Create A Group

Create public, private, and password-protected groups using the Android SDK

Quick Reference for AI Agents & Developers

// Create a public group
val group = Group("GUID", "Group Name", CometChatConstants.GROUP_TYPE_PUBLIC, "")
CometChat.createGroup(group, object : CometChat.CallbackListener<Group>() {
    override fun onSuccess(group: Group) { }
    override fun onError(e: CometChatException) { }
})

// Create with members
val groupMembers = listOf(
    GroupMember("uid1", CometChatConstants.SCOPE_ADMIN),
    GroupMember("uid2", CometChatConstants.SCOPE_PARTICIPANT)
)
CometChat.createGroupWithMembers(group, groupMembers, emptyList(), callback)

Available via: SDK | REST API | UI Kits

Create a Group

As a logged-in user, how do I create a public, private, or password-protected group?

You can create a group using the createGroup() method. This method takes a Group object as input.

To create an object of the Group class, you can use either of the following constructors:

1. new Group(String GUID, String name, String groupType, String password)
2. new Group(String GUID, String name, String groupType, String password, String icon, String description)

The groupType needs to be one of the following values:

1. CometChatConstants.GROUP_TYPE_PUBLIC (public)
2. CometChatConstants.GROUP_TYPE_PASSWORD (password)
3. CometChatConstants.GROUP_TYPE_PRIVATE (private)

Java

private String GUID = "GUID";
private String groupName = "Hello Group!";
private String groupType = CometChatConstants.GROUP_TYPE_PUBLIC;
private String password = "";

Group group = new Group(GUID, groupName, groupType, password);

CometChat.createGroup(group, new CometChat.CallbackListener<Group>(){
@Override
public void onSuccess(Group group) {
  Log.d(TAG, "Group created successfully: " + group.toString());
}
@Override
public void onError(CometChatException e) {
  Log.d(TAG, "Group creation failed with exception: " + e.getMessage());
}
});

Kotlin

val GUID:String="GUID"
val groupName:String="Hello Group"
val groupType:String=CometChatConstants.GROUP_TYPE_PUBLIC
val password:String=""

val group=Group(GUID,groupName,groupType,password)

CometChat.createGroup(group,object :CometChat.CallbackListener<Group>(){
override fun onSuccess(p0: Group?) {
  Log.d(TAG, "Group created successfully: " + p0?.toString())
}
override fun onError(p0: CometChatException?) {
  Log.d(TAG, "Group creation failed with exception: " + p0?.message)
}
})

The createGroup() method takes the following parameters:

Parameter	Description
group	An instance of Group class

After the successful creation of the group, you will receive an instance of the Group class which contains all the information about the particular group.

GUID can be alphanumeric with underscore and hyphen. Spaces, punctuation, and other special characters are not allowed.

Add members while creating a group

You can create a group and add members at the same time using the createGroupWithMembers() method. This method takes the Group object, an array of GroupMember objects to be added, and an array of UIDs to be banned.

To create an object of the Group class, you can use either of the following constructors:

1. new Group(String GUID, String name, String groupType, String password)
2. new Group(String GUID, String name, String groupType, String password, String icon, String description)

The groupType needs to be one of the following values:

1. CometChat.GROUP_TYPE.PUBLIC
2. CometChat.GROUP_TYPE.PASSWORD
3. CometChat.GROUP_TYPE.PRIVATE

To create an object of the GroupMember class, you can use the following constructor:

• new GroupMember(String UID, String scope)

Java

Group group = new Group("test_1", "Test 1", CometChatConstants.GROUP_TYPE_PUBLIC,null);

List<GroupMember> groupMembers = new ArrayList<>();
groupMembers.add(new GroupMember("cometchat-uid-1",CometChatConstants.SCOPE_ADMIN));
groupMembers.add(new GroupMember("cometchat-uid-2",CometChatConstants.SCOPE_MODERATOR));
groupMembers.add(new GroupMember("cometchat-uid-3",CometChatConstants.SCOPE_PARTICIPANT));

List<String> bannedUIDs = new ArrayList<>();
bannedUIDs.add("cometchat-uid-4");

CometChat.createGroupWithMembers(group, groupMembers, bannedUIDs, new CometChat.CreateGroupWithMembersListener() {
@Override
public void onSuccess(Group group, HashMap<String, String> hashMap) {
  Logger.error(TAG, group.toString());
  Logger.error(TAG, hashMap.toString());
}

@Override
public void onError(CometChatException e) {
  Logger.error(TAG, e.getMessage());
}
});

Kotlin

val group = Group("test_1", "Test 1", CometChatConstants.GROUP_TYPE_PUBLIC, null)

val groupMembers: MutableList<GroupMember> = ArrayList()
groupMembers.add(GroupMember("cometchat-uid-1", CometChatConstants.SCOPE_ADMIN))
groupMembers.add(GroupMember("cometchat-uid-2", CometChatConstants.SCOPE_MODERATOR))
groupMembers.add(GroupMember("cometchat-uid-3", CometChatConstants.SCOPE_PARTICIPANT))

val bannedUIDs: MutableList<String> = ArrayList()
bannedUIDs.add("cometchat-uid-4")

CometChat.createGroupWithMembers(
group,
groupMembers,
bannedUIDs,
object : CreateGroupWithMembersListener() {
  override fun onSuccess(group: Group, hashMap: HashMap<String?, String?>) {
    Logger.error(TAG, group.toString())
    Logger.error(TAG, hashMap.toString())
  }

  override fun onError(e: CometChatException) {
    Logger.error(TAG, e.message)
  }
})

The onSuccess() block of this method provides you with 2 sets of information:

1. Group: The group object containing information about the group that was created.
2. HashMap<String, String>: A HashMap that contains the UID of the user that was supposed to be added as the key and success or an error message as the value.

Group Class

Field	Editable	Information
guid	Needs to be specified at group creation. Cannot be edited later	A unique identifier for a group
name	Yes	Name of the group
type	No	Type of the group: Can be 1. Public 2. Password 3. Private
password	No	Password for the group in case the group is of type password.
icon	Yes	An URL to group icon
description	Yes	Description about the group
owner	Yes	UID of the owner of the group.
metadata	Yes	Additional data for the group as JSON
createdAt	No	The unix timestamp of the time the group was created
updatedAt	No	The unix timestamp of the time the group was last updated
hasJoined	No	A boolean to determine if the logged in user is a member of the group.
joinedAt	No	The unix timestamp of the time the logged in user joined the group.
scope	Yes	Scope of the logged in user. Can be: 1. Admin 2. Moderator 3. Participant
membersCount	No	The number of members in the groups
tags	Yes	A list of tags to identify specific groups.

Best Practices

Use Descriptive Group Names and GUIDs

Choose meaningful GUIDs and names that help identify groups. GUIDs should be alphanumeric with underscores/hyphens only - avoid spaces and special characters.

Set Appropriate Group Type

Use PUBLIC for open communities, PRIVATE for invite-only groups, and PASSWORD for semi-private groups. Choose based on your privacy requirements.

Add Metadata for Custom Properties

Use the metadata field to store custom group properties like categories, tags, or business-specific data without creating custom group types.

Troubleshooting

Group Creation Failed - Invalid GUID

Symptom: createGroup() fails with “Invalid GUID” error.

Cause: GUID contains spaces, punctuation, or special characters other than underscore and hyphen.

Solution: Use only alphanumeric characters, underscores, and hyphens in GUIDs. Example: "my_group_123" or "group-abc-456".

Group Already Exists

Symptom: createGroup() fails with “Group already exists” error.

Cause: A group with the same GUID already exists in your app.

Solution: Use unique GUIDs for each group. Consider using UUIDs or timestamp-based identifiers to ensure uniqueness.

---

Next Steps

Join Group

Join existing groups to participate in conversations

Add Members

Add members to your created groups

Update Group

Modify group details and settings

Send Messages

Start sending messages in your group