ChannelStateContext

ChannelStateContext is provided by Channel and exposes state for the active channel. Access it with useChannelStateContext.

Best Practices

Use state values from context instead of storing duplicate local copies.
Treat messages, members, and read as reactive sources for UI updates.
Prefer channelCapabilities to gate UI actions instead of hard-coding permissions.
Use suppressAutoscroll to respect user scroll position for long histories.
Guard against null channel or error states in custom components.

Basic Usage

Pull values from ChannelStateContext with our custom hook:

const { channel, watchers } = useChannelStateContext();

Values

channel

The active StreamChat channel instance consumed by Channel and its children.

Type
`Channel`

channelCapabilities

The allowed channel permissions for the currently connected user.

Type
`Record<string, boolean>`

channelConfig

Configuration for the active channel.

Type
`ChannelConfig`

channelUnreadUiState

The read state maintained for use by components representing channel unread state (for example UnreadMessagesSeparator, UnreadMessagesNotification).

Property	Type	Description
last_read	`Date`	Date when the channel was marked read the last time.
unread_messages	`number`	The count of unread messages in a given channel. Unread count refers only to foreign (not own) unread messages.
first_unread_message_id	`string` or `undefined`	The ID of the message that was marked unread (`notification.mark_unread` event). The value is available only when a message is marked unread. Therefore, cannot be relied on to place unread messages UI.
last_read_message_id	`string` or `undefined`	The ID of the message preceding the first unread message.

Type
`ChannelUnreadUiState`

error

Error from loading the channel (if any); otherwise null.

Type
`Error \| null`

findURLFn

Custom function to identify URLs in a string for later generation of link previews. See the guide Link Previews in Message Input for more.

Type
`(text: string) => string[]`

giphyVersion

The value is forwarded to the context from the Channel component prop giphyVersion.

Type	Default
string	'fixed_height'

imageAttachmentSizeHandler

The value is forwarded to the context from the Channel component prop imageAttachmentSizeHandler.

Type
`(a: Attachment, e: HTMLElement) => ImageAttachmentConfiguration`

hasMore

Whether the channel has older messages to paginate.

Type
boolean

hasMoreNewer

Whether the channel has newer messages to paginate.

Type
boolean

highlightedMessageId

Used internally for jump-to-message. The message with this ID is highlighted after the jump.

Type
string

loading

Whether the channel is loading.

Type
boolean

loadingMore

Whether older messages are loading.

Type
boolean

loadingMoreNewer

Whether newer messages are loading as the user scrolls down (used internally by VirtualizedMessageList).

Type
boolean

members

Members of this channel (members are permanent; watchers are currently online).

Type
`Record<string, ChannelMemberResponse>`

messages

Array of message objects.

Type
`LocalMessage[]`

mutes

An array of muted users for a channel.

Type
`Mute[]`

notifications

Temporary notifications added to MessageList on specific actions.

Type
{id: string, text: string, type: 'success' \| 'error'}[]

onLinkPreviewDismissed

Custom function to react to link preview dismissal. See the guide Link Previews in Message Input for more.

Type
`(linkPreview: LinkPreview) => void`

pinnedMessages

The messages that are pinned in the channel.

Type
`LocalMessage[]`

read

The read state for each channel member.

Type
`Record<string, ChannelReadState>`

suppressAutoscroll

Whether auto-scroll to bottom is suppressed (used by MessageList and VirtualizedMessageList).

Type
boolean

shouldGenerateVideoThumbnail

The value is forwarded to the context from the Channel component prop shouldGenerateVideoThumbnail.

Type
`boolean`

thread

The parent message for a thread, if there is one, otherwise null.

Type
`LocalMessage \| null`

threadHasMore

Boolean showing if there are more messages available in current active thread, set to false when the end of pagination is reached.

Type
boolean

threadLoadingMore

If the thread is currently loading more messages.

Type
boolean

threadMessages

Array of messages within a thread.

Type
`LocalMessage[]`

threadSuppressAutoscroll

Flag signalling whether the scroll to the bottom is prevented in thread. Used internally by MessageList and VirtualizedMessageList components.

Type
boolean

videoAttachmentSizeHandler

The value is forwarded to the context from the Channel component prop videoAttachmentSizeHandler.

Type
`(a: Attachment, e: HTMLElement) => VideoAttachmentConfiguration`

watcherCount

The number of watchers on the channel.

Type
number

watchers

An array of users who are currently watching the channel.

Type
`Record<string, UserResponse>`

watcher_count

The number of watchers on the channel.

Type
number

ChannelActionContext

ComponentContext