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Chat Overview

API Options​

The SignalWire Chat API is a flexible IP Message Bus that you can use to send and receive messages.

PubSub​

The most basic chat functionality is provided in a PubSub environment, which has two main components: Channels and Messages. Messages are published to a channel and the new message event is available to any subscribers. This means the publishers and subscribers are isolated and do not need to know where the messages are coming from or being read. If this sounds like the messaging model that meets your needs, check out our PubSub service.

REST API

Create PubSub tokens.

Browser SDK

Integrate PubSub into your web app.

Realtime Server SDK

Manage subscriptions and event listeners.

Chat​

Chat service extends PubSub with a third main component: Members.

You can create channels, members can subscribe to those channels, and they can send attributed messages that every other subscriber will be able to see. Members can even carry state. If this model better suits your needs, Chat is for you!

REST API

Create chat tokens.

Browser SDK

Integrate Chat features into any web app.

Realtime Server SDK

Manage members, subscriptions and event listeners, and send messages to a particular channel.

What Kind of Guide are you Looking for?​

Guides in Getting Started focus on installation, authentication, and the most basic example of a chat message.

Examples include full walkthroughs of more specific use cases with either a dedicated GitHub repo or extensive embedded code examples.

Building a Basic Chat Application

Learn how to use our powerful SDKs to build a simple browser chat application.

Building a Chat Application with React

Use our Browser SDK to create a chat application with the popular React framework.