# Chat Messaging Stream Chat adds real-time messaging to your app: direct messages, group conversations, livestream chat and support flows. The API keeps channels, messages, threads, reactions and read state in sync across devices; the SDKs add offline storage and prebuilt UI on every major platform. See it running in the [live demos](https://getstream.io/chat/demos/messaging/), or take the [interactive tour](https://getstream.io/chat/tour/) of the API. ## SDKs Chat ships in three tiers. Start with the UI components and drop down a tier where you need more control. ### UI Components Complete chat interfaces with message lists, channel lists, threads and reactions built in. - [React](https://getstream.io/chat/docs/sdk/react/): Components and hooks for web apps. - [iOS](https://getstream.io/chat/docs/sdk/ios/): SwiftUI and UIKit component libraries in Swift. - [Android](https://getstream.io/chat/docs/sdk/android/): Jetpack Compose and XML components in Kotlin. - [React Native](https://getstream.io/chat/docs/sdk/react-native/): Native iOS and Android chat UI from one codebase. - [Flutter](https://getstream.io/chat/docs/sdk/flutter/): Chat widgets for every platform Flutter targets. - [Angular](https://getstream.io/chat/docs/sdk/angular/): Components built on the JavaScript client. ### Client Side SDKs Connection handling, channel state and offline support, with the interface left to you. - [React](https://getstream.io/chat/docs/react/) - [iOS](https://getstream.io/chat/docs/ios-swift/) - [Android](https://getstream.io/chat/docs/android/) - [React Native](https://getstream.io/chat/docs/react-native/) - [Flutter](https://getstream.io/chat/docs/flutter-dart/) - [JavaScript](https://getstream.io/chat/docs/javascript/) - [Unity](https://getstream.io/chat/docs/unity/) - [Unreal](https://getstream.io/chat/docs/unreal/) ### Server Side SDKs Full API access from your backend: provision users, create channels, send messages and enforce moderation. - [Node](https://getstream.io/chat/docs/node/) - [Python](https://getstream.io/chat/docs/python/) - [Ruby](https://getstream.io/chat/docs/ruby/) - [PHP](https://getstream.io/chat/docs/php/) - [Java](https://getstream.io/chat/docs/java/) - [.NET](https://getstream.io/chat/docs/dotnet-csharp/) - [Go](https://getstream.io/chat/docs/go-golang/) - [REST](https://getstream.github.io/protocol/?urls.primaryName=Chat) ## Build with AI Your AI agent can work with Stream from the terminal with the [Stream CLI](https://getstream.io/cli/docs/). There's also an [Agent Skills](https://getstream.io/agent-skills/docs/) pack so it can look up docs and configure your app. ```bash curl -fsSL https://getstream.io/cli.sh | bash getstream skills ``` - [Agent Skills](https://getstream.io/agent-skills/docs/) - [Stream CLI](https://getstream.io/cli/docs/) ## Platform Users, auth and the rest of the account-level machinery work the same in every Stream product, so they are documented once in the [platform docs](https://getstream.io/docs/platform/). Chat apps touch these first: - [Authentication and tokens](https://getstream.io/docs/platform/authentication/): Create the user tokens your app connects with. - [Users](https://getstream.io/docs/platform/users/): Create, update, query and delete the users behind every channel. - [Permissions and roles](https://getstream.io/docs/platform/permissions/): Control who can post, flag and moderate, per channel type. - [Push notifications](https://getstream.io/docs/platform/push-notifications/): Deliver messages while the app is closed. - [Webhooks](https://getstream.io/docs/platform/webhooks/): React to chat events from your own backend. ## Start here Each tutorial builds a working chat app from an empty project. Pick your platform: - [React](https://getstream.io/chat/sdk/react/tutorial/) - [iOS (SwiftUI)](https://getstream.io/chat/sdk/ios/tutorial/swiftui/) - [iOS (UIKit)](https://getstream.io/chat/sdk/ios/tutorial/uikit/) - [Android (Compose)](https://getstream.io/chat/sdk/android/tutorial/compose/) - [Android (Kotlin)](https://getstream.io/chat/sdk/android/tutorial/kotlin/) - [React Native (CLI)](https://getstream.io/chat/sdk/react-native/tutorial/cli/) - [React Native (Expo)](https://getstream.io/chat/sdk/react-native/tutorial/expo/) - [Flutter](https://getstream.io/chat/sdk/flutter/tutorial/) - [Angular](https://getstream.io/chat/sdk/angular/tutorial/) - [Unity](https://getstream.io/chat/sdk/unity/tutorial/) - [Unreal](https://getstream.io/chat/sdk/unreal/tutorial/) ## FAQ **Which SDK do I need?** Start with a UI component SDK. Use a client SDK to build your own interface on the same state layer, and a server-side SDK for anything that touches your API secret. **Does chat work offline?** Yes. The client SDKs store messages locally and update the UI optimistically, then sync when the connection returns. **Do I need my own backend?** In production, yes: user tokens are [signed with your API secret](https://getstream.io/docs/platform/authentication/) on your server. For a prototype, [developer tokens](https://getstream.io/docs/platform/authentication/#developer-tokens) let clients connect without one. **Does Chat include moderation?** [Stream Moderation](https://getstream.io/moderation/docs/) plugs into Chat: AI engines screen messages and borderline cases go to a human review queue. **Do Chat and Video share users?** Yes. Users, tokens and roles are app-level and shared by every Stream product; the [platform docs](https://getstream.io/docs/platform/) cover them once. **Can I read these docs as markdown?** Append `.md` to any page URL. [/llms.txt](https://getstream.io/llms.txt) indexes every page. --- For the most recent version of this documentation, visit [https://getstream.io/chat/docs/](https://getstream.io/chat/docs/).