Retrieve Users

Fetch user details, retrieve user lists with filters, and get online user counts using the Android SDK

AI Integration Quick Reference

// Get logged-in user
val user = CometChat.getLoggedInUser()

// Fetch user list with filters
val usersRequest = UsersRequestBuilder()
    .setLimit(30)
    .setSearchKeyword("john")
    .hideBlockedUsers(true)
    .build()

usersRequest.fetchNext(object : CallbackListener<List<User?>>() {
    override fun onSuccess(list: List<User?>) { }
    override fun onError(e: CometChatException) { }
})

// Get specific user details
CometChat.getUser("UID", object : CometChat.CallbackListener<User>() {
    override fun onSuccess(user: User) { }
    override fun onError(e: CometChatException) { }
})

Retrieve Logged In User Details

Use getLoggedInUser() to get the details of the logged-in user. Returns null if no user is logged in.

Java

User user = CometChat.getLoggedInUser();

Kotlin

val user = CometChat.getLoggedInUser()   

This method will return a User object containing all the information related to the logged-in user.

Retrieve List of Users

Use UsersRequestBuilder to configure filters, then call fetchNext() to retrieve users.

Set Limit

Set the number of users to fetch per request.

Java

UsersRequest usersRequest = new UsersRequest.UsersRequestBuilder()
.setLimit(30)
.build();

Kotlin

val usersRequest = UsersRequestBuilder()
.setLimit(30)
.build()

Set Search Keyword

Filter users by a search string.

Java

UsersRequest usersRequest = new UsersRequest.UsersRequestBuilder()
.setLimit(limit)
.setSearchKeyword("abc")
.build();

Kotlin

val usersRequest = UsersRequestBuilder()
.setLimit(limit)
.setSearchKeyword("abc")
.build()

Search In

Define which user property the searchKeyword should be searched in. Works only with setSearchKeyword(). By default, searches both UID and Name.

Java

List<String> searchInList = new ArrayList<>();
searchInList.add("uid");

UsersRequest usersRequest = new UsersRequest.UsersRequestBuilder()
.setLimit(20)
.setSearchKeyword("super")
.searchIn(searchInList)
.build();

Kotlin

val searchInList: MutableList<String> = ArrayList()
searchInList.add("uid")

val usersRequest = UsersRequestBuilder()
.setLimit(20)
.setSearchKeyword("super")
.searchIn(searchInList)
.build()

Set Status

The status based on which the users are to be fetched. The status parameter can contain one of the following values:

• CometChat.USER_STATUS.ONLINE - Returns the list of only online users.
• CometChat.USER_STATUS.OFFLINE - Returns the list of only offline users.

If this parameter is not set, all available users will be returned.

Java

UsersRequest usersRequest = new UsersRequest.UsersRequestBuilder()
.setLimit(limit)
.setUserStatus(UsersRequest.USER_STATUS_ONLINE)
.build();  

Kotlin

val usersRequest = UsersRequestBuilder()
.setLimit(limit)
.setUserStatus(UsersRequest.USER_STATUS_ONLINE)
.build() 

If this parameter is not set, all users will be returned.

Hide Blocked Users

Exclude users blocked by the logged-in user from the results. Default is false.

Java

UsersRequest usersRequest = new UsersRequest.UsersRequestBuilder()
.setLimit(limit)
.hideBlockedUsers(true)
.build();   

Kotlin

val usersRequest = UsersRequestBuilder()
.setLimit(limit)
.hideBlockedUsers(true)
.build()

Set Roles

Filter users by one or more roles.

Java

List<String> roles = new ArrayList<>();
roles.add("role1");
roles.add("role2");
UsersRequest usersRequest = new UsersRequest.UsersRequestBuilder()
.setLimit(limit)
.setRoles(roles)
.build();

Kotlin

val roles: MutableList<String> = ArrayList()
roles.add("role1")
roles.add("role2")
val usersRequest = UsersRequestBuilder()
.setLimit(limit)
.setRoles(roles)
.build()

Friends Only

Return only friends of the logged-in user when set to true.

Java

UsersRequest usersRequest = new UsersRequest.UsersRequestBuilder()
.setLimit(limit)
.friendsOnly(true)
.build();

Kotlin

val usersRequest = UsersRequestBuilder()
.setLimit(limit)
.friendsOnly(true)
.build()

Set Tags

Filter users by tags. Only users tagged with the specified tags are returned.

Java

List<String> tags = new ArrayList<>();
tags.add("tag1");
tags.add("tag2");
UsersRequest usersRequest = new UsersRequest.UsersRequestBuilder()
.setLimit(limit)
.setTags(tags)
.build();

Kotlin

val tags: MutableList<String> = ArrayList()
tags.add("tag1")
tags.add("tag2")
val usersRequest = UsersRequestBuilder()
.setLimit(limit)
.setTags(tags)
.build()

With Tags

Include tag data in the response when set to true.

Java

UsersRequest usersRequest = new UsersRequest.UsersRequestBuilder()
.setLimit(limit)
.withTags(true)
.build();

Kotlin

val usersRequest = UsersRequestBuilder()
.setLimit(limit)
.withTags(true)
.build() 

Set UIDs

Fetch specific users by their UIDs. Maximum 25 UIDs per request.

Java

List<String> uids = new ArrayList<>();
uids.add("cometchat-uid-1");
uids.add("cometchat-uid-2");
UsersRequest usersRequest = new UsersRequest.UsersRequestBuilder()
.setLimit(limit)
.setUIDs(uids)
.build();

Kotlin

val uids: MutableList<String> = ArrayList()
uids.add("cometchat-uid-1")
uids.add("cometchat-uid-2")
val usersRequest = UsersRequestBuilder()
.setLimit(limit)
.setUIDs(uids)
.build()

Sort By

Sort the user list by a specific property. Default sort order is status => name => UID.

Java

UsersRequest usersRequest = new UsersRequest.UsersRequestBuilder()
.setLimit(20)
.sortBy(CometChatConstants.SORT_BY_NAME)
.build();

Kotlin

val usersRequest = UsersRequestBuilder()
.setLimit(20)
.sortBy(CometChatConstants.SORT_BY_NAME)
.build() 

Sort By Order

Sort the user list in ascending or descending order. Default is ascending.

Java

UsersRequest usersRequest = new UsersRequest.UsersRequestBuilder()
.setLimit(20)
.sortByOrder(CometChatConstants.SORT_ORDER_DESCENDING)
.build();

Kotlin

val usersRequest = UsersRequestBuilder()
.setLimit(20)
.sortByOrder(CometChatConstants.SORT_ORDER_DESCENDING)
.build()

Fetch Users

After configuring the builder, call build() then fetchNext() to retrieve users. Call fetchNext() repeatedly on the same object to paginate.

Java

private UsersRequest usersRequest = null;
private int limit = 30;

usersRequest = new UsersRequest.UsersRequestBuilder().setLimit(limit).build();

usersRequest.fetchNext(new CometChat.CallbackListener<List<User>>() {
@Override
public void onSuccess(List <User> list) {
  Log.d(TAG, "User list received: " + list.size());
}
@Override
public void onError(CometChatException e) {
  Log.d(TAG, "User list fetching failed with exception: " + e.getMessage());
}
});

Kotlin

var usersRequest: UsersRequest? = null
val limit = 30

usersRequest = UsersRequestBuilder().setLimit(limit).build()

usersRequest.fetchNext(object : CallbackListener<List<User?>>() {
override fun onSuccess(list: List<User?>) {
  Log.d(TAG, "User list received: " + list.size)
}

override fun onError(e: CometChatException) {
  Log.d(TAG, "User list fetching failed with exception: " + e.message)
}
})

Retrieve Particular User Details

Use getUser() to fetch details for a specific user by UID.

Java

private String UID = "UID";

CometChat.getUser(UID, new CometChat.CallbackListener<User>() {
@Override
public void onSuccess(User user) {
  Log.d(TAG, "User details fetched for user: " + user.toString());
}
@Override
public void onError(CometChatException e) {
  Log.d(TAG, "User details fetching failed with exception: " + e.getMessage());
}
});

Kotlin

val UID:String="UID"

CometChat.getUser(UID,object :CometChat.CallbackListener<User>(){
override fun onSuccess(p0: User?) {
  Log.d(TAG, "User details fetched for user: " + p0?.toString())
}

override fun onError(p0: CometChatException?) {
  Log.d(TAG, "User details fetching failed with exception: " + p0?.message)
}
})

The getUser() method takes the following parameters:

Parameter	Description
UID	The UID of the user for whom the details are to be fetched

On success, the User object containing the details of the user is returned.

Get Online User Count

Use getOnlineUserCount() to get the total count of online users for your app.

Java

CometChat.getOnlineUserCount(new CometChat.CallbackListener<Integer>() {
@Override
public void onSuccess(Integer count) {
  Log.d(TAG, "Online users : " + count);
}

@Override
public void onError(CometChatException e) {
  Log.d(TAG, "Error : " + e.getMessage());
}
});

Kotlin

CometChat.getOnlineUserCount(object : CallbackListener<Int>() {
override fun onSuccess(count: Int) {
  Log.d(TAG, "Online users : $count")
}

override fun onError(e: CometChatException) {
  Log.d(TAG, "Error : " + e.message)
}
})

User Payload Structure

User Object

The User object returned by SDK methods contains the following fields:

Parameter	Type	Description
uid	String	Unique identifier of the user
name	String	Display name of the user
avatar	String	URL to user’s profile picture
link	String	URL to user’s profile page
role	String	User role for role-based access control
metadata	JSONObject	Custom data set by developer. Can contain any key-value pairs
status	String	User online status. Values: "online", "offline"
statusMessage	String	Custom status message set by user
lastActiveAt	long	Unix timestamp of last activity (milliseconds)
hasBlockedMe	boolean	Whether this user has blocked the logged-in user
blockedByMe	boolean	Whether the logged-in user has blocked this user
tags	Array<String>	List of tags for user identification and filtering
deactivatedAt	long	Unix timestamp when user was deactivated (0 if active)

Sample User Object:

{
  "uid": "user_123",
  "name": "John Doe",
  "avatar": "https://example.com/avatar.png",
  "link": "https://example.com/profile/user_123",
  "role": "default",
  "metadata": {
    "customKey": "customValue",
    "preferences": {
      "theme": "dark",
      "notifications": true
    }
  },
  "status": "online",
  "statusMessage": "Available",
  "lastActiveAt": 1699900000000,
  "hasBlockedMe": false,
  "blockedByMe": false,
  "tags": ["premium", "verified"],
  "deactivatedAt": 0
}

Next Steps

User Presence

Track and subscribe to user online/offline status updates

Block Users

Block and unblock users to control interactions

User Management

Create, update, and manage user accounts

Send Messages

Start sending messages to retrieved users