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.
Engineering Beyond Boundaries | admin@rootcastle.com