Search Messages Service - CometChat Docs

The SearchMessagesService manages message search state using Angular signals. It handles SDK query building with keyword, attachment-type, and user/group scoping, plus pagination for loading more results.

Import

import { SearchMessagesService } from '@cometchat/chat-uikit-angular';

Signals (Reactive State)

Signal	Type	Default	Description
`messages`	`WritableSignal<CometChat.BaseMessage[]>`	`[]`	Current message search results (newest first after reversal)
`fetchState`	`WritableSignal<States>`	`States.loaded`	Current fetch state: `loading`, `loaded`, `empty`, or `error`
`hasMoreResults`	`WritableSignal<boolean>`	`false`	Whether more pages of results are available

Methods

search()

Initiates a message search. Resets state, validates criteria, builds the SDK request, and fetches the first page.

async search(
  keyword: string,
  filters: CometChatSearchFilter[],
  uid?: string,
  guid?: string,
  customBuilder?: CometChat.MessagesRequestBuilder,
  alwaysShowSeeMore?: boolean
): Promise<void>

Parameter	Type	Description
`keyword`	`string`	Search keyword
`filters`	`CometChatSearchFilter[]`	Active filters that determine attachment type filtering
`uid`	`string`	Optional user UID to scope search to a specific user’s messages
`guid`	`string`	Optional group GUID to scope search to a specific group’s messages
`customBuilder`	`MessagesRequestBuilder`	Optional custom builder that overrides the default
`alwaysShowSeeMore`	`boolean`	When true, limits initial results to 3 (preview mode with “See more” button)

Validation: search requires at least one of: non-empty keyword, active message filter, uid, or guid. Otherwise fetchState is set to States.empty.

loadMore()

Fetches the next page of results and appends to the existing list.

async loadMore(): Promise<void>

reset()

Resets all signals to their default values and clears the internal request reference.

reset(): void

Request Building

The service builds a CometChat.MessagesRequest based on the search criteria:

hideDeletedMessages(true) — always excludes deleted messages
setSearchKeyword() — when keyword is non-empty
setUID() — when uid is provided (scoped to user)
setGUID() — when guid is provided (scoped to group)
hasLinks(true) — when the Links filter is active
setAttachmentTypes() — maps filters to SDK attachment types:

Filter	SDK Attachment Type
`Photos`	`CometChat.AttachmentType.IMAGE`
`Videos`	`CometChat.AttachmentType.VIDEO`
`Documents`	`CometChat.AttachmentType.FILE`
`Audio`	`CometChat.AttachmentType.AUDIO`

Limit is 3 when alwaysShowSeeMore is true (preview mode), 30 otherwise
Results are reversed after fetch to show newest first

Usage

The service is typically used internally by CometChatSearchMessagesListComponent, but can be injected directly:

import { Component, inject } from '@angular/core';
import { SearchMessagesService } from '@cometchat/chat-uikit-angular';
import { CometChatSearchFilter, States } from '@cometchat/chat-uikit-angular';

@Component({
  selector: 'app-message-search',
  template: `
    @if (service.fetchState() === States.loaded) {
      @for (msg of service.messages(); track msg.getId()) {
        <div>{{ msg.getSender()?.getName() }}: {{ msg.getType() }}</div>
      }
      @if (service.hasMoreResults()) {
        <button (click)="service.loadMore()">Load more</button>
      }
    }
  `
})
export class MessageSearchComponent {
  readonly service = inject(SearchMessagesService);
  readonly States = States;

  searchPhotos(keyword: string): void {
    this.service.search(keyword, [CometChatSearchFilter.Photos]);
  }

  searchInGroup(keyword: string, guid: string): void {
    this.service.search(keyword, [], undefined, guid);
  }
}

Differences from SearchConversationsService

Aspect	SearchConversationsService	SearchMessagesService
Real-time listeners	Yes (message, user, group, call, typing, receipt)	No
Scoping	Keyword + filters only	Keyword + filters + uid/guid
Attachment filtering	N/A	Photos, Videos, Documents, Audio, Links
Typing indicators	Yes (`typingIndicatorMap` signal)	No
Preview mode	3 results when no filters	3 results when `alwaysShowSeeMore` is true

​Import

​Signals (Reactive State)

​Methods

​search()

​loadMore()

​reset()

​Request Building

​Usage

​Differences from SearchConversationsService