Retrieve Groups

Fetch group lists, search groups, get group details, and retrieve online member counts using the CometChat React Native SDK.

Quick Reference - Fetch groups:

// Fetch group list
const groupsRequest = new CometChat.GroupsRequestBuilder().setLimit(30).build();
const groups = await groupsRequest.fetchNext();

// Get specific group
const group = await CometChat.getGroup("GUID");

// Get online member count
const counts = await CometChat.getOnlineGroupMemberCount(["GUID"]);

Available via: SDK | REST API | UI Kits

Overview

In other words, as a logged-in user, how do I retrieve the list of groups I’ve joined and groups that are available?

In order to fetch the list of groups, you can use the GroupsRequest class. To use this class i.e to create an object of the GroupsRequest class, you need to use the GroupsRequestBuilder class. The GroupsRequestBuilder class allows you to set the parameters based on which the groups are to be fetched.

GroupsRequestBuilder

The GroupsRequestBuilder class allows you to set the below parameters:

Set Limit

This method sets the limit i.e. the number of groups that should be fetched in a single iteration.

JavaScript

let limit = 30;
let groupsRequest = new CometChat.GroupsRequestBuilder()
  .setLimit(limit)
  .build();

TypeScript

let limit: number = 30;
let groupsRequest: CometChat.GroupsRequest =
  new CometChat.GroupsRequestBuilder().setLimit(limit).build();

Response

On Success — fetchNext() with basic limit returns an array of Group objects:

Parameter	Type	Description	Sample Value
guid	string	Unique identifier of the group	"007007"
name	string	Display name of the group	"Bond"
type	string	Group type (public, private, password)	"public"
owner	string	UID of the group owner	"user-b"
membersCount	number	Total number of members in the group	5
hasJoined	boolean	Whether the logged-in user has joined this group	false
isBanned	boolean	Whether the logged-in user is banned from this group	false
conversationId	string	Conversation ID for this group	"group_007007"
createdAt	number	Unix timestamp when group was created	1760001806
updatedAt	number	Unix timestamp of last update	1768398330
updatedBy	string	UID of user who last updated the group (if updated)	"123456"
description	string	Group description (if set)	"Testing group for QA users"
icon	string	URL to group icon image (if set)	"https://images.unsplash.com/..."

Set Search Keyword

This method allows you to set the search string based on which the groups are to be fetched.

JavaScript

let limit = 30;
let searchKeyword = "group";
let groupsRequest = new CometChat.GroupsRequestBuilder()
  .setLimit(limit)
  .setSearchKeyword(searchKeyword)
  .build();

TypeScript

let limit: number = 30;
let searchKeyword: string = "group";
let groupsRequest: CometChat.GroupsRequest =
  new CometChat.GroupsRequestBuilder()
    .setLimit(limit)
    .setSearchKeyword(searchKeyword)
    .build();

Response

On Success — fetchNext() with search filter returns an array of Group objects matching the keyword:

Parameter	Type	Description	Sample Value
guid	string	Unique identifier of the group	"group_1748350143247"
name	string	Display name of the group	"testmemebrrole"
type	string	Group type (public, private, password)	"public"
owner	string	UID of the group owner	"123456"
membersCount	number	Total number of members in the group	7
hasJoined	boolean	Whether the logged-in user has joined this group	false
isBanned	boolean	Whether the logged-in user is banned from this group	false
conversationId	string	Conversation ID for this group	"group_group_1748350143247"
createdAt	number	Unix timestamp when group was created	1748350143
updatedAt	number	Unix timestamp of last update	1768888876
description	string	Group description (if set)	"Testing group for QA users"
icon	string	URL to group icon image (if set)	"https://images.unsplash.com/..."

Joined Only

This method when used, will ask the SDK to only return the groups that the user has joined or is a part of.

JavaScript

let limit = 30;
let groupsRequest = new CometChat.GroupsRequestBuilder()
  .setLimit(limit)
  .joinedOnly(true)
  .build();

TypeScript

let limit: number = 30;
let groupsRequest: CometChat.GroupsRequest =
  new CometChat.GroupsRequestBuilder().setLimit(limit).joinedOnly(true).build();

Response

On Success — fetchNext() with joinedOnly(true) returns groups the user has joined, with additional fields:

Parameter	Type	Description	Sample Value
guid	string	Unique identifier of the group	"tg1"
name	string	Display name of the group	"Touring Group"
type	string	Group type (public, private, password)	"public"
owner	string	UID of the group owner	"app_system"
membersCount	number	Total number of members in the group	2
hasJoined	boolean	Whether the logged-in user has joined this group	true
isBanned	boolean	Whether the logged-in user is banned from this group	false
scope	string	User’s scope/role in the group (participant, admin, moderator)	"participant"
joinedAt	number	Unix timestamp when user joined the group	1771829827
onlineMembersCount	number	Number of online members in the group	2
conversationId	string	Conversation ID for this group	"group_tg1"
createdAt	number	Unix timestamp when group was created	1771829812
updatedAt	number	Unix timestamp of last update	1771829832
icon	string	URL to group icon image (if set)	"https://static.vecteezy.com/..."

Set Tags

This method accepts a list of tags based on which the list of groups is to be fetched. The list fetched will only contain the groups that have been tagged with the specified tags.

JavaScript

let limit = 30;
let tags = ["tag1", "tag2"];
let groupsRequest = new CometChat.GroupsRequestBuilder()
  .setLimit(limit)
  .setTags(tags)
  .build();

TypeScript

let limit: number = 30;
let tags: Array<String> = ["tag1", "tag2"];
let groupsRequest: CometChat.GroupsRequest =
  new CometChat.GroupsRequestBuilder().setLimit(limit).setTags(tags).build();

Response

On Success — fetchNext() with tags filter returns groups matching the specified tags:

Parameter	Type	Description	Sample Value
guid	string	Unique identifier of the group	"group_1748264644578"
name	string	Display name of the group	"Password123NameChangedAgain"
type	string	Group type (public, private, password)	"password"
owner	string	UID of the group owner	"123456"
membersCount	number	Total number of members in the group	2
hasJoined	boolean	Whether the logged-in user has joined this group	false
isBanned	boolean	Whether the logged-in user is banned from this group	false
conversationId	string	Conversation ID for this group	"group_group_1748264644578"
createdAt	number	Unix timestamp when group was created	1748264644
updatedAt	number	Unix timestamp of last update	1768888876
updatedBy	string	UID of user who last updated the group	"123456"

With Tags

This property when set to true will fetch tags data along with the list of groups.

JavaScript

let limit = 30;
let groupsRequest = new CometChat.GroupsRequestBuilder()
  .setLimit(limit)
  .withTags(true)
  .build();

TypeScript

let limit: number = 30;
let groupsRequest: CometChat.GroupsRequest =
  new CometChat.GroupsRequestBuilder().setLimit(limit).withTags(true).build();

Response

On Success — fetchNext() with withTags(true) returns groups including the tags field:

Parameter	Type	Description	Sample Value
guid	string	Unique identifier of the group	"courses"
name	string	Display name of the group	"Courses"
type	string	Group type (public, private, password)	"public"
owner	string	UID of the group owner	"app_system"
membersCount	number	Total number of members in the group	4
hasJoined	boolean	Whether the logged-in user has joined this group	false
isBanned	boolean	Whether the logged-in user is banned from this group	false
tags	array	Tags associated with the group	["courses"]
conversationId	string	Conversation ID for this group	"group_courses"
createdAt	number	Unix timestamp when group was created	1764919309
updatedAt	number	Unix timestamp of last update	1764929127

Finally, once all the parameters are set to the builder class, you need to call the build() method to get the object of the GroupsRequest class.

Once you have the object of the GroupsRequest class, you need to call the fetchNext() method. Calling this method will return a list of Group objects containing n number of groups where n is the limit set in the builder class.

The list of groups fetched will only have the public and password type groups. The private groups will only be available if the user is a member of the group.

JavaScript

let limit = 30;
let groupsRequest = new CometChat.GroupsRequestBuilder()
  .setLimit(limit)
  .build();

groupsRequest.fetchNext().then(
  (groupList) => {
    console.log("Groups list fetched successfully", groupList);
  },
  (error) => {
    console.log("Groups list fetching failed with error", error);
  }
);

TypeScript

let limit: number = 30;
let groupsRequest: CometChat.GroupsRequest =
  new CometChat.GroupsRequestBuilder().setLimit(limit).build();

groupsRequest.fetchNext().then(
  (groupList: CometChat.Group[]) => {
    console.log("Groups list fetched successfully", groupList);
  },
  (error: CometChat.CometChatException) => {
    console.log("Groups list fetching failed with error", error);
  }
);

Response

On Success — fetchNext() returns an array of Group objects. See the filter-specific Response accordions above for field details based on your query configuration.

Retrieve Particular Group Details

In other words, as a logged-in user, how do I retrieve information for a specific group?

To get the information of a group, you can use the getGroup() method.

JavaScript

var GUID = "GUID";
CometChat.getGroup(GUID).then(
  (group) => {
    console.log("Group details fetched successfully:", group);
  },
  (error) => {
    console.log("Group details fetching failed with exception:", error);
  }
);

TypeScript

var GUID: string = "GUID";
CometChat.getGroup(GUID).then(
  (group: CometChat.Group) => {
    console.log("Group details fetched successfully:", group);
  },
  (error: CometChat.CometChatException) => {
    console.log("Group details fetching failed with exception:", error);
  }
);

Parameter	Description
GUID	The GUID of the group for whom the details are to be fetched

Response

On Success — getGroup() returns a Group object:

Parameter	Type	Description	Sample Value
guid	string	Unique identifier of the group	"007007"
name	string	Display name of the group	"Bond"
type	string	Group type (public, private, password)	"public"
owner	string	UID of the group owner	"user-b"
membersCount	number	Total number of members in the group	5
hasJoined	boolean	Whether the logged-in user has joined this group	false
isBanned	boolean	Whether the logged-in user is banned from this group	false
conversationId	string	Conversation ID for this group	"group_007007"
createdAt	number	Unix timestamp when group was created	1760001806
updatedAt	number	Unix timestamp of last update	1768398330

It returns Group object containing the details of the group.

Get online group member count

To get the total count of online users in particular groups, you can use the getOnlineGroupMemberCount() method.

JavaScript

let guids = ["cometchat-guid-1"];
CometChat.getOnlineGroupMemberCount(guids).then(
  (groupMemberCount) => {
    console.log("Total online user for specified groups:", groupMemberCount);
  },
  (error) => {
    console.log("Online group member count fetching failed with error:", error);
  }
);

TypeScript

let guids: String[] = ["cometchat-guid-1"];
CometChat.getOnlineGroupMemberCount(guids).then(
  (groupMemberCount: number) => {
    console.log("Total online user for specified groups:", groupMemberCount);
  },
  (error: CometChat.CometChatException) => {
    console.log("Online group member count fetching failed with error:", error);
  }
);

Response

On Success — getOnlineGroupMemberCount() returns an object with GUID as key and online count as value:

Parameter	Type	Description	Sample Value
[GUID]	number	Online member count for the specified group	0

Example: {"tg1": 2}

This method returns a JSON Object with the GUID as the key and the online member count for that group as the value.

Best Practices

Use pagination for large group lists

Always use fetchNext() with a reasonable setLimit() value (e.g., 20-30) rather than fetching all groups at once. This improves performance and reduces memory usage.

Reuse the same GroupsRequest instance for pagination

The GroupsRequest object maintains an internal cursor. Creating a new instance resets the cursor, causing the same page to be fetched repeatedly. Reuse the same instance across fetchNext() calls.

Use joinedOnly for user-specific views

When displaying “My Groups” in your UI, use joinedOnly(true) to fetch only groups the user belongs to, rather than filtering the full list client-side.

Troubleshooting

Private groups not appearing in list

Private groups are only returned if the logged-in user is a member. This is by design — use joinedOnly(true) to see all groups the user has access to, including private ones.

fetchNext returns empty list

Verify the logged-in user session is active. Also check if filters like setTags or setSearchKeyword are too restrictive. Try removing filters to confirm groups exist.

getGroup returns error

Ensure the GUID exists in your CometChat app. GUIDs are case-sensitive — double-check the exact GUID string.

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Next Steps

Create a Group

Create public, private, or password-protected groups

Join a Group

Join public or password-protected groups

Group Members

Manage members, roles, and permissions within groups

Send Messages

Send text, media, and custom messages to groups