Stay in Sync - CometChat Docs

AI Integration Quick Reference

// Observe the reconnect catch-up sync (conversation phase, then message phase)
CometChat.addSyncListener("SYNC_LISTENER", new CometChat.SyncListener({
  onConversationSyncCompleted: (conversations) => { /* blind-replace list */ },
  onMessageSyncCompleted: (messages, outcome) => { /* merge by id */ },
  onMessageSyncError: (error) => {},
}));
CometChat.removeSyncListener("SYNC_LISTENER");

// Poll sync state
const state = CometChat.getSyncState();                // "IDLE" | "SYNCING"
const lastSync = await CometChat.getLastSyncTimestamp(); // server epoch seconds, 0 if never

// Trigger a manual catch-up (callback is told whether it was accepted)
CometChat.forceSyncNow((error) => { /* IN_PROGRESS / COOLDOWN / DISABLED / USER_NOT_LOGED_IN */ });

// Observe cache rebuilds
CometChat.addOfflineCacheResetListener("RESET_LISTENER", new CometChat.OfflineCacheResetListener({
  onOfflineCacheReset: (reason, pendingMessagesLost) => {},
}));

// Inspect / clear the cache
const bytes = await CometChat.getCacheSize();
await CometChat.clearOfflineCache();                   // destructive; drops the un-sent outbox

When the connection comes back, the SDK runs a catch-up sync: it refreshes the conversation list, then replays everything that changed in your messages since the last sync, and merges the results into the local cache. This page covers how to observe that sync, trigger one on demand, and manage the cache it maintains.

Everything on this page is a no-op unless offline support is active for the logged-in user (CometChat.isOfflineEnabled() is true). See Enable Offline Support.

How catch-up works

A sync runs automatically whenever the connection settles, including the first connect after login or launch. It never runs on a brief connect-then-drop flap, and overlapping triggers coalesce: at most one follow-up sweep is queued behind the running one. It proceeds in two phases, in order:

Conversation phase — the conversation list is fetched as one fresh page (up to maxConversations). A conversation-list UI can blind-replace its list with the result.
Message phase — the SDK replays the message changelog from the last sync point. New messages and updates to already-cached messages are merged into the cache. A cold start skips this phase.

The sync is incremental and safe to repeat: it only moves forward from the last successful point, and a failed or interrupted phase simply resumes on the next reconnect. The conversation refresh does remove conversations you are no longer part of, along with their cached messages, media, and any still-queued messages for them (which fail with reason DISCARDED). A first-ever sync (cold start) runs only the conversation phase: it seeds its starting point from the newest conversation and fetches no message history — older history is reached by scrolling online.

Listen for sync progress

Register a CometChat.SyncListener to observe the lifecycle of every automatic and manual sync. Each phase that runs fires started, then exactly one of completed / error. A cold start runs only the conversation phase, so no onMessageSync* callback fires.

TypeScript
JavaScript

CometChat.addSyncListener(
  "SYNC_LISTENER",
  new CometChat.SyncListener({
    onConversationSyncStarted: () => {},
    onConversationSyncCompleted: (conversations: CometChat.Conversation[]) => {
      // The full, fresh conversation page. Blind-replace your list.
    },
    onConversationSyncError: (error: CometChat.CometChatException) => {},
    onMessageSyncStarted: () => {},
    onMessageSyncCompleted: (messages: CometChat.BaseMessage[], outcome: string) => {
      // New + changed messages reconciled this sync. Merge by message id.
    },
    onMessageSyncError: (error: CometChat.CometChatException) => {},
  })
);

CometChat.addSyncListener(
  "SYNC_LISTENER",
  new CometChat.SyncListener({
    onConversationSyncStarted: () => {},
    onConversationSyncCompleted: (conversations) => {
      // The full, fresh conversation page. Blind-replace your list.
    },
    onConversationSyncError: (error) => {},
    onMessageSyncStarted: () => {},
    onMessageSyncCompleted: (messages, outcome) => {
      // New + changed messages reconciled this sync. Merge by message id.
    },
    onMessageSyncError: (error) => {},
  })
);

Callback	When it fires
`onConversationSyncStarted()`	The conversation refresh began.
`onConversationSyncCompleted(conversations)`	The refresh succeeded; `conversations` is the full conversation page.
`onConversationSyncError(error)`	The refresh failed. A transport failure leaves the cache untouched; a malformed response removes nothing. Either way the refresh retries on the next reconnect.
`onMessageSyncStarted()`	The message changelog sweep began. Never fires on a cold start.
`onMessageSyncCompleted(messages, outcome)`	The sweep finished; `messages` carries the new and changed messages.
`onMessageSyncError(error)`	The sweep failed; it resumes on the next reconnect.

Do not wait on the onMessageSync* callbacks after first login, clearOfflineCache(), or a cache reset. A sync with no saved sync point runs only the conversation phase, so onConversationSyncCompleted or onConversationSyncError is its last callback.

The two phases are independent — a conversation-phase error does not stop the message phase. A phase error is informational: the cache is never left in a wrong state and the sweep resumes automatically. The error always carries a code: FAILED_TO_FETCH when the request got no answer, ERROR_JSON_EXCEPTION when the server answered 2xx with an unreadable body (details.httpStatus holds the status), otherwise the server’s own code. onMessageSyncCompleted reports the outcome:

`SyncOutcome`	Meaning
`CAUGHT_UP`	The changelog was fully replayed; the cache reflects every server change up to the sync point.
`PARTIAL`	A page was ingested and the sync point advanced, but a backlog remains. Each sync, automatic or from `forceSyncNow`, drains one page of up to 1000 changes.

Remove the listener with CometChat.removeSyncListener("SYNC_LISTENER"). Registrations are kept across login, logout and restarts, so register once.

Receiving synced messages

If you already use a CometChat.MessageListener, synced messages still arrive there, so you usually do not need a SyncListener to keep your chat up to date:

Genuinely new messages arrive one-by-one on onTextMessageReceived (and the other typed variants), with message.getSource() set to SYNC.
Updates to already-cached messages arrive together on onMessagesSynced(messages).

TypeScript
JavaScript

CometChat.addMessageListener(
  "MSG_LISTENER",
  new CometChat.MessageListener({
    onTextMessageReceived: (message: CometChat.TextMessage) => {
      if (message.getSource() === CometChat.MessageSource.SYNC) {
        // Delivered by a catch-up sync. Suppress notification spam if you wish.
      }
    },
    onMessagesSynced: (messages: CometChat.BaseMessage[]) => {
      // Updates to already-cached messages. Merge by id.
    },
  })
);

CometChat.addMessageListener(
  "MSG_LISTENER",
  new CometChat.MessageListener({
    onTextMessageReceived: (message) => {
      if (message.getSource() === CometChat.MessageSource.SYNC) {
        // Delivered by a catch-up sync. Suppress notification spam if you wish.
      }
    },
    onMessagesSynced: (messages) => {
      // Updates to already-cached messages. Merge by id.
    },
  })
);

On reconnect, queued messages are sent first, then the sync runs. forceSyncNow runs only the sync; it does not send queued messages (use retryMessage or retryAllFailedMessages for those).

Check sync state

Poll the current sync state and the time of the last completed sync at any time.

TypeScript
JavaScript

const state: string = CometChat.getSyncState();                  // "IDLE" or "SYNCING"
const lastSync: number = await CometChat.getLastSyncTimestamp(); // server epoch seconds; 0 if never synced

const state = CometChat.getSyncState();                  // "IDLE" or "SYNCING"
const lastSync = await CometChat.getLastSyncTimestamp(); // server epoch seconds; 0 if never synced

getSyncState() returns SYNCING while a sweep is in flight, otherwise IDLE (also when offline support is disabled). getLastSyncTimestamp() returns a server-provided epoch value in seconds, never the device clock, and 0 if the cache has never synced.

Trigger a manual sync

Call forceSyncNow to run a catch-up immediately — for example behind a pull-to-refresh. It routes through the same throttle as the automatic sync, so it will not start a second overlapping sweep or hammer the backend, and it is refused for 10 seconds after any sync ends, automatic or forced, whether or not that sync succeeded. Pass a callback to learn whether the request was accepted; it receives no error (null) as soon as the catch-up starts. The sync’s actual progress and outcome still arrive on your registered SyncListener.

TypeScript
JavaScript

CometChat.forceSyncNow((error?: CometChat.CometChatException) => {
  if (error) {
    // Rejected — see the code.
  } else {
    // Accepted and started.
  }
});

CometChat.forceSyncNow((error) => {
  if (error) {
    // Rejected — see the code.
  } else {
    // Accepted and started.
  }
});

If you do not need the acceptance result, call CometChat.forceSyncNow() with no argument; a rejected request is silently dropped.

Rejection code	Meaning
`ERROR_OFFLINE_SYNC_IN_PROGRESS`	A sync (automatic or manual) is already running.
`ERROR_OFFLINE_SYNC_COOLDOWN`	A sync ran too recently; `details.retryAfterMs` carries the remaining cooldown.
`ERROR_OFFLINE_DISABLED`	A user is logged in but offline support is not active.
`USER_NOT_LOGED_IN`	Nobody is logged in (spelling as the SDK returns it).

When the cache resets

In rare cases the SDK cannot keep the existing cache — for example the encryption key became unrecoverable, or the database is corrupt. When this happens it rebuilds the cache from scratch and notifies an OfflineCacheResetListener. Any un-sent messages that were queued are lost in the rebuild; pendingMessagesLost reports how many, or -1 (CometChat.OFFLINE_PENDING_COUNT_UNKNOWN) when the count is unknown. Each lost message that could still be read fails with DISCARDED on onOutboxMessageFailed. A logout never fires it.

TypeScript
JavaScript

CometChat.addOfflineCacheResetListener(
  "RESET_LISTENER",
  new CometChat.OfflineCacheResetListener({
    onOfflineCacheReset: (reason: string, pendingMessagesLost: number) => {
      // The cache was rebuilt. Re-fetch anything you need; it will re-sync from the server.
    },
  })
);

CometChat.addOfflineCacheResetListener(
  "RESET_LISTENER",
  new CometChat.OfflineCacheResetListener({
    onOfflineCacheReset: (reason, pendingMessagesLost) => {
      // The cache was rebuilt. Re-fetch anything you need; it will re-sync from the server.
    },
  })
);

`OfflineCacheResetReason`	Cause
`KEY_LOST`	The encryption key could not be recovered (for example browser site data was partly cleared); a fresh key was minted.
`WRONG_KEY`	The stored key does not open the cache.
`CORRUPTED`	The cache is damaged.
`ESCALATED`	An unclassified open failure recurred on three consecutive launches and was escalated to a permanent rebuild.
`ENCRYPTION_CHANGED`	The `encryption` setting changed, so the cache was rebuilt in the configured format.

Remove the listener with CometChat.removeOfflineCacheResetListener("RESET_LISTENER"). See Encrypt the Cache for the encryption-related reasons.

A cache that another tab (or process) holds locked or busy is never rebuilt; offline stays off for that session instead.

Manage the cache

Read the current cache size, or clear the cache entirely.

TypeScript
JavaScript

const bytes: number = await CometChat.getCacheSize(); // cached content + media bytes
await CometChat.clearOfflineCache();                  // wipe the entire per-user cache

const bytes = await CometChat.getCacheSize(); // cached content + media bytes
await CometChat.clearOfflineCache();          // wipe the entire per-user cache

getCacheSize() returns the size in bytes using the same measure as maxStorageSize — cached content before encryption, plus cached media bytes. It is not the size on disk and not everything your origin stores. It returns 0 when offline support is disabled.

clearOfflineCache() is destructive and irreversible. It empties the entire per-user cache — cached messages, conversations, lists, media bytes and the un-sent outbox. Each still-queued PENDING / SENDING message fails with reason DISCARDED (ERROR_OFFLINE_MESSAGE_DISCARDED on its per-send listener); one already FAILED is removed silently. It is a no-op unless offline support is active, and the encryption key is kept.

You never need to clear the cache on logout — the SDK does it for you. The cache is stored per app and user: a reload with a still-valid session reuses it, and it is deleted on logout, token expiry, an app id change, or when a different user logs in. With offline off in your config, any offline data an earlier build left on the device is deleted when the session ends, and logout() resolves after the deletion (in a browser this can take up to about 5 seconds per database while another tab still has it open). See Offline Support.

​How catch-up works

​Listen for sync progress

​Receiving synced messages

​Check sync state

​Trigger a manual sync

​When the cache resets

​Manage the cache

How catch-up works

Listen for sync progress

Receiving synced messages

Check sync state

Trigger a manual sync

When the cache resets

Manage the cache