User Presence

Track real-time user online/offline status and configure presence subscriptions using the CometChat React Native SDK.

AI Integration Quick Reference

// Subscribe to presence during init
const appSettings = new CometChat.AppSettingsBuilder()
  .subscribePresenceForAllUsers()  // or .subscribePresenceForRoles([]) / .subscribePresenceForFriends()
  .setRegion("REGION").build();

// Listen for presence changes
CometChat.addUserListener("LISTENER_ID", new CometChat.UserListener({
  onUserOnline: (user) => console.log("Online:", user),
  onUserOffline: (user) => console.log("Offline:", user)
}));

// Remove listener
CometChat.removeUserListener("LISTENER_ID");

Track whether users are online or offline in real-time.

Real-time Presence

Configure presence subscription in AppSettings during SDK initialization. The AppSettingsBuilder provides three subscription options:

Method	Description
subscribePresenceForAllUsers()	Receive presence updates for all users
subscribePresenceForRoles(roles)	Receive presence updates only for users with specified roles
subscribePresenceForFriends()	Receive presence updates only for friends

If none of these methods are called, no presence events will be delivered.

You must configure presence subscription in AppSettings during CometChat.init() before any presence events will be delivered. See Setup SDK for details.

Register a UserListener to receive presence events:

TypeScript

let listenerID: string = "UNIQUE_LISTENER_ID";

CometChat.addUserListener(
  listenerID,
  new CometChat.UserListener({
    onUserOnline: (onlineUser: CometChat.User) => {
      console.log("On User Online:", { onlineUser });
    },
    onUserOffline: (offlineUser: CometChat.User) => {
      console.log("On User Offline:", { offlineUser });
    }
  })
);

JavaScript

let listenerID = "UNIQUE_LISTENER_ID";

CometChat.addUserListener(
  listenerID,
  new CometChat.UserListener({
    onUserOnline: onlineUser => {
      console.log("On User Online:", { onlineUser });
    },
    onUserOffline: offlineUser => {
      console.log("On User Offline:", { offlineUser });
    }
  })
);

Parameter	Description
listenerID	Unique identifier for the listener

Each callback receives a User object with presence information.

Relevant fields to access on returned users:

Field	Getter	Return Type	Description
status	getStatus()	string	Online status of the user ("online" or "offline")
lastActiveAt	getLastActiveAt()	number	Timestamp when the user was last active

Presence events are triggered for other users, not for yourself. For example, if User 1 is logged in and User 2 comes online, User 1 receives onUserOnline for User 2. Neither User 1 nor User 2 receive presence events for their own status changes — only for others.

Remove the listener when no longer needed:

TypeScript

let listenerID: string = "UNIQUE_LISTENER_ID";
CometChat.removeUserListener(listenerID);

JavaScript

let listenerID = "UNIQUE_LISTENER_ID";
CometChat.removeUserListener(listenerID);

Always remove your UserListener when the component or view unmounts to prevent memory leaks and duplicate event handling.

CometChat.removeUserListener("LISTENER_ID");

User List Presence

When fetching users via UsersRequest, each User object includes presence fields:

Field	Description
status	"online" or "offline"
lastActiveAt	Timestamp of last activity (useful for “Last seen” display)

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Next Steps

Retrieve Users

Fetch user lists with filtering and pagination.

User Management

Create and update users programmatically.

Block Users

Block and unblock users to control communication.

SDK Setup

Configure AppSettings including presence subscriptions.