cometchat-android-v6-extensions

Companion skills: cometchat-android-v6-features (feature catalog), cometchat-android-v6-kotlin-customization, cometchat-android-v6-compose-customization

Purpose

Extend the CometChat UIKit v6 data layer using the clean architecture DataSource/Repository pattern. Create custom DataSource implementations, override repository behavior, and register custom message types.

Use this skill when

• Creating a custom DataSource implementation to change how data is fetched
• Overriding default repository behavior
• Registering custom message types
• Understanding the data flow from DataSource → Repository → ViewModel

Do not use this skill when

• Customizing UI/bubble rendering (use cometchat-*-customization — that's the BubbleFactory layer)
• Working with component APIs (use cometchat-*-components)

1. Clean Architecture Overview

The chatuikit-core module follows clean architecture with three layers:

┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  UI Layer (chatuikit-kotlin / compose)  │
│  Components observe ViewModel state     │
├─────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  ViewModel Layer (core/viewmodel/)      │
│  Calls use cases / repositories         │
├─────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  Domain Layer (core/domain/)            │
│  Repository interfaces, Use cases       │
├─────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  Data Layer (core/data/)                │
│  DataSource interfaces + impls          │
│  Repository implementations            │
└─────────────────────────────────────────┘

2. DataSource Pattern

Each feature area has a DataSource interface and default implementation:

core/data/datasource/
├── ConversationListDataSource.kt       (interface)
├── ConversationListDataSourceImpl.kt   (default implementation)
├── MessageListDataSource.kt
├── MessageListDataSourceImpl.kt
├── ...

2.1 All DataSource Types

DataSource	Implementation	What it provides
CallButtonsDataSource	CallButtonsDataSourceImpl	Call button actions
CallLogsDataSource	CallLogsDataSourceImpl	Call history fetching
CollaborativeDataSource	CollaborativeDataSourceImpl	Document/whiteboard data
ConversationListDataSource	ConversationListDataSourceImpl	Conversation list fetching
GroupMembersDataSource	GroupMembersDataSourceImpl	Group member operations
GroupsDataSource	GroupsDataSourceImpl	Group list fetching
MessageComposerDataSource	MessageComposerDataSourceImpl	Composer actions/attachments
MessageHeaderDataSource	MessageHeaderDataSourceImpl	Header data (name, status)
MessageInformationDataSource	MessageInformationDataSourceImpl	Read receipts, delivery info
MessageListDataSource	MessageListDataSourceImpl	Message fetching/pagination
PollDataSource	PollDataSourceImpl	Poll creation/voting
ReactionListDataSource	ReactionListDataSourceImpl	Reaction data
SearchDataSource	SearchDataSourceImpl	Global search
StickerDataSource	StickerDataSourceImpl	Sticker fetching
UsersDataSource	UsersDataSourceImpl	User list fetching

2.2 Additional DataSource

File	Purpose
MessageReceiptEventListener.kt	Listens for receipt events at the data layer

3. Repository Pattern

Repositories in core/data/repository/ implement domain interfaces from core/domain/repository/:

core/data/repository/
├── CallButtonsRepositoryImpl.kt
├── CallLogsRepositoryImpl.kt
├── ConversationListRepositoryImpl.kt
├── GroupMembersRepositoryImpl.kt
├── GroupsRepositoryImpl.kt
├── MessageComposerRepositoryImpl.kt
├── MessageHeaderRepositoryImpl.kt
├── MessageInformationRepositoryImpl.kt
├── MessageListRepositoryImpl.kt
├── PollRepositoryImpl.kt
├── ReactionListRepositoryImpl.kt
├── SearchRepositoryImpl.kt
├── StickerRepositoryImpl.kt
├── UsersRepositoryImpl.kt

Each repository wraps a DataSource and adds business logic, caching, or transformation.

4. ViewModel Layer

ViewModels in core/viewmodel/ consume repositories and expose UI state:

// Example: CometChatConversationsViewModel
// - Injected via CometChatConversationsViewModelFactory
// - Exposes StateFlow<ConversationListUIState>
// - Calls ConversationListRepositoryImpl internally

ViewModel factories in core/factory/ handle dependency injection:

Factory	ViewModel
CometChatConversationsViewModelFactory	CometChatConversationsViewModel
CometChatMessageListViewModelFactory	CometChatMessageListViewModel
CometChatGroupsViewModelFactory	CometChatGroupsViewModel
CometChatUsersViewModelFactory	CometChatUsersViewModel
CometChatCallLogsViewModelFactory	CometChatCallLogsViewModel
CometChatMessageComposerViewModelFactory	CometChatMessageComposerViewModel
CometChatMessageHeaderViewModelFactory	CometChatMessageHeaderViewModel
CometChatGroupMembersViewModelFactory	CometChatGroupMembersViewModel
CometChatMessageInformationViewModelFactory	CometChatMessageInformationViewModel
CometChatReactionListViewModelFactory	CometChatReactionListViewModel
CometChatSearchViewModelFactory	CometChatSearchViewModel
CometChatCallButtonsViewModelFactory	CometChatCallButtonsViewModel
CometChatCreatePollViewModelFactory	CometChatCreatePollViewModel
CometChatThreadHeaderViewModelFactory	CometChatThreadHeaderViewModel
CometChatStickerKeyboardViewModelFactory	CometChatStickerKeyboardViewModel
CometChatIncomingCallViewModelFactory	CometChatIncomingCallViewModel
CometChatOutgoingCallViewModelFactory	CometChatOutgoingCallViewModel
CometChatAIAssistantChatHistoryViewModelFactory	CometChatAIAssistantChatHistoryViewModel

5. UI State Classes

Each ViewModel exposes a sealed UI state from core/state/:

State Class	Used By
CallLogsUIState	Call logs
MessageListUIState	Message list
GroupsUIState	Groups list
UsersUIState	Users list
GroupMembersUIState	Group members
MessageComposerUIState	Composer
MessageHeaderUIState	Header
MessageInformationUIState	Message info
ReactionListUIState	Reactions
SearchUIState	Search
CallButtonsUIState	Call buttons
CreatePollUIState	Poll creation
ThreadHeaderUIState	Thread header
StickerKeyboardUIState	Sticker keyboard
IncomingCallUIState	Incoming call
OutgoingCallUIState	Outgoing call
ChatHistoryUIState	AI chat history
ConversationStarterUIState	AI conversation starter
ConversationSummaryUIState	AI conversation summary
SmartRepliesUIState	AI smart replies
DeleteState	Delete operations
UIState	Base UI state

6. Data Flow

User Action → Component → ViewModel → Repository → DataSource → CometChat SDK
                                                                      ↓
UI Update  ← Component ← ViewModel ← StateFlow ← Repository ← SDK Response

Hard rules

• DataSources are the DATA layer — they fetch and mutate data. Do NOT confuse with BubbleFactory which is the UI rendering layer
• The v5 DataSource decorator / ChatConfigurator pattern for bubble customization does NOT exist in v6 — use BubbleFactory instead (see cometchat-*-customization)
• ViewModels are shared across both UI stacks (Kotlin Views and Compose) — they live in chatuikit-core
• Always use the provided ViewModel factories — do not instantiate ViewModels directly