Getting Started

The LikeMinds Android SDK enables your app to have Chat features. Here we are going to talk about how you can integrate chat SDK in your app. Follow below steps to add LikeMinds SDK in your Android Project:

Step-by-Step Integration

Step 1 - Installation

1. Generate API key from the LikeMinds Dashboard.
   a. Enable Chatrooms and Direct Messages settings from Features & Settings section on the LikeMinds Dashboard.
2. Fork our repository Chat Repository from Github.
3. Add the forked Repo as submodule in your project by running the following command.

git submodule add <link-of-the-forked-repo>
git submodule update --init --recursive

4. Include the chatmm project in your project by pasting the following code in your settings.gradle.

include ':chatmm'
project(':chatmm').projectDir = new File(rootDir, '<name-of-the-forked-project>/chatmm/')

5. If you are not using navigation library already, add the following code in your project level build.gradle.

buildscript {
  ...
  apply from: '<name-of-the-forked-project>/lm-chat-root-dependencies.gradle'
  dependencies {
    classpath 'androidx.navigation:navigation-safe-args-gradle-plugin:2.6.0'
  }
}

note

If there is any conflict between the the navigation safe args gradle plugin version, go to lm-chat-root-dependencies.gradle and change lm_chat_versions.navigation to your version.

6. Add the following code (if not already added) in your dependency resolution management.

maven { url "https://jitpack.io" }

7. Enable dataBinding in your project (if not done already) by adding the following code in your app level build.gradle.

android {
  buildFeatures {
    dataBinding = true
  }
}

8. Now sync your project gradle and you will see chatmm module in your project directory.

Step 2 - Setup LikeMinds Chat

Initiate LMChatCore in onCreate() method of the Application class using the following code:

Kotlin

val application = this // instance of the application
val lmChatCoreCallback= null // instance of the callback
val chatTheme = null // instance of the theme
val domain = "ENTER YOUR DOMAIN NAME" // domain of the app
val enablePushNotifications = false // enable or disable push notifications
val deviceId = null  // device id of the user

LMChatCore.setup(
    application = application,
    lmChatCoreCallback = lmChatCoreCallback,
    theme = chatTheme,
    domain = domain,
    enablePushNotifications = enablePushNotifications,
    deviceId = deviceId
)

Java

Application application = this; // instance of the application
LMChatCoreCallback lmChatCoreCallback = null; // instance of the callback
LMChatTheme chatTheme = null; // instance of the theme
String domain = "ENTER YOUR DOMAIN NAME"; // domain of the app
boolean enablePushNotifications = false; // enable or disable push notifications
String deviceId = null; // device id of the user


LMChatCore.INSTANCE.setup(
    application,
    lmChatCoreCallback,
    chatTheme,
    domain,
    enablePushNotifications,
    deviceId
);

VARIABLE	TYPE	DESCRIPTION	OPTIONAL
application	Application	Instance of your application class.
domain	String	Your domain url.	✔
enablePushNotifications	Boolean	Whether to enable push notifications or not	✔
deviceId	String	Unique Id of the device, if notifications are enabled	✔
lmChatTheme	LMChatTheme	Request object to set theme to the Chat.	✔
lmChatCoreCallback	LMChatCoreCallback	Callback for various operations in SDK .	✔

Step 3 - Inflate GroupChat and Direct Messaging

You have successfully initiated the LMChatCore, now all you need to do is inflate Chat Fragment in onCreate() method in your activity. Now, You have the option to initiate a user session and navigate to Chat Fragment using one of two approaches:

1. With API Key (Client Side Authentication)

This approach should be used when you want to manage LikeMinds authentication tokens on frontend. In this case you provide API Key directly to LikeMinds Chat SDK, which will be used to initiate a user session by calling LMChatCore.showChat().

Kotlin

val apiKey = "Your generated API key" // api key generated from the dashboard
val userName = "ENTER USER NAME" // name of the user
val userId = "ENTER USER ID" // id of the user
val context = this // instance of context

val successCallback = { response : UserResponse? ->
  // inflate chat fragment in your activity
  val containerViewId = R.id.frame_layout
  val fragment = LMChatFragment()

  val transaction = supportFragmentManager.beginTransaction()
  transaction.replace(containerViewId, fragment, containerViewId.toString())
  transaction.commit()
  Unit
} // callback triggered when the initiate user call is successful

val failureCallback = { errorMessage ->
  Log.e("Example", errorMessage)
  Unit
} // callback triggered when the initiate user call fails

LMChatCore.showChat(
    context = context,
    apiKey = apiKey,
    uuid = userId,
    userName = userName,
    success = successCallback,
    error = failureCallback
)

Java

String apiKey = "Your generated API key"; // api key generated from the dashboard
String userId = "ENTER USER ID"; // id of the user
String userName = "ENTER USER NAME"; // name of the user
Context context = this;

LMChatCore.INSTANCE.showChat(
    context,
    apiKey,
    userId,
    userName,
    (UserResponse response) -> {
        // callback triggered when the initiate user call is successful
        getSupportFragmentManager().beginTransaction().replace(R.id.frame_layout, new LMChatFragment()).commit();
        return null;
    },
    (String error) -> {
        // callback triggered when the initiate user call fails
        Log.e("Example", error);
        return null;
    }
);

2. Without API Key (Server Side Authentication)

This approach should be used when you want to manage LikeMinds authentication tokens on your backend server. In this case you eliminate the need to expose your API Key in your client app and your backend server is responsible for calling the Initiate API to obtain the accessToken and refreshToken which is passed to LMChatCore.showChat() to validate the user session.

1. Create a function to get accessToken and refreshToken from your backend using Initiate API

Kotlin

suspend fun getTokens():Pair<String,String>{
  // your implementation to fetch LikeMinds authentication tokens

  return Pair(accessToken, refreshToken)
}

Java

void getTokens(){
    Thread thread = new Thread(() -> {
          // your implementation to fetch LikeMinds authentication tokens
    });
    thread.start();
}

2. While setting up LikeMinds Chat SDK in onCreate() method of the Application class, extend LMChatCoreCallback and pass the instance of the same in LMChatCore.setup()

Kotlin

val application = this
val enablePushNotifications = false
val deviceId = null
val domain = "ENTER YOUR DOMAIN NAME HERE"

val lmChatCoreCallback = object : LMChatCoreCallback {
    override fun onAccessTokenExpiredAndRefreshed(
        accessToken: String,
        refreshToken: String
    ) {
        Log.d("Example","accessToken: $accessToken, refreshToken: $refreshToken")
    }

    override fun onRefreshTokenExpired(): Pair<String?, String?> {
        return runBlocking{
          getTokens()
        }
    }
}

LMChatCore.setup(
    application = application,
    enablePushNotifications = enablePushNotifications,
    deviceId = deviceId,
    domain = domain,
    lmChatCoreCallback = lmChatCoreCallback
)

Java

Application application = this; // instance of the application
LMChatTheme chatTheme = null; // instance of the theme
String domain = "ENTER YOUR DOMAIN NAME"; // domain of the app
boolean enablePushNotifications = false; // enable or disable push notifications
String deviceId = null; // device id of the user

LMChatCoreCallback lmChatCoreCallback = new LMChatCoreCallback() {
    @Override
    public void onAccessTokenExpiredAndRefreshed(@NonNull String accessToken, @NonNull String refreshToken) {
       Log.d("Example","accessToken:" + accessToken +  "refreshToken:" + refreshToken);
    }

    @NonNull
    @Override
    public Pair<String, String> onRefreshTokenExpired() {
        return getTokens();
    }
};


LMChatCore.INSTANCE.setup(
    application,
    lmChatCoreCallback,
    chatTheme,
    domain,
    enablePushNotifications,
    deviceId
);

info

LMChatCoreCallback has two callbacks:

1. onAccessTokenExpiredAndRefreshed(): This callback is triggered when the provided accessToken expires and is refreshed internally using the refreshToken.
2. onRefreshTokenExpired() This callback is triggered when the provided refreshToken expires. In this case, you need to provide a new accessToken and refreshToken from your backend server using our initiate API.

3. Upon receiving the accessToken and refreshToken from your backend server, call LMChatCore.showChat() function with these tokens.

Kotlin

val context = this // instance of context
val accessToken = "RECEIVED ACCESS TOKEN"
val refreshToken = "RECEIVED REFRESH TOKEN"

val successCallback = { response : UserResponse? ->
  // inflate chat fragment in your activity
  val containerViewId = R.id.frame_layout
  val fragment = LMChatFragment()

  val transaction = supportFragmentManager.beginTransaction()
  transaction.replace(containerViewId, fragment, containerViewId.toString())
  transaction.commit()
  Unit
} // callback triggered when the initiate user call is successful

val failureCallback = { errorMessage ->
  Log.e("Example", errorMessage)
  Unit
} // callback triggered when the initiate user call fails

LMChatCore.showChat(
    context = context,
    accessToken = accessToken,
    refreshToken = refreshToken,
    success = successCallback,
    error = failureCallback
)

Java

Context context = this;
String accessToken = "RECEIVED ACCESS TOKEN";
String refreshToken = "RECEIVED REFRESH TOKEN";

LMChatCore.INSTANCE.showChat(
    context,
    accessToken,
    refreshToken,
    (UserResponse response) -> {
        // callback triggered when the initiate user call is successful
        try {
            getSupportFragmentManager().beginTransaction().replace(R.id.frame_layout, new LMChatFragment()).commit();
        } catch (Exception e) {
            throw new RuntimeException(e);
        }
        return null;
    },
    (String error) -> {
        // callback triggered when the initiate user call fails
        Log.e("Example", error);
        return null;
    }
);

tip

By choosing the appropriate method based on your backend infrastructure and security preferences, you can seamlessly integrate the Chat SDK into your application while ensuring secure and efficient session management.

That's it! You have successfully integrated the LikeMinds Chat SDK into your Android application. The next step would be to explore additional customization options or configurations provided by the SDK to tailor the chat to your application's needs.