Building chat functionality in an Angular application from scratch is a complex and time-consuming effort. It requires setting up real-time messaging infrastructure, securing authentication flows, scaling for concurrent users, and designing a chat UI that feels intuitive and responsive.
CometChat’s Angular UI Kit removes this complexity by providing prebuilt, customizable Angular components that handle messaging UI, real-time updates, and core chat behavior out of the box while still giving developers the flexibility to integrate chat seamlessly into their existing Angular architecture.
Why use CometChat instead of building it yourself?
To better understand how CometChat can accelerate your development process, here's a quick comparison of building a chat app using the traditional DIY approach versus leveraging CometChat:
| Feature | Traditional DIY | With CometChat UI Kit |
|---|---|---|
Real-time messaging
|
Custom services with Socket.IO/WebRTC
|
Fully managed real-time messaging
|
State management
|
Heavy reliance on RxJS, services, and stores
|
UI Kit manages chat state internally
|
Presence & typing
|
Manual event handling and subscriptions
|
Built-in and automatically updated
|
Authentication
|
Integrate custom auth + session handling
|
Simple CometChat login flow
|
UI complexity
|
Build and maintain complex Angular components
|
Ready-made Angular components
|
Scalability
|
Requires careful architecture planning
|
Scales automatically with CometChat infra
|
Maintenance
|
Ongoing fixes and optimizations
|
Minimal maintenance
|
In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to integrate the CometChat UI Kit into an Angular application to build a production-ready chat experience without introducing additional state management libraries or building real-time systems from scratch.
What You’ll Build
By the end of this tutorial, your Angular app will support:
User login with CometChat authentication
One-to-one messaging
Group conversations
Real-time presence, typing indicators, and read receipts
A complete conversations and messages UI
Theming and basic customization
Prerequisites
Before starting, make sure you have:
Node.js (v18 or later recommended)
Angular CLI (v16+)
Basic familiarity with Angular modules and components
A CometChat account with an app created in the dashboard
App ID, Auth Key, and Region from the CometChat dashboard
Step 1: Create a New Angular Application
Create a fresh Angular project using the CLI:
Once the app is running, open it in your browser to confirm the setup is complete.
Step 2: Install the CometChat Angular UI Kit
Install the UI Kit and its required dependencies:
The Angular UI Kit includes:
Prebuilt UI components
CometChat SDK integration
Styles and assets required for chat rendering
Step 3: Import CometChat UI Kit Module
Open app.module.ts and import the CometChat UI Kit module:
This makes all CometChat UI components available throughout your Angular app.
Step 4: Initialize CometChat
Initialize CometChat when your application starts, typically in main.ts or app.component.ts.
This sets up the SDK and prepares the UI Kit components to connect to CometChat’s real-time infrastructure.
Step 5: User Login
Create a simple login UI that authenticates users using their user ID.
Once logged in, the user session is maintained automatically by the UI Kit.
Step 6: Display Conversations List
Use the Conversations component to show all chats for the logged-in user.
This component handles:
Conversation previews
Last message display
Presence indicators
Sorting and updates in real time
Step 7: Open Messages View
When a conversation is selected, render the messages UI.
One-to-One Chat
Group Chat
The Messages component supports:
Text, media, and file messages
Typing indicators
Read and delivery receipts
Message reactions
Step 8: Create and Manage Groups
Enable group creation using the built-in UI:
You can also display group details and members using:
Step 9: Styling and Theming
The Angular UI Kit supports global theming and component-level customization.
You can:
Override CSS variables
Apply custom styles to UI Kit components
Match chat UI with your product’s design system
This allows you to keep chat visually consistent with the rest of your Angular app.
Step 10: Optional Enhancements
Once the core chat flow is in place, you can extend functionality with:
Push notifications
Moderation and profanity filtering
Voice and video calling
Custom message types
Analytics and usage tracking
These can be layered on top of the UI Kit without rewriting the chat UI.
Run and Test the App
Start the app locally:
Verify that:
Users can log in
Conversations load correctly
Messages send and receive in real time
Group chats work as expected
Angular Sample App by CometChat
This is a reference application showcasing the integration of CometChat's Angular UI Kit within an Angular framework. It provides developers with examples of implementing real-time messaging and voice and video calling features in their own Angular-based applications.
Prerequisites
Ensure that you have Node.js and npm installed:
Sign up for a CometChat account to get your app credentials: App ID, Region, and Auth Key
Installation
Clone the repository
Navigate to the cloned directory:
Install dependencies:
Enter your CometChat App ID, Region, and Auth Key in the AppConstants.ts file:
Run the project locally to see all CometChat features in action:
If you’ve made it this far, you now have a clear picture of how real-time chat fits into an Angular app without adding extra complexity to your existing structure. The Angular sample app gives you something concrete to explore so you can see how conversations, updates, and UI components work together in practice.
For issues running the project or integrating with our UI Kits, consult our documentation or create a support ticket or seek real-time support via the CometChat Dashboard.
Shrinithi Vijayaraghavan
Creative Storytelling , CometChat