Typing Indicators

Show real-time typing indicators when users are composing messages.

Typing indicators let you show a “user is typing…” animation in your chat UI. The CometChat Unreal SDK provides two separate delegates — OnTypingStarted and OnTypingEnded — plus methods to send typing state from the local user.

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Send Typing Indicators

Use StartTyping and EndTyping on the Subsystem to notify other users that the local user is composing a message.

Blueprint

1. Get a reference to the CometChat Subsystem
2. Create an FCometChatTypingIndicator struct with the receiver info
3. Call Start Typing when the user begins typing
4. Call End Typing when the user stops (or after a timeout)

C++

void AMyActor::NotifyTypingStarted(const FString& ReceiverId, const FString& ReceiverType)
{
    UCometChatSubsystem* Chat = GetGameInstance()->GetSubsystem<UCometChatSubsystem>();

    FCometChatTypingIndicator Indicator;
    Indicator.ReceiverId = ReceiverId;
    Indicator.ReceiverType = ReceiverType; // "user" or "group"

    Chat->StartTyping(Indicator);
}

void AMyActor::NotifyTypingEnded(const FString& ReceiverId, const FString& ReceiverType)
{
    UCometChatSubsystem* Chat = GetGameInstance()->GetSubsystem<UCometChatSubsystem>();

    FCometChatTypingIndicator Indicator;
    Indicator.ReceiverId = ReceiverId;
    Indicator.ReceiverType = ReceiverType;

    Chat->EndTyping(Indicator);
}

Auto-end pattern: Start a 5-second timer when the user begins typing. Reset it on each keystroke. When the timer fires without a reset, call EndTyping. This prevents stale typing indicators if the user walks away mid-message.

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Listen for Typing Events

Bind to OnTypingStarted and OnTypingEnded delegates on the Subsystem to receive typing notifications from other users.

Blueprint

1. Get a reference to the CometChat Subsystem
2. Drag off and search for On Typing Started / On Typing Ended
3. Use Bind Event to connect each to a custom event
4. The custom event receives an FCometChatTypingIndicator parameter

C++

void AMyActor::BeginPlay()
{
    Super::BeginPlay();

    UCometChatSubsystem* Chat = GetGameInstance()->GetSubsystem<UCometChatSubsystem>();
    Chat->OnTypingStarted.AddDynamic(this, &AMyActor::HandleTypingStarted);
    Chat->OnTypingEnded.AddDynamic(this, &AMyActor::HandleTypingEnded);
}

void AMyActor::HandleTypingStarted(const FCometChatTypingIndicator& Indicator)
{
    // Show typing indicator for this user in the conversation
    ShowTypingBubble(Indicator.Sender.Uid, Indicator.ReceiverId);
}

void AMyActor::HandleTypingEnded(const FCometChatTypingIndicator& Indicator)
{
    // Hide typing indicator
    HideTypingBubble(Indicator.Sender.Uid, Indicator.ReceiverId);
}

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FCometChatTypingIndicator

Property	Type	Description
ReceiverId	FString	The user UID or group GUID where typing is happening
ReceiverType	FString	"user" for 1:1 or "group" for group conversations
Metadata	FString	Optional metadata JSON string
Sender	FCometChatUser	The user who started or stopped typing

UI pattern: When OnTypingStarted fires, show a typing animation (e.g., three bouncing dots). When OnTypingEnded fires, hide it. Consider adding a local timeout (e.g., 5 seconds) to auto-hide the indicator in case the end event is missed due to network issues.

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Event Flow

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Next Steps

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