List channels

A channel list shows a complete list of group channels that the current user is a member of. Once a connection with the Sendbird server is established, you can display and manage the channel list without complex implementation. All chat services built with Sendbird UIKit begin from the channel list. Note that it can only list channels that the current user is a member of and can't list other public channels the user hasn't joined.

To view the image in full screen, click on the

You can start building a channel list screen by first creating a fragment. To do so, call the createGroupChannelListFragment method and display the current user's channel list. Once a channel list fragment is built, you need to set up the navigation props and register the screen to a navigation library. Refer to the code below.

import { createGroupChannelListFragment } from '@sendbird/uikit-react-native';

const GroupChannelListFragment = createGroupChannelListFragment();
const GroupChannelListScreen = () => {
    const navigateToGroupChannelCreateScreen = () => {};
    const navigateToGroupChannelScreen = () => {};

    return (
        <GroupChannelListFragment
            onPressCreateChannel={navigateToGroupChannelCreateScreen}
            onPressChannel={navigateToGroupChannelScreen}
        />
    );
};

The following table lists the properties of GroupChannelListFragment.

To store and handle data that are used to build a working channel list, Sendbird UIKit provides GroupChannelListContexts, which is comprised of two context objects: GroupChannelListContexts.Fragment and GroupChannelListContexts.TypeSelector.

type GroupChannelListContextsType = {
    Fragment: React.Context<{ headerTitle: string }>;

    TypeSelector: React.Context<{
        visible: boolean;
        show: () => void;
        hide: () => void;
        headerTitle: string;
    }>;
};

To retrieve data from the Chat SDK on the current user's channel list screen, you need to call the useContext hook and pass GroupChannelListContexts.Fragment as a parameter. The data is then used to render the channel list module and its components.

import { useContext } from 'react';

const Component = () => {
    const { headerTitle } = useContext(GroupChannelListContexts.Fragment);
};

You can call the useContext hook and pass GroupChannelListContexts.TypeSelector as a parameter to retrieve data from the Chat SDK on the channel type.

import { useContext } from 'react';
import { GroupChannelListContexts } from '@sendbird/uikit-react-native';

const Component = () => {
    const { headerTitle, visible, show, hide } = useContext(GroupChannelListContexts.TypeSelector);
};

A channel list screen is composed of four module components: header, list, type selector, loading status, and empty status. These components make up the GroupChannelListModule and are used to create and display the channel list UI.

The header component displays the title of the channel list screen and a button on the top right corner which, by default, allows you to choose the type of channel you wish to create. Once the channel type is selected, the onPressCreateChannel navigation prop is called and you'll be able to create a new channel in the create group channel screen.

The list component displays a list of all channels that the current user is part of. When the current user selects one of the channels in the list, they'll be able to enter the channel and start chatting in a group channel.

The following table lists the properties of GroupChannelListModule.List.

The TypeSelector component exists in the GroupChannelListModule and lets the user choose between group channel and Supergroup channel to create a new channel with.

The following table lists the properties of TypeSelector.

The StatusLoading component exists in the GroupChannelListModule and lets the user know if the list is loading.

The StatusEmpty component exists in the GroupChannelListModule and lets the user know if the list is empty.

In the list channel function, you can customize the default GroupChannelListFragment to change various elements of the screen such as the module and its components. See the code below on how to replace the default header component with a custom header component in GroupChannelListFragment as an example.

Note: To learn more about how to customize a fragment, go to the fragment page.

import React, { useContext, useLayoutEffect } from 'react';
import { Pressable } from 'react-native';

import { useNavigation } from '@react-navigation/native';

import { createGroupChannelListFragment, GroupChannelListContexts, GroupChannelListModule } from '@sendbird/uikit-react-native';
import { Icon } from '@sendbird/uikit-react-native-foundation';

const UseReactNavigationHeader: GroupChannelListModule['Header'] = () => {
    const navigation = useNavigation();
    const fragment = useContext(GroupChannelListContexts.Fragment);
    const typeSelector = useContext(GroupChannelListContexts.TypeSelector);

    useLayoutEffect(() => {
        // Show react-navigation header.
        navigation.setOptions({
            headerShown: true,
            headerTitle: fragment.headerTitle,
            headerLeft: () => (
                <Pressable onPress={typeSelector.show}>
                    <Icon icon={'create'} />
                </Pressable>
            ),
        });
    }, []);

    // Hide @sendbird/uikit-react-native header.
    return null;
};

const GroupChannelListFragment = createGroupChannelListFragment({
    Header: UseReactNavigationHeader,
});

const CustomGroupChannelListScreen = () => {
    const navigateToGroupChannelCreateScreen = () => {};
    const navigateToGroupChannelScreen = () => {};

    return (
        <GroupChannelListFragment
            onPressCreateChannel={navigateToGroupChannelCreateScreen}
            onPressChannel={navigateToGroupChannelScreen}
            // Render custom channel preview
            renderGroupChannelPreview={(props) => {
              return <CustomChannelPreview {...props} />;
            }}
            // Apply query parameters for channel list
            channelListQueryParams={{
              includeEmpty: true,
              includeFrozen: false,
            }}
        />
    );
};