Getting Started

The official .NET SDK for Stream covers Chat, Video, Moderation, and Feeds. This page takes you from installing the SDK to your first API call.

This SDK calls the Stream API from your backend, authenticated with your API secret. Your users connect from your app with a client SDK, using a token your backend signs. Anything that needs a connected user or a live WebSocket lives in the client: initialization, guest and anonymous sessions, typing indicators and presence.

flowchart LR
  app[Your app] <-->|WebSocket| api[Stream API]
  backend[Your backend] -->|REST| api
  backend -. user token .-> app

Stream CLI and Agent Skills

Manage Stream from your terminal with the Stream CLI, including scripting and AI-agent workflows. Install the CLI and the default Agent Skills:

curl -fsSL https://getstream.io/cli.sh | bash
getstream skills

Then ask your agent in plain English, for example:

/stream List recent channels in my app.

See the CLI docs and Agent Skills docs for more.

Setup


GitHub	github.com/GetStream/getstream-net
NuGet	nuget.org/packages/getstream-net

Install the SDK:

dotnet add package getstream-net

Initialize the client with your API key and secret (available on the Dashboard):

using GetStream;

var client = new StreamClient("your-api-key", "your-api-secret");

Or use the builder with environment variables (STREAM_API_KEY, STREAM_API_SECRET):

var client = new ClientBuilder().Build();

Server-side token

Your backend generates a user token that the client SDKs use to authenticate. A typical place to issue this token is during login or registration.

var token = client.CreateUserToken("user-id");
// return the token to the client app

Tokens with an expiry:

var token = client.CreateUserToken("user-id",
    expiration: TimeSpan.FromHours(24));

For token expiry and revocation details, see Authentication and tokens.

Making your first API call

Create a user, open a channel, and send a message:

using GetStream;
using GetStream.Models;

// Upsert a user
await client.UpdateUsersAsync(new UpdateUsersRequest
{
    Users = new Dictionary<string, UserRequest>
    {
        ["john"] = new UserRequest { ID = "john", Name = "John" }
    }
});

// Create or join a channel
var chat = new ChatClient(client);
await chat.GetOrCreateChannelAsync("messaging", "hello-world",
    new ChannelGetOrCreateRequest
    {
        Data = new ChannelInput { CreatedByID = "john" }
    });

// Send a message
await chat.SendMessageAsync("messaging", "hello-world",
    new SendMessageRequest
    {
        Message = new MessageRequest
        {
            Text = "Hello, Stream!",
            UserID = "john"
        }
    });