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Threads & Replies

Threads allow users to reply to specific messages without cluttering the main channel conversation. A thread is created when a message is sent with a parent_id referencing another message.

Starting a Thread

Send a message with a parent_id to start a thread or add a reply to an existing thread.

var parentMessage = await channel.SendNewMessageAsync("Starting a thread");

var reply = await channel.SendNewMessageAsync(new StreamSendMessageRequest
{
  ParentId = parentMessage.Id,
  ShowInChannel = false,
  Text = "This is a reply in a thread",
});

Thread Parameters

Name Type Description Default Optional
parent_id string ID of the parent message to reply to
show_in_channel boolean If true, the reply appears both in the thread and the main channel false
Info:

Messages in threads support the same features as regular messages: reactions, attachments, and mentions.

Paginating Thread Replies

When querying a channel, thread replies are not included by default. The parent message includes a reply_count field. Use getReplies to fetch thread messages.

// Get the latest 20 replies (oldest-first)
var replies = await parentMessage.LoadRepliesAsync(limit: 20);

// Get older replies (before message with id "42")
var olderReplies = await parentMessage.LoadRepliesAsync(limit: 20, idLessThan: "42");

Inline Replies

Reply to a message inline without creating a thread. The referenced message appears within the new message. Use quoted_message_id instead of parent_id.

var message = await channel.SendNewMessageAsync(new StreamSendMessageRequest
{
  QuotedMessage = originalMessage,
  Text = "I agree with this point",
});

When querying messages, the quoted_message field is automatically populated:

{
  "id": "new-message-id",
  "text": "I agree with this point",
  "quoted_message_id": "original-message-id",
  "quoted_message": {
    "id": "original-message-id",
    "text": "The original message text"
  }
}
Warning:

Inline replies are only available one level deep. If Message A replies to Message B, and Message B replies to Message C, you cannot access Message C through Message A. Fetch Message B directly to access its referenced message.

Thread List

Query all threads that the current user participates in. This is useful for building thread list views similar to Slack or Discord.

Querying Threads

Threads are returned with unread replies first, sorted by the latest reply timestamp in descending order.

var response = await Client.QueryThreadsAsync(new StreamQueryThreadsRequest
{
  Watch = true,
  Limit = 10,
});

foreach (var thread in response.Threads)
{
  // Threads are cached, watched and kept in sync with realtime events
  Debug.Log(thread.ParentMessage.Text);
  Debug.Log(thread.LatestReplies);
  Debug.Log(thread.ThreadParticipants);
  Debug.Log(thread.Read);
}

Query Options

Name Type Description Default Optional
reply_limit number Number of latest replies to fetch per thread 2
participant_limit number Number of thread participants to fetch per thread 100
limit number Maximum number of threads to return 10
watch boolean If true, watch channels for the returned threads true
member_limit number Number of members to fetch per thread channel 100

Filtering and Sorting

Filter and sort threads using MongoDB-style query operators.

Supported Filter Fields

Field Type Operators Description
channel_cid string or list of strings $eq, $in Channel CID
channel.disabled boolean $eq Channel disabled status
channel.team string or list of strings $eq, $in Channel team
parent_message_id string or list of strings $eq, $in Parent message ID
created_by_user_id string or list of strings $eq, $in Thread creator's user ID
created_at string (RFC3339) $eq, $gt, $lt, $gte, $lte Thread creation timestamp
updated_at string (RFC3339) $eq, $gt, $lt, $gte, $lte Thread update timestamp
last_message_at string (RFC3339) $eq, $gt, $lt, $gte, $lte Last message timestamp

Supported Sort Fields

  • active_participant_count
  • created_at
  • last_message_at
  • parent_message_id
  • participant_count
  • reply_count
  • updated_at

Use 1 for ascending order and -1 for descending order.

var since = new DateTimeOffset(2024, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, TimeSpan.Zero);

var request = new StreamQueryThreadsRequest
{
  Filter = new IFieldFilterRule[]
  {
    ThreadFilter.CreatedByUserId.EqualsTo("user-1"),
    ThreadFilter.UpdatedAt.GreaterThanOrEquals(since),
  },
  Sort = ThreadSort.OrderByDescending(ThreadSortFieldName.CreatedAt),
  Limit = 10,
};

var page1 = await Client.QueryThreadsAsync(request);

// Get next page using the cursor returned by the previous response
if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(page1.Next))
{
  request.Next = page1.Next;
  var page2 = await Client.QueryThreadsAsync(request);
}

Getting a Thread by ID

Retrieve a specific thread using the parent message ID.

// The returned IStreamThread is auto-watched (watch defaults to true) and stays in
// sync with realtime events via Updated / ReplyReceived / ReadStateChanged.
var thread = await Client.GetThreadAsync("parent-message-id",
    replyLimit: 10, participantLimit: 25);

Updating Thread Title and Custom Data

Assign a title and custom data to a thread.

var thread = await Client.GetThreadAsync("parent-message-id");

// Set title and custom fields; unset a previously set field
await thread.UpdatePartialAsync(
    setFields: new Dictionary<string, object>
    {
        { "title", "Project Discussion" },
        { "priority", "high" },
    },
    unsetFields: new[] { "priority" });

Thread Unread Counts

Total Unread Threads

The total number of unread threads is available after connecting.

// Available immediately after connect on IStreamLocalUserData
var unreadThreads = Client.LocalUserData.UnreadThreads;
Debug.Log(unreadThreads);

// The same total is also available on demand from the server
var unreadCounts = await Client.GetLatestUnreadCountsAsync();
Debug.Log(unreadCounts.TotalUnreadThreadsCount);

Marking Threads as Read or Unread

var thread = await Client.GetThreadAsync("parent-message-id");

// Mark this thread as read for the local user
await thread.MarkReadAsync();

// Mark this thread as unread starting from the parent message
await thread.MarkUnreadAsync();

// Equivalent helpers from the parent message of the thread
IStreamMessage parentMessage = thread.ParentMessage;
await parentMessage.MarkThreadAsReadAsync();
await parentMessage.MarkThreadAsUnreadAsync();

// Or by parent message id when you already have the channel
await thread.Channel.MarkThreadAsReadAsync(thread.ParentMessageId);
await thread.Channel.MarkThreadAsUnreadAsync(thread.ParentMessageId);

Unread Count Per Thread

var unreadCounts = await Client.GetLatestUnreadCountsAsync();

Debug.Log(unreadCounts.TotalUnreadThreadsCount);

foreach (var thread in unreadCounts.UnreadThreads)
{
  Debug.Log(thread.ParentMessageId);
  Debug.Log(thread.UnreadCount);
  Debug.Log(thread.LastRead);
  Debug.Log(thread.LastReadMessageId);
}

Thread Manager

The ThreadManager class provides built-in pagination and state management for threads.

// Get notified when a thread starts or stops being tracked locally
Client.ThreadTracked += thread => { /* a new IStreamThread is now tracked */ };
Client.ThreadUntracked += thread => { /* an IStreamThread is no longer tracked */ };

// Load threads. Watch defaults to true so realtime updates are delivered.
var response = await Client.QueryThreadsAsync(new StreamQueryThreadsRequest
{
  Watch = true,
  Limit = 10,
});

// Each returned IStreamThread is stateful: it is cached and kept in sync with
// realtime events automatically. Subscribe to per-thread events to react to
// changes (e.g. new replies, title / custom data updates, read state changes).
foreach (var thread in response.Threads)
{
  thread.Updated += changedThread => { /* title or custom data changed */ };
  thread.ReplyReceived += (changedThread, reply) => { /* new reply arrived */ };
  thread.ReadStateChanged += changedThread => { /* unread state changed */ };
}

Event Handling

Register subscriptions to receive real-time updates for threads.

const { threads } = await client.queryThreads({ watch: true, limit: 10 });
const [thread] = threads;

// Register event handlers for a single thread
thread.registerSubscriptions();

const unsubscribe = thread.state.subscribe((state) => {
  console.log(state.replies);
});
Info:

The watch parameter is required when querying threads to receive real-time updates.

For ThreadManager, call registerSubscriptions once to automatically manage subscriptions for all loaded threads:

const threadManager = client.threads;
threadManager.registerSubscriptions();

await threadManager.loadNextPage();

// All threads are now listening to channel events
const { threads } = threadManager.state.getLatestValue();