> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://cometchat-22654f5b-docs-skills-v5-temp.mintlify.site/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Threaded Messages
> Send, receive, and fetch CometChat threaded messages in Flutter apps using parent message IDs.
| Field | Value |
| ------------------ | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Package | `cometchat_sdk` |
| Import | `import 'package:cometchat_sdk/cometchat_sdk.dart';` |
| Purpose | Send, receive, and fetch CometChat threaded messages in Flutter apps using parent message IDs. |
| Key methods | `addMessageListener()` · `sendMessage()` |
| Key classes | `TextMessage` · `CometChatException` · `BaseMessage` · `CustomMessage` · `MediaMessage` · `CometChatConversationType` · `CometChatMessageType` |
| Listener callbacks | `onCustomMessageReceived()` · `onMediaMessageReceived()` · `onTextMessageReceived()` |
| Prerequisites | SDK initialised via [`CometChat.init()`](/sdk/flutter/setup) and a logged-in user via [`CometChat.login()`](/sdk/flutter/authentication-overview). |
| Constraints | `onSuccess` and `onError` are **both required** — omitting either is a compile error, and awaiting the call alone gives you nothing to act on. Put the success path inside `onSuccess`. |
| Related | [Send A Message](/sdk/flutter/send-message) · [Receive A Message](/sdk/flutter/receive-messages) |
| Full reference | [`TextMessage`](/sdk/reference/messages#textmessage) · [`CometChatException`](/sdk/reference/auxiliary#cometchatexception) · [`BaseMessage`](/sdk/reference/messages#basemessage) · [`CustomMessage`](/sdk/reference/messages#custommessage) · [`MediaMessage`](/sdk/reference/messages#mediamessage) |
Messages that are started from a particular message are called Threaded messages or simply threads.
Each Thread is attached to a message which is the Parent message for that thread.
## Send Message in a Thread
As mentioned in the [Send a Message](/sdk/flutter/send-message) section, you can send a message to a User or a Group by mentioning the receiver (uid/guid) and `receiverType`(user/group).
A message can be categorized as:
1. Text Message
2. Media Message
3. Custom Message.
4. Interactive Message
Any of the above messages can be sent in a thread. As a thread is identified with a parent message, the `parentMessageId` must be set for the message. This will indicate that the message to be sent has to be a part of the thread of the message with the specified `parentMessageId`.
This can be achieved using the `parentMessageId` parameter provided by the object of the `TextMessage`, `MediaMessage` and `CustomMessage` class. The id specified in the `parentMessageId` parameter maps the message sent to the particular thread.
**Example to Send a Text Message in a thread in a user conversation.**
```dart theme={null}
String receiverID = "UID";
String messagesText = "Hello";
String receiverType = CometChatConversationType.user;
String type = CometChatMessageType.text;
TextMessage textMessage = TextMessage(
text: messagesText,
receiverUid: receiverID,
receiverType: receiverType,
type: type);
textMessage.parentMessageId = 103
CometChat.sendMessage(textMessage,onSuccess: (TextMessage message) {
debugPrint("Message sent successfully: $message");
}, onError: (CometChatException e) {
debugPrint("Message sending failed with exception: ${e.message}");
});
```
The above snippet shows how a message with the text "Hello" can be sent in the thread with `parentMessageId` 103.
Similarly, using the `parentMessageId` parameter, Media and Custom Messages can be sent in threads too.
### Receiving Real-Time Messages
The procedure to receive real-time messages is exactly the same as mentioned in the [Receive Messages](/sdk/flutter/receive-messages). This can be achieved using the `MessageListener` class provided by the SDK.
To add a MessageListener, you can use the `addMessageListener()` method of the SDK.
The only thing that needs to be checked is if the received message belongs to the active thread. This can be done using `parentMessageId` field of the message object.
```dart theme={null}
class Class_Name with MessageListener {
int activeParentMessageId= 103;
//CometChat.addMessageListener("listenerId", this);
@override
void onTextMessageReceived(TextMessage textMessage) {
if(textMessage.parentMessageId == activeParentMessageId){
debugPrint("Text message received successfully: $textMessage");
}
}
@override
void onMediaMessageReceived(MediaMessage mediaMessage) {
if(mediaMessage.parentMessageId== activeParentMessageId){
debugPrint("Media message received successfully: $mediaMessage");
}
}
@override
void onCustomMessageReceived(CustomMessage customMessage) {
if(customMessage.parentMessageId== activeParentMessageId){
debugPrint("Custom message received successfully: $customMessage");
}
}
}
```
### Fetch all the messages for any particular thread.
You can fetch all the messages belonging to a particular thread by using the `MessagesRequest` class.
The `MessageRequestBuilder` builds the `MessageRequest` object using the following functions:
1. parentMessageId: Takes the parentId of the message as argument whose thread needs to be requested.
2. build(): returns the MessageRequest object.
Once you have the `MessagesRequest` object, you can call the `fetchPrevious()` method to get the latest messages in the thread. In one iteration, a maximum of 100 messages can be fetched. If you wish to fetch the next set of messages, you need to call the fetchPrevious() method again on the same object.
```dart theme={null}
String UID = "cometchat-uid-1";
MessagesRequest messageRequest = (MessagesRequestBuilder()
..uid = UID
..parentMessageId = 103
..limit = 50).build();
messageRequest.fetchPrevious(onSuccess: (List list) {
debugPrint("Message fetching Successful");
}, onError: (CometChatException e) {
debugPrint("Message fetching failed with exception: ${e.message}");
});
```
## Avoid Threaded Messages in User/Group Conversations
While fetching messages for normal user/group conversations using the `MessagesRequest`, the threaded messages by default will be a part of the list of messages received. In order to exclude the threaded messages from the list of user/group messages, you need to use the `hideReplies` parameter of the `MessagesRequestBuilder` class. This method takes a boolean argument which when set to true excludes the messages belonging to threads from the list of messages.
```dart theme={null}
String UID = "cometchat-uid-1";
MessagesRequest messageRequest = (MessagesRequestBuilder()
..uid = UID
..hideReplies = true
..limit = 50).build();
messageRequest.fetchNext(onSuccess: (List list) {
debugPrint("Message fetching Successful");
}, onError: (CometChatException e) {
debugPrint("Message fetching failed with exception: ${e.message}");
});
```
The above snippet will return messages between the logged in user and `cometchat-uid-1` excluding all the threaded messages belonging to the same conversation.