Cometchat Android V6 Troubleshooting

Ground truth: com.cometchat:chatuikit-{compose,kotlin}-android:6.x (+ calls-sdk-android:5.x) — resolved AAR (javap) + ui-kit/android/v6. Official docs: https://www.cometchat.com/docs/ui-kit/android/v6/overview · Docs MCP: claude mcp add --transport http cometchat-docs https://www.cometchat.com/docs/mcp (or fetch the URL directly without MCP). Verify symbols against the installed package/source before relying on them.

Companion skills: cometchat-android-v6-core (init/login), cometchat-android-v6-compose-theming, cometchat-android-v6-kotlin-theming, cometchat-android-v6-push

Purpose

Diagnose and fix common issues with CometChat Android UIKit v6 across both Kotlin Views and Jetpack Compose stacks.

Use this skill when

• Encountering errors during SDK initialization or login
• Components not rendering or displaying incorrectly
• Push notifications not working
• Call features not functioning
• Build or dependency issues

Do not use this skill when

• Setting up a new project (use cometchat-android-v6-core)
• Looking for component APIs (use cometchat-*-components)

1. Diagnostic Table

2. Initialization Issues

2.1 Verify SDK State

// Check initialization
Log.d("CometChat", "SDK initialized: ${CometChatUIKit.isSDKInitialized()}")
Log.d("CometChat", "Calls SDK initialized: ${CometChatUIKit.isCallsSDKInitialized()}")
Log.d("CometChat", "Logged in user: ${CometChatUIKit.getLoggedInUser()?.uid}")

2.2 Common Init Sequence Issues

// ❌ Wrong: init in every Activity
class ChatActivity : AppCompatActivity() {
    override fun onCreate(savedInstanceState: Bundle?) {
        CometChatUIKit.init(this, settings, callback) // DON'T DO THIS
    }
}

// ✅ Correct: init once in Application or splash
class MyApp : Application() {
    override fun onCreate() {
        super.onCreate()
        CometChatUIKit.init(this, settings, callback)
    }
}

3. Compose-Specific Issues

3.1 Missing Theme Wrapper

// ❌ Crash: CompositionLocal not provided
setContent {
    CometChatConversations() // Will crash or look wrong
}

// ✅ Correct
setContent {
    CometChatTheme {
        CometChatConversations()
    }
}

3.2 Nested Theme Wrappers

// ❌ Unnecessary nesting
CometChatTheme {
    NavHost(...) {
        composable("chat") {
            CometChatTheme { // Don't nest
                CometChatMessageList(user = user)
            }
        }
    }
}

// ✅ Single wrapper at top level
CometChatTheme {
    NavHost(...) {
        composable("chat") {
            CometChatMessageList(user = user)
        }
    }
}

4. Views-Specific Issues

4.1 Theme Attributes Not Resolving

// If colors are all 0/transparent, the XML attrs aren't set
// Fix: Set programmatically
CometChatTheme.setPrimaryColor(Color.parseColor("#6851D6"))
// Or add attrs to your Activity's theme in styles.xml

4.2 RecyclerView Scroll Issues

If message list doesn't scroll properly, ensure the layout gives it flexible height:

<!-- ✅ Use layout_weight for flexible height -->
<CometChatMessageList
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="0dp"
    android:layout_weight="1" />

5. Push Notification Issues

5.0 No notifications shown on Android 13+ (API 33+)

• Symptom: FCM messages arrive (visible in logcat) but no system notification appears on Android 13+.
• Cause: POST_NOTIFICATIONS is a runtime permission on API 33+ — declaring it in the manifest isn't enough.
• Fix: Declare <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.POST_NOTIFICATIONS"/> AND request it at runtime (ActivityCompat.requestPermissions(...) / the Activity Result API) before you expect notifications. Below API 33 it's granted implicitly.

5.1 SDK Not Initialized in FCM Service

// When app is killed and FCM wakes it, SDK may not be initialized
override fun onMessageReceived(message: RemoteMessage) {
    if (!CometChatUIKit.isSDKInitialized()) {
        // Cannot handle message — show basic notification or skip
        return
    }
    // Safe to proceed
}

5.2 VoIP Permission Check

⚠️ CometChatVoIP is NOT a v6 kit/SDK API. It exists only as an app-local helper in the V5 sample app; the v6 sample even asserts it must not be referenced (PreservationPropertyTest.kt:78). Check the permissions directly with ContextCompat.checkSelfPermission (or copy the V5 helper into your project if you want its convenience wrappers):

import androidx.core.content.ContextCompat
import android.content.pm.PackageManager
import android.Manifest

// All three permissions are required for VoIP calling
fun hasVoipPermissions(context: Context): Boolean {
    val needed = listOf(
        Manifest.permission.READ_PHONE_STATE,
        Manifest.permission.MANAGE_OWN_CALLS,
        Manifest.permission.ANSWER_PHONE_CALLS,
    )
    return needed.all {
        ContextCompat.checkSelfPermission(context, it) == PackageManager.PERMISSION_GRANTED
    }
}

6. Dependency Conflicts

6.1 Jetbrains Annotations Conflict

// In build.gradle.kts
configurations.all {
    exclude(group = "org.jetbrains", module = "annotations-java5")
}

6.2 Maven Repository Missing

// In settings.gradle
repositories {
    maven { url = uri("https://dl.cloudsmith.io/public/cometchat/cometchat/maven/") }
}

7. Release-build Issues (R8 / ProGuard)

7.1 ClassNotFoundException on release builds

Symptom: App works in debug, crashes on release with java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: com.cometchat.uikit.compose... (or kotlin... package). R8 has stripped kit classes that look unused via reflection.

Fix: Add to app/proguard-rules.pro:

# Keep all CometChat UIKit and chat-sdk classes
-keep class com.cometchat.** { *; }
-keepclassmembers class com.cometchat.** { *; }
-dontwarn com.cometchat.**

If you use the calls SDK, also add:

-keep class io.dyte.** { *; }
-dontwarn io.dyte.**

7.2 BuildConfig field missing in release

Symptom: BuildConfig.COMETCHAT_APP_ID resolves to empty string in release. Caused by local.properties not being copied during CI builds.

Fix: Provide credentials via Gradle properties from CI environment vars instead of relying on local.properties:

// app/build.gradle.kts
android {
    defaultConfig {
        buildConfigField(
            "String", "COMETCHAT_APP_ID",
            "\"${project.findProperty("cometchat.appId") ?: System.getenv("COMETCHAT_APP_ID") ?: ""}\""
        )
        // …same for region + authKey
    }
}

In CI (e.g. GitHub Actions), set COMETCHAT_APP_ID etc. as repository secrets, not as files.

Hard rules

• ALWAYS check isSDKInitialized() before making SDK calls in background services (FCM, VoIP)
• ALWAYS wrap Compose components in CometChatTheme {} — this is the #1 cause of Compose rendering issues
• Call CometChatTheme.clearCache() in Views when the theme changes dynamically
• Do NOT lower minSdk below 28 or compileSdk below 36
• When reporting bugs, include: SDK version, stack (Compose/Views), Android API level, and the full stack trace