Add Members To A Group

Add members to a group, listen for real-time member added events, and handle missed events using the CometChat React Native SDK.

Quick Reference - Add members to a group:

const members = [
  new CometChat.GroupMember("UID", CometChat.GROUP_MEMBER_SCOPE.PARTICIPANT),
];
await CometChat.addMembersToGroup("GUID", members, []);

Available via: SDK | REST API

Add Members to Group

You can add members to the group using the addMembersToGroup() method. This method takes the below parameters:

1. GUID - GUID of the group the members are to be added to.
2. members - This is a list of GroupMember objects. In order to add members, you need to create an object of the GroupMember class. The UID and the scope of the GroupMember are mandatory.
3. bannedMembers - This is the list of UID's that need to be banned from the Group. This can be set to null if there are no members to be banned.

JavaScript

let GUID = "GUID";
let UID = "UID";
let membersList = [
  new CometChat.GroupMember(UID, CometChat.GROUP_MEMBER_SCOPE.PARTICIPANT),
];

CometChat.addMembersToGroup(GUID, membersList, []).then(
  (response) => {
    console.log("response", response);
  },
  (error) => {
    console.log("Something went wrong", error);
  }
);

TypeScript

let GUID: string = "GUID";
let UID: string = "UID";
let membersList: CometChat.GroupMember[] = [
  new CometChat.GroupMember(UID, CometChat.GROUP_MEMBER_SCOPE.PARTICIPANT),
];

CometChat.addMembersToGroup(GUID, membersList, []).then(
  (response: Object) => {
    console.log("response", response);
  },
  (error: CometChat.CometChatException) => {
    console.log("Something went wrong", error);
  }
);

It will return a Array which will contain the UID of the users and the value will either be success or an error message describing why the operation to add the user to the group.

Response

On Success — addMembersToGroup() returns an object with each UID as key and result as value:

Parameter	Type	Description	Sample Value
[UID]	string	Result for each UID (“success” or error message)	"success"

Example:

Parameter	Type	Description	Sample Value
cometchat-uid-7	string	Result for the added member	"success"

Real-Time Group Member Added Events

In other words, as a member of a group, how do I know when someone is added to the group when my app is running?

When a group member is added by another member, this event is triggered. When a user joins a group on their own, the joined event is triggered.

To receive real-time events whenever a new member is added to a group, you need to implement the onMemberAddedToGroup() methods of the GroupListener class.

onMemberAddedToGroup() - This method is triggered when any user is added to the group so that the logged in user is informed of the other members added to the group.

JavaScript

var listenerID = "UNIQUE_LISTENER_ID";

CometChat.addGroupListener(
  listenerID,
  new CometChat.GroupListener({
    onMemberAddedToGroup: (message, userAdded, userAddedBy, userAddedIn) => {
      console.log("User joined", {
        message,
        userAdded,
        userAddedBy,
        userAddedIn,
      });
    },
  })
);

TypeScript

var listenerID: string = "UNIQUE_LISTENER_ID";

CometChat.addGroupListener(
  listenerID,
  new CometChat.GroupListener({
    onMemberAddedToGroup: (
      message: CometChat.Action,
      userAdded: CometChat.User,
      userAddedBy: CometChat.User,
      userAddedIn: CometChat.Group
    ) => {
      console.log("User joined", {
        message,
        userAdded,
        userAddedBy,
        userAddedIn,
      });
    },
  })
);

Always remove group listeners when the component unmounts using CometChat.removeGroupListener(listenerId). Failing to remove listeners can cause memory leaks and duplicate event handling.

Response (onMemberAddedToGroup)

On Event — onMemberAddedToGroup listener receives the following parameters:

Listener Parameters:

Parameter	Type	Description	Sample Value
message	object	Action message object	See message Object ↓
userAdded	object	User who was added	See userAdded Object ↓
userAddedBy	object	User who performed the add	See userAddedBy Object ↓
userAddedIn	object	Group to which user was added	See userAddedIn Object ↓

---

message Object:

Parameter	Type	Description	Sample Value
id	string	Unique message ID	"25544"
conversationId	string	Conversation ID	"group_group_1772430752261"
type	string	Message type	"groupMember"
receiverType	string	Receiver type	"group"
category	string	Message category	"action"
action	string	Action performed	"added"
message	string	Human-readable action message	"Henry Marino added Ronald Jerry"
sentAt	number	Unix timestamp when sent	1772430763
updatedAt	number	Unix timestamp when updated	1772430763

---

userAdded Object:

Parameter	Type	Description	Sample Value
uid	string	Unique identifier of the added user	"cometchat-uid-6"
name	string	Display name	"Ronald Jerry"
avatar	string	URL to avatar image	"https://assets.cometchat.io/sampleapp/v2/users/cometchat-uid-6.webp"
status	string	Online status	"online"
role	string	User’s role	"default"
lastActiveAt	number	Unix timestamp of last activity	1772430654
hasBlockedMe	boolean	Whether this user has blocked the current user	false
blockedByMe	boolean	Whether the current user has blocked this user	false
deactivatedAt	number	Timestamp when deactivated (0 if active)	0

---

userAddedBy Object:

Parameter	Type	Description	Sample Value
uid	string	Unique identifier of the user who added	"cometchat-uid-7"
name	string	Display name	"Henry Marino"
avatar	string	URL to avatar image	"https://assets.cometchat.io/sampleapp/v2/users/cometchat-uid-7.webp"
status	string	Online status	"online"
role	string	User’s role	"default"
lastActiveAt	number	Unix timestamp of last activity	1772430649
hasBlockedMe	boolean	Whether this user has blocked the current user	false
blockedByMe	boolean	Whether the current user has blocked this user	false
deactivatedAt	number	Timestamp when deactivated (0 if active)	0

---

userAddedIn Object:

Parameter	Type	Description	Sample Value
guid	string	Unique identifier of the group	"group_1772430752261"
name	string	Name of the group	"Hike"
type	string	Type of the group	"public"
membersCount	number	Total members in the group	2
hasJoined	boolean	Whether logged-in user has joined	false
isBanned	boolean	Whether logged-in user is banned	false
conversationId	string	Conversation ID for the group	"group_group_1772430752261"
createdAt	number	Unix timestamp when created	1772430752
owner	string	UID of the group owner	"cometchat-uid-7"
onlineMembersCount	number	Number of online members	1

Member Added to Group event in Message History

In other words, as a member of a group, how do I know when someone is added to the group when my app is not running?

When you retrieve the list of previous messages if a member has been added to any group that the logged-in user is a member of, the list of messages will contain an Action message. An Action message is a sub-class of BaseMessage class.

For the group member added event, in the Action object received, the following fields can help you get the relevant information-

1. action - added
2. actionOn - User object containing the details of the user who was added to the group
3. actionBy - User object containing the details of the user who added the member to the group
4. actionFor - Group object containing the details of the group to which the member was added

Best Practices

Check per-UID results after adding

The addMembersToGroup() response includes per-UID results (“success” or error). Check each result rather than assuming all members were added successfully.

Only Admins and Moderators can add members

The logged-in user must have Admin or Moderator scope to add members. Verify scope before attempting the operation.

Troubleshooting

addMembersToGroup fails with permission error

Verify the logged-in user has Admin or Moderator scope in the group. Participants cannot add members.

Some UIDs return error in response

Check the per-UID results in the response object. Common causes include invalid UIDs or users that don’t exist in your CometChat app.

onMemberAddedToGroup not firing

Ensure the group listener is registered before the add event occurs. Also verify the listenerId is unique.

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Next Steps

Retrieve Group Members

Fetch group member lists with filtering and pagination

Kick/Ban Members

Kick, ban, and unban group members

Change Member Scope

Update member roles within a group

Join a Group

Join public or password-protected groups