> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://cometchat-22654f5b-docs-rn-guide-message-privately.mintlify.site/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Getting Started

> Getting Started — CometChat documentation.

## Start your first conversation

CometChat UI Kit for Android is a collection of prebuilt UI components designed to simplify the development of an in-app chat with all the essential messaging features. Our UI Kit offers light and dark themes, various fonts, colors, and additional customization options.

CometChat UI Kit supports both one-to-one and group conversations. Follow the guide below to initiate conversations from scratch using CometChat Android UI Kit.

<Frame>
  <img src="https://mintcdn.com/cometchat-22654f5b-docs-rn-guide-message-privately/3EDM5JvI4mnAULac/images/7513e19b-chat_cometchat_screens-40edb1bfc5ca99053aa35ae06e34c478.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=3EDM5JvI4mnAULac&q=85&s=78749466fbe9d0c7029fffbcac80078c" width="4498" height="3120" data-path="images/7513e19b-chat_cometchat_screens-40edb1bfc5ca99053aa35ae06e34c478.png" />
</Frame>

## Prerequisites

Before installing the **UI Kit**, you need to create a CometChat application on the CometChat Dashboard, which includes all the necessary data for a chat service, such as users, groups, calls, and messages. You will require the `App ID`, `AuthKey`, and `Region` of your CometChat application when initializing the SDK.

**i. Register on CometChat**

* You need to register on the **CometChat Dashboard** first. [Click here to sign up](https://app.cometchat.com/login).

**ii. Get Your Application Keys**

* Create a **new app**
* Head over to the **QuickStart** or **API & Auth Keys section** and note the **App ID**, **Auth Key**, and **Region**.

**iii. IDE Setup**

* You have Android Studio installed on your machine.
* You have an Android device or emulator with Android version 6.0 or above.
* Android 5.0 (API level 21) or higher is installed.
* Java 8 or higher is installed.
* Android Gradle plugin 4.0.1 or higher is installed.

## Getting Started

Step 1

### Create a project

To get started, open Android Studio and create a new project for UI Kit in the Project window as follows:

1. Click Start a **new Android Studio** project in the **Welcome to Android Studio** window.
2. Select **Empty Activity** in the **Select a Project Template** window and click Next.
3. Enter your project name in the **Name** field in the **Configure your project** window.
4. Select your language as either **Java** or Kotlin from the Language drop-down menu.
5. Select minimum API level as 21 or higher.

***

Step 2

### Add Dependency

This developer kit is an add-on feature to the CometChat Android SDK, so installing it will also install the core Chat SDK.

Open the **project-level** `settings.gradle` file and add the following repository URL in the `repositories` block under the `repositories` section.

```gradle settings.gradle theme={null}
dependencyResolutionManagement {
    repositoriesMode.set(RepositoriesMode.FAIL_ON_PROJECT_REPOS)
    repositories {
        google()
        mavenCentral()
        maven{
            url "https://dl.cloudsmith.io/public/cometchat/cometchat/maven/"
        }
    }
}
```

Open the **app-level** `build.gradle` file and add your package name as indicated in the code.

```gradle build.gradle theme={null}
android {
    defaultConfig {
	...
	manifestPlaceholders = [file_provider: "YOUR_PACKAGE_NAME"] //add your application package.
    }
}
```

Open the **app level** `build.gradle` file and add the following dependency to fetch the chat UI kit into your project.

```gradle build.gradle theme={null}
dependencies {
    implementation 'com.cometchat:chat-uikit-android:4.3.19'
}
```

Open the gradle.properties file and verify if the specified line is present. If not, add it accordingly.

```gradle gradle.properties theme={null}
android.enableJetifier=true
```

***

Step 3

### Initialize CometChatUIkit

To integrate and run CometChat UI Kit in your app, you need to initialize it beforehand.

The [Init](/ui-kit/android/v4/methods#init) method initializes the settings required for CometChat. Please ensure to call this method before invoking any other methods from CometChat UI Kit or CometChat SDK.

<Note>
  The Auth Key is an optional property of the `UIKitSettings` Class. It is intended for use primarily during proof-of-concept (POC) development or in the early stages of application development. You can use [Auth Token](/ui-kit/android/v4/methods#login-using-auth-token) method to login securely.
</Note>

<Tabs>
  <Tab title="Java">
    ```java YourActivity.java theme={null}
    String appID = "APP_ID"; // Replace with your App ID
    String region = "REGION"; // Replace with your App Region ("EU" or "US")
    String authKey= "AUTH_KEY"; // Replace with your Auth Key or leave blank if you are authenticating using Auth Token

    UIKitSettings uiKitSettings = new UIKitSettings.UIKitSettingsBuilder()
    .setRegion(region)
    .setAppId(appID)
    .setAuthKey(authKey)
    .subscribePresenceForAllUsers().build();

    CometChatUIKit.init(this, uiKitSettings, new CometChat.CallbackListener<String>() {
    @Override
    public void onSuccess(String successString) {/_Your action after initializing CometChat_/}

        @Override
        public void onError(CometChatException e) {}

    });
    ```
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="Kotlin">
    ```kotlin YourActivity.kt theme={null}
    val appID = "APP_ID" // Replace with your App ID
    val region = "REGION" // Replace with your App Region ("eu" or "us")
    val authKey = "AUTH_KEY" // Replace with your Auth Key or leave blank if you are authenticating using Auth Token

    val uiKitSettings = UIKitSettingsBuilder()
        .setRegion(region)
        .setAppId(appID)
        .setAuthKey(authKey)
        .subscribePresenceForAllUsers().build()

    CometChatUIKit.init(this, uiKitSettings, object : CometChat.CallbackListener<String?>() {
        override fun onSuccess(successString: String?) {}
        override fun onError(e: CometChatException?) {}
    })
    ```
  </Tab>
</Tabs>

> Make sure to replace the **APP\_ID** with your CometChat appId, **AUTH\_KEY** with your CometChat app auth key and **REGION** with your app region in the above code.

***

Step 4

### Login User

For login, you require a `UID`. You can create your own users on the CometChat Dashboard or via API. We have pre-generated test users: `cometchat-uid-1`, `cometchat-uid-2`, `cometchat-uid-3`, `cometchat-uid-4`, `cometchat-uid-5`.

The `login()` method returns the User object containing all the information of the logged-in user.

<Note>
  This straightforward authentication method is ideal for proof-of-concept (POC) development or during the early stages of application development. For production environments, however, we strongly recommend using an [Auth Token](/ui-kit/android/v4/methods#login-using-auth-token) instead of an Auth Key to ensure enhanced security.
</Note>

<Tabs>
  <Tab title="Java">
    ```java YourActivity.java theme={null}
    CometChatUIKit.login("cometchat-uid-1", new CometChat.CallbackListener<User>() {
        @Override
        public void onSuccess(User user) {
           Log.d(TAG, "Login Successful : " + user.toString());
        }

        @Override
        public void onError(CometChatException e) {
            Log.e(TAG, "Login Failed : " + e.getMessage());
        }

    });
    ```
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="Kotlin">
    ```kotlin YourActivity.kt theme={null}
    CometChatUIKit.login("cometchat-uid-1", object : CometChat.CallbackListener<User>() {
        override fun onSuccess(user: User) {
            Log.d(TAG, "Login Successful : $user")
        }

        override fun onError(e: CometChatException) {
            Log.e(TAG, "Login Failed : " + e.message)
        }
    })
    ```
  </Tab>
</Tabs>

> It will be easier for you to open a new activity upon successful login.

***

Step 5

### Render Conversation With Message

[ConversationsWithMessages](/ui-kit/android/v4/conversations-with-messages) is a wrapper component that offers functionality to render both the [Conversations](/ui-kit/android/v4/conversations) and [Messages](/ui-kit/android/v4/messages) components. It also enables opening the [Messages](/ui-kit/android/v4/messages) by tapping on any conversation rendered in the list of conversations.

<Frame>
  <img src="https://mintcdn.com/cometchat-22654f5b-docs-rn-guide-message-privately/3EDM5JvI4mnAULac/images/7513e19b-chat_cometchat_screens-40edb1bfc5ca99053aa35ae06e34c478.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=3EDM5JvI4mnAULac&q=85&s=78749466fbe9d0c7029fffbcac80078c" width="4498" height="3120" data-path="images/7513e19b-chat_cometchat_screens-40edb1bfc5ca99053aa35ae06e34c478.png" />
</Frame>

[ConversationsWithMessages](/ui-kit/android/v4/conversations-with-messages) can be rendered by adding the following code snippet into the `layout_activity.xml` file:

```xml theme={null}
<com.cometchat.chatuikit.conversationswithmessages.CometChatConversationsWithMessages
        android:id="@+id/conversation"
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="match_parent" />
```

> It will automatically fetch the conversation data upon loading the list. If the conversation list is empty, you can start a new conversation.