ChannelSearch

ChannelSearch is a UI component that searches for chat users and displays the results in a list. It can be used standalone or in the ChannelList via the showChannelSearch prop (default is false). The input searches for users by default, but you can utilize the searchForChannels prop to also search for channels. Completely override the querying via the searchFunction prop. Selection of a search result will set the active channel with the selected user, or if a channel is an option and is selected, set the active channel with the existing channel.

Basic Usage

Example 1 - used via the showChannelSearch prop.

<Chat client={client}>
  <ChannelList
    filters={filters}
    sort={sort}
    options={options}
    showChannelSearch
  />
  <Channel>
    <Window>
      <ChannelHeader />
      <MessageList />
      <MessageInput />
    </Window>
    <Thread />
  </Channel>
</Chat>

The ChannelSearch component renders 2 components:

1. the search input
2. the search results list

Search input and SearchResults state

The input naturally transitions between 3 states:

It is possible to jump directly from active search state to inactive by pressing the Esc key or by erasing the search input value. The search results container is shown only if the search input contains non-empty string.

Once the search results container is rendered it transitions between the following states:

SearchInput component

The SearchInput source code shows that the component renders a single text input element. User can provide a custom SearchInput component implementation though.

SearchBar component

The SearchBar contains multiple elements - buttons and text input. The buttons are conditionally rendered based on user interaction with the ChannelSearch components. All the button icons displayed in the SearchBar are customizable. User can provide a custom SearchBar component implementation.

SearchBar states

The SearchBar transitions between the same states as the SearchInput, but renders more elements.

1. Inactive state

The SearchBar is rendered with app menu icon if a custom AppMenu component is provided to the ChannelSearch. Otherwise, only search input is visible.

2. Active state

Once the input is focused, a return-arrow button occurs with ExitSearchIcon to exit the active state. Note the app menu icon is actually replaced by the return arrow button. After typing the search query a clear-input button with ClearInputIcon appears inside the search input.

By clicking the return-arrow button, the user returns to the inactive search state. By clicking the clear-input button the input is cleared but kept focused with return-arrow still displayed (with possibility to exit the search altogether).

The active search UI state can be exited by pressing the Escape key as well.

SearchResults component

The following states are reflected in the SearchResults:

1. The search query being in progress (can be customized with SearchLoading )
2. The empty search result (can be customized with SearchEmpty)
3. The listing of found channels (if searchForChannels is set to true) and users

The look of the latter can be customized by providing SearchResultsHeader, SearchResultItem, SearchResultsList) (renders the list of SearchResultItem).

The default styling of the first two states are as follows:

Search results in popup

The search results can be rendered in place of the channel list or above the channel list in a floating container. This behavior is toggled by popupResults prop.

Keep the search results open on channel select

The ChannelSearch offers possibility to keep the search results open meanwhile the user clicks between the search results. This behavior is controlled by clearSearchOnClickOutside flag. The selected channel is added to the channel list if it was not present there before the search.

Customizing the search method

By default, the ChannelSearch component searches just for users. Use the searchForChannels prop to also search for channels.

To override the search method completely, use the searchFunction prop. This prop is useful, say, when you want to search only for channels that the current logged in user is a member of. See the example below for this.

const customSearchFunction = async (
  props: ChannelSearchFunctionParams,
  event: { target: { value: SetStateAction<string> } },
  client: StreamChat,
) => {
  const { setResults, setSearching, setQuery } = props;
  const value = event.target.value;

  const filters = {
    name: { $autocomplete: value },
    members: { $in: client.userID },
  };

  setSearching(true);
  setQuery(value);
  const channels = await client.queryChannels(filters);
  setResults(channels);
  setSearching(false);
};

const { client } = useChatContext();

<ChannelList
  additionalChannelSearchProps={{
    searchFunction: (params, event) => {
      return customSearchFunction(params, event, client);
    },
  }}
  showChannelSearch
/>;

Props

AppMenu

Application menu / drop-down to be displayed when clicked on MenuIcon. Prop is consumed only by the SearchBar component. No default component is provided by the SDK. The library does not provide any CSS for AppMenu. Consult the customization tutorial on how to add AppMenu to your application. The component is passed a prop close, which is a function that can be called to hide the app menu (e.g. on menu item selection).

channelType

The type of channel to create on user result selection.

ClearInputIcon

Custom icon component used as a content of the button used to clear the search input. Prop is consumed only by the SearchBar component.

clearSearchOnClickOutside

Signals that the search state / results should be cleared on every click outside the search input (e.g. selecting a search result or exiting the search UI), defaults to true. If set to false, the search results are kept in the UI meanwhile the user changes between the channels.

disabled

Disables execution of the search queries and makes the search text input element disabled. Defaults to false.

ExitSearchIcon

Custom icon component used as a content of the button used to exit the search UI. Prop is consumed only by the SearchBar component.

MenuIcon

Custom icon component used as a content of the button used to invoke the AppMenu. Prop is consumed only by the SearchBar component. The menu icon button is displayed only if AppMenu component has been passed to ChannelSearch props.

onSearch

Callback invoked with every search input change handler. SDK user can provide own implementation. The prop is used by the ChannelList component to set a flag determining that the search has been initiated. If the search has been initiated and search result are to be displayed instead of the list of loaded channels (popupResults flag is set to false), then the list of loaded channels is not rendered. This logic is executed despite passing custom implementation of onSearch function to ChanneList props.

onSearchExit

Callback invoked when the search UI is deactivated. The ChannelList component uses it to set a flag that the search has been terminated and search results are not expected to be displayed in place of the list of loaded channels. And so the ChannelList renders the list of loaded channels. This logic is executed despite passing custom implementation of onSearchExit function to ChanneList props.

onSelectResult

Custom handler function to run on search result item selection. If not provided then the default selection handler takes care of:

1. loading the active channel
2. adding the selected channel to the channel list
3. clearing the search results, if clearSearchOnClickOutside flag is set to true (default)

placeholder

Custom placeholder text to be displayed in the search input. Can be passed down from ChannelList via its additionalChannelSearchProps. If using custom i18n translations, it is preferable to change the placeholder value in your translations files under the key 'Search'.

popupResults

Display search results as an absolutely positioned popup, defaults to false and shows inline.

SearchBar

Custom component to be rendered instead of the default SearchBar. The default SearchBar component is a composite of multiple buttons and a search input. You can find more information about its features in an above section.

SearchEmpty

Custom UI component to display empty search results.

searchForChannels

Boolean to search for channels as well as users in the server query, default is false and just searches for users.

searchFunction

Custom search function to override default. The first argument should expect an object of type ChannelSearchFunctionParams. It carries references to the Dispatch<SetStateAction> functions that allow to control the search state:

• setQuery - sets the search input value, the default value is an empty string
• setResults - sets the array of search results, the default value is an empty array
• setSearching - signals that the HTTP search request is in progress

See also Customizing the search method.

searchDebounceIntervalMs

The number of milliseconds to debounce the search query.

SearchInput

Custom UI component to display the search text input.

SearchLoading

Custom UI component to display the search loading state. Rendered within the SearchResults component.

searchQueryParams

Object containing filters/sort/options overrides for user / channel search.

The filters attribute (SearchQueryParams.userFilters.filters) can be either UserFilters object describing the filter query or a function with a single argument of the search / filter (query) string. The function is then expected to derive and return the UserFilters from the provided query string.

SearchResultsHeader

Custom UI component to display the search results header.

SearchResultItem

Custom UI component to display a search result list item.

SearchResultsList

Custom UI component to display all the search results.