Create a channel
Two basic types of channels you can create with Sendbird Chat SDK are open channels and group channels.
An open channel is ideal for use cases that don't require a permanent membership in the channel, such as short-lived live events and news-feed style messaging to a massive audience. On the other hand, a group channel is suitable for closer interactions among a limited number of users. To learn more about the different use cases and characteristics of open and group channels, see the channel overview page.
When creating a channel, you can append additional information like cover image, description, and URL by passing several arguments to the corresponding parameters. The channel URL can only contain numbers, letters, underscores, or hyphens, and the URL's length must be between 4 and 100 characters. If you don't specify the channelUrl
property, a URL is automatically generated.
If you want to create and continue to use a single group channel for a 1-to-1 chat, set the isDistinct
property of the channel to true
. Otherwise, if the isDistinct
property is set to false
, multiple 1-to-1 channels, each with their own chat history and data, may be created for the same two users even if a channel already exists between them.
Open channel
You can create an open channel by passing a configured OpenChannelCreateParams
object as an argument to the parameter in the createChannel()
method like the following.
OpenChannelCreateParams
This table only contains properties shown in the code above. See the API reference for a complete list of properties.
Property name | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
name | String | Specifies the name of the channel. |
channelURL | String | Specifies the URL of the channel. Only numbers, letters, underscores, and hyphens are allowed. The length must be between 4 and 100 characters. If the |
coverImage | Data | Uploads a file for the cover image of the channel. Alternatively, you can upload a URL for the cover image of the channel using the |
operatorUserIds | Array of strings | Specifies an array of one or more users to register as operators of the channel. |
data | String | Specifies additional channel information such as a long description of the channel or |
Group channel
You can create a group channel by passing a configured GroupChannelCreateParams
object as an argument to the parameter in the createChannel()
method like the following.
GroupChannelCreateParams
This table only contains properties shown in the code above. See the API reference for a complete list of properties.
Property name | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
name | String | Specifies the name of the channel. |
coverImage | Data | Uploads a file for the cover image of the channel. Alternatively, you can upload a URL for the cover image of the channel using the |
userIds | Array of strings | Specifies a list of one or more IDs of the users to invite to the channel. |
isDistinct | Bool | Determines whether to reuse an existing channel or create a new channel. Setting this property to |
customType | String | Specifies the custom channel type which is used for channel grouping. |
Note: You can also use the Chat API to create open channels and group channels. For group channels, using the Chat API helps you control channel member invitations on your server side.
Supergroup channel
Creating a Supergroup channel follows the same process as creating a group channel with one exception of the isSuper
property. The GroupChannelCreateParams
class has the isSuper
property that determines whether a newly created channel is a Supergroup channel or a regular group channel. Setting isSuper
to true
creates a new Supergroup channel.
Because the distinct option isn't available for Supergroup channels, the isDistinct
property is set to false
by default when creating a Supergroup channel.