video-controls

name	video-controls
description	Control video during calls — pause/resume camera, switch video input device. Use when implementing camera toggle, device switching, or custom video buttons. Triggers on "pause video", "resume video", "switch camera", "camera toggle", "video controls", "video device".
inclusion	manual

CometChat Calls SDK v5 — Video Controls

Overview

Programmatically control the local camera (pause/resume) and switch between video input devices during an active call.

Key Imports

import { CometChatCalls } from '@cometchat/calls-sdk-javascript';

Implementation

Pause / Resume Video

CometChatCalls.pauseVideo();   // turn off camera
CometChatCalls.resumeVideo();  // turn on camera
CometChatCalls.toggleVideo();  // toggle camera state

Switch Camera (Mobile Web)

CometChatCalls.switchCamera();  // toggle front ↔ back (mobile devices)

Get Available Video Devices

const videoInputs = CometChatCalls.getVideoInputDevices();

Get Current Video Device

const currentCamera = CometChatCalls.getCurrentVideoInputDevice();

Switch Video Input Device

const devices = CometChatCalls.getVideoInputDevices();
CometChatCalls.setVideoInputDevice(devices[1].deviceId);

Listen for Video Events

CometChatCalls.addEventListener('onVideoPaused', () => {
  // Update video button to "off" state, show avatar
});

CometChatCalls.addEventListener('onVideoResumed', () => {
  // Update video button to "on" state, show video
});

CometChatCalls.addEventListener('onVideoInputDeviceChanged', (device) => {
  console.log('Camera switched to:', device.label);
});

CometChatCalls.addEventListener('onVideoInputDevicesChanged', (devices) => {
  // Device list changed — rebuild camera selector UI
});

Pre-select Device (Before Joining)

const sessionSettings: SessionSettings = {
  sessionType: 'VIDEO',
  videoInputDeviceId: 'specific-camera-id',
  startVideoPaused: false,
};

Gotchas

• pauseVideo() / resumeVideo() only work during an active session
• switchCamera() is primarily for mobile web (front/back toggle) — on desktop, use setVideoInputDevice()
• Device lists return MediaDeviceInfo objects with deviceId, label, kind, groupId
• Device labels may be empty strings until the user grants camera permission
• For voice calls (sessionType: 'VOICE'), set startVideoPaused: true
• Camera permissions must be granted before joining — the SDK requests them automatically