChatParticipant`	User in a chat thread with display name
`ChatMessage`	Message content, type, sender info, timestamps
`ChatMessageReadReceipt`	Read receipt tracking per participant

Create Chat Thread

java

import com.azure.communication.chat.models.*;
import com.azure.communication.common.CommunicationUserIdentifier;
import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.List;

// Define participants
List<ChatParticipant> participants = new ArrayList<>();

ChatParticipant participant1 = new ChatParticipant()
    .setCommunicationIdentifier(new CommunicationUserIdentifier("<user-id-1>"))
    .setDisplayName("Alice");

ChatParticipant participant2 = new ChatParticipant()
    .setCommunicationIdentifier(new CommunicationUserIdentifier("<user-id-2>"))
    .setDisplayName("Bob");

participants.add(participant1);
participants.add(participant2);

// Create thread
CreateChatThreadOptions options = new CreateChatThreadOptions("Project Discussion")
    .setParticipants(participants);

CreateChatThreadResult result = chatClient.createChatThread(options);
String threadId = result.getChatThread().getId();

// Get thread client for operations
ChatThreadClient threadClient = chatClient.getChatThreadClient(threadId);

Send Messages

java

// Send text message
SendChatMessageOptions messageOptions = new SendChatMessageOptions()
    .setContent("Hello, team!")
    .setSenderDisplayName("Alice")
    .setType(ChatMessageType.TEXT);

SendChatMessageResult sendResult = threadClient.sendMessage(messageOptions);
String messageId = sendResult.getId();

// Send HTML message
SendChatMessageOptions htmlOptions = new SendChatMessageOptions()
    .setContent("<strong>Important:</strong> Meeting at 3pm")
    .setType(ChatMessageType.HTML);

threadClient.sendMessage(htmlOptions);

Get Messages

java

import com.azure.core.util.paging.PagedIterable;

// List all messages
PagedIterable<ChatMessage> messages = threadClient.listMessages();

for (ChatMessage message : messages) {
    System.out.println("ID: " + message.getId());
    System.out.println("Type: " + message.getType());
    System.out.println("Content: " + message.getContent().getMessage());
    System.out.println("Sender: " + message.getSenderDisplayName());
    System.out.println("Created: " + message.getCreatedOn());
    
    // Check if edited or deleted
    if (message.getEditedOn() != null) {
        System.out.println("Edited: " + message.getEditedOn());
    }
    if (message.getDeletedOn() != null) {
        System.out.println("Deleted: " + message.getDeletedOn());
    }
}

// Get specific message
ChatMessage message = threadClient.getMessage(messageId);

Update and Delete Messages

java

// Update message
UpdateChatMessageOptions updateOptions = new UpdateChatMessageOptions()
    .setContent("Updated message content");

threadClient.updateMessage(messageId, updateOptions);

// Delete message
threadClient.deleteMessage(messageId);

Manage Participants

java

// List participants
PagedIterable<ChatParticipant> participants = threadClient.listParticipants();

for (ChatParticipant participant : participants) {
    CommunicationUserIdentifier user = 
        (CommunicationUserIdentifier) participant.getCommunicationIdentifier();
    System.out.println("User: " + user.getId());
    System.out.println("Display Name: " + participant.getDisplayName());
}

// Add participants
List<ChatParticipant> newParticipants = new ArrayList<>();
newParticipants.add(new ChatParticipant()
    .setCommunicationIdentifier(new CommunicationUserIdentifier("<new-user-id>"))
    .setDisplayName("Charlie")
    .setShareHistoryTime(OffsetDateTime.now().minusDays(7))); // Share last 7 days

threadClient.addParticipants(newParticipants);

// Remove participant
CommunicationUserIdentifier userToRemove = new CommunicationUserIdentifier("<user-id>");
threadClient.removeParticipant(userToRemove);

Read Receipts

java

// Send read receipt
threadClient.sendReadReceipt(messageId);

// Get read receipts
PagedIterable<ChatMessageReadReceipt> receipts = threadClient.listReadReceipts();

for (ChatMessageReadReceipt receipt : receipts) {
    System.out.println("Message ID: " + receipt.getChatMessageId());
    System.out.println("Read by: " + receipt.getSenderCommunicationIdentifier());
    System.out.println("Read at: " + receipt.getReadOn());
}

Typing Notifications

java

import com.azure.communication.chat.models.TypingNotificationOptions;

// Send typing notification
TypingNotificationOptions typingOptions = new TypingNotificationOptions()
    .setSenderDisplayName("Alice");

threadClient.sendTypingNotificationWithResponse(typingOptions, Context.NONE);

// Simple typing notification
threadClient.sendTypingNotification();

Thread Operations

java

// Get thread properties
ChatThreadProperties properties = threadClient.getProperties();
System.out.println("Topic: " + properties.getTopic());
System.out.println("Created: " + properties.getCreatedOn());

// Update topic
threadClient.updateTopic("New Project Discussion Topic");

// Delete thread
chatClient.deleteChatThread(threadId);

List Threads

java

// List all chat threads for the user
PagedIterable<ChatThreadItem> threads = chatClient.listChatThreads();

for (ChatThreadItem thread : threads) {
    System.out.println("Thread ID: " + thread.getId());
    System.out.println("Topic: " + thread.getTopic());
    System.out.println("Last message: " + thread.getLastMessageReceivedOn());
}

Pagination

java

import com.azure.core.http.rest.PagedResponse;

// Paginate through messages
int maxPageSize = 10;
ListChatMessagesOptions listOptions = new ListChatMessagesOptions()
    .setMaxPageSize(maxPageSize);

PagedIterable<ChatMessage> pagedMessages = threadClient.listMessages(listOptions);

pagedMessages.iterableByPage().forEach(page -> {
    System.out.println("Page status code: " + page.getStatusCode());
    page.getElements().forEach(msg -> 
        System.out.println("Message: " + msg.getContent().getMessage()));
});

Error Handling

java

import com.azure.core.exception.HttpResponseException;

try {
    threadClient.sendMessage(messageOptions);
} catch (HttpResponseException e) {
    switch (e.getResponse().getStatusCode()) {
        case 401:
            System.out.println("Unauthorized - check token");
            break;
        case 403:
            System.out.println("Forbidden - user not in thread");
            break;
        case 404:
            System.out.println("Thread not found");
            break;
        default:
            System.out.println("Error: " + e.getMessage());
    }
}

Message Types

Type	Description
`TEXT`	Regular chat message
`HTML`	HTML-formatted message
`TOPIC_UPDATED`	System message - topic changed
`PARTICIPANT_ADDED`	System message - participant joined
`PARTICIPANT_REMOVED`	System message - participant left

Environment Variables

bash

AZURE_COMMUNICATION_ENDPOINT=https://<resource>.communication.azure.com
AZURE_COMMUNICATION_USER_TOKEN=<user-access-token>

Best Practices

Token Management - User tokens expire; implement refresh logic with CommunicationTokenRefreshOptions
Pagination - Use listMessages(options) with maxPageSize for large threads
Share History - Set shareHistoryTime when adding participants to control message visibility
Message Types - Filter system messages (PARTICIPANT_ADDED, etc.) from user messages
Read Receipts - Send receipts only when messages are actually viewed by user

Trigger Phrases

"chat application Java", "real-time messaging Java"
"chat thread", "chat participants", "chat messages"
"read receipts", "typing notifications"
"Azure Communication Services chat"

When to Use

This skill is applicable to execute the workflow or actions described in the overview.

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SKILL.md

Azure Communication Chat (Java)

Installation

Client Creation

Key Concepts

Create Chat Thread

Send Messages

Get Messages

Update and Delete Messages

Manage Participants

Read Receipts

Typing Notifications

Thread Operations

List Threads

Pagination

Error Handling

Message Types

Environment Variables

Best Practices

Trigger Phrases

When to Use