cometchat-ios-push

name	cometchat-ios-push
description	Set up push notifications for CometChat iOS apps — APNs configuration, token registration, and notification handling.
license	MIT
compatibility	CometChatUIKitSwift ^5; iOS 13+
metadata	{"author":"CometChat","version":"3.0.0","tags":"chat cometchat ios push notifications apns"}

Ground truth: CometChatUIKitSwift ~> 5 (+ CometChatCallsSDK ~> 5) — Pods/SPM .swiftinterface + ui-kit/ios. Official docs: https://www.cometchat.com/docs/notifications/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.

Purpose

This skill teaches how to set up push notifications for CometChat iOS apps, including APNs configuration, token registration, and handling incoming notifications.

---

1. Prerequisites

Before setting up push notifications:

1. Apple Developer Account — Required for APNs certificates
2. CometChat Dashboard Access — To configure push notification settings
3. Physical iOS Device — Push notifications don't work on simulators

---

2. APNs Certificate Setup

Step 1: Create APNs Key (Recommended)

1. Go to Apple Developer Portal
2. Navigate to Certificates, Identifiers & Profiles → Keys
3. Click + to create a new key
4. Enter a name (e.g., "CometChat Push Key")
5. Enable Apple Push Notifications service (APNs)
6. Click Continue → Register
7. Download the .p8 file (you can only download it once!)
8. Note the Key ID and your Team ID

Step 2: Configure CometChat Dashboard

1. Go to CometChat Dashboard
2. Select your app
3. Navigate to Notifications → Push Notifications
4. Select iOS tab
5. Upload your .p8 file
6. Enter your Key ID and Team ID
7. Select the environment (Development/Production)
8. Save the configuration

---

3. Xcode Project Configuration

Enable Push Notifications Capability

1. Open your project in Xcode
2. Select your target
3. Go to Signing & Capabilities
4. Click + Capability
5. Add Push Notifications
6. Add Background Modes and enable:
   • Remote notifications
   • Voice over IP (if using calls)

Update Info.plist

Add the following to your Info.plist:

<key>UIBackgroundModes</key>
<array>
    <string>remote-notification</string>
    <string>voip</string>
</array>

---

4. Code Implementation

AppDelegate Setup

import UIKit
import UserNotifications
import CometChatUIKitSwift
import CometChatSDK

@main
class AppDelegate: UIResponder, UIApplicationDelegate {
    
    func application(
        _ application: UIApplication,
        didFinishLaunchingWithOptions launchOptions: [UIApplication.LaunchOptionsKey: Any]?
    ) -> Bool {
        
        // Initialize CometChat
        initializeCometChat()
        
        // Request notification permissions
        requestNotificationPermission()
        
        // Register for remote notifications
        application.registerForRemoteNotifications()
        
        return true
    }
    
    private func initializeCometChat() {
        let uiKitSettings = UIKitSettings()
            .set(appID: "YOUR_APP_ID")
            .set(authKey: "YOUR_AUTH_KEY")
            .set(region: "us")
            .subscribePresenceForAllUsers()
            .build()
        
        CometChatUIKit(uiKitSettings: uiKitSettings) { result in
            switch result {
            case .success:
                print("CometChat initialized")
            case .failure(let error):
                ()
            }
        }
    }
    
      () {
         center  .current()
        center.delegate  
        
        center.requestAuthorization(options: [.alert, .sound, .badge]) { granted, error 
             granted {
                ()
            }    error  error {
                ()
            }
        }
    }
    
    
    
     (
         : ,
         : 
    ) {
         token  deviceToken.map { (format: , ) }.joined()
        ()
        
        
        registerPushToken(token)
    }
    
     (
         : ,
         : 
    ) {
        ()
    }
    
      ( : ) {
        
        
        
        
        
        .registerPushToken(
            pushToken: token,
            platform: .,
            providerId: 
        ) { success 
            ()
        } onError: { error 
            ()
        }
        
        
    }

    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    

     ( :  () -> ) {
        .unregisterPushToken {  
            completion()
        } onError: {  
            completion()   
        }
    }

    
    
    
    

    
    
     (
         : ,
         : [: ],
         :  () -> 
    ) {
        ()
        
        
          messageData  userInfo[]  [: ] {
            handleCometChatNotification(messageData)
        }
        
        completionHandler(.newData)
    }
    
      ( : [: ]) {
        
          type  data[]    {  }
        
         type {
         :
            handleChatNotification(data)
         :
            handleCallNotification(data)
        :
            ()
        }
    }
    
      ( : [: ]) {
        
          senderUID  data[]    {  }
        
        
        .main.async {
            .default.post(
                name: .openConversation,
                object: ,
                userInfo: [: senderUID]
            )
        }
    }
    
      ( : [: ]) {
        
        ()
    }
}



 :  {
    
    
     (
         : ,
         : ,
         :  () -> 
    ) {
        
        completionHandler([.banner, .sound, .badge])
    }
    
    
     (
         : ,
         : ,
         :  () -> 
    ) {
         userInfo  response.notification.request.content.userInfo
        
          messageData  userInfo[]  [: ] {
            handleCometChatNotification(messageData)
        }
        
        completionHandler()
    }
}



 . {
      openConversation  .()
}

Handle Notification Navigation

class MainViewController: UIViewController {
    
    override func viewDidLoad() {
        super.viewDidLoad()
        
        // Listen for notification navigation
        NotificationCenter.default.addObserver(
            self,
            selector: #selector(handleOpenConversation(_:)),
            name: .openConversation,
            object: nil
        )
    }
    
    @objc private func handleOpenConversation(_ notification: Notification) {
        guard let uid = notification.userInfo?["uid"] as? String else { return }
        
        // Fetch user and open conversation
        CometChat.getUser(UID: uid) { [weak self] user in
            guard let user = user else { return }
            
            DispatchQueue.main.async {
                let messagesVC = MessagesVC()  // your own VC composing CometChatMessageHeader + List + Composer
                messagesVC.set(user: user)
                self?.navigationController.pushViewController(messagesVC, animated: )
            }
        } onError: { error 
            ()
        }
    }
    
     {
        .default.removeObserver()
    }
}

---

5. VoIP Push Notifications (for Calls)

Import PushKit

import PushKit

Register for VoIP

class AppDelegate: UIResponder, UIApplicationDelegate {
    
    var voipRegistry: PKPushRegistry?
    
    func application(
        _ application: UIApplication,
        didFinishLaunchingWithOptions launchOptions: [UIApplication.LaunchOptionsKey: Any]?
    ) -> Bool {
        
        // ... other setup ...
        
        // Register for VoIP push
        registerForVoIPPush()
        
        return true
    }
    
    private func registerForVoIPPush() {
        voipRegistry = PKPushRegistry(queue: .main)
        voipRegistry?.delegate = self
        voipRegistry?.desiredPushTypes = [.voIP]
    }
}

// MARK: - PKPushRegistryDelegate

extension AppDelegate: PKPushRegistryDelegate {
    
    func pushRegistry(
        _ registry: PKPushRegistry,
        didUpdate pushCredentials: PKPushCredentials,
        for type: PKPushType
    ) {
         token  pushCredentials.token.map { (format: , ) }.joined()
        ()
        
        
        
        .registerPushToken(
            pushToken: token,
            platform: .,
            providerId: 
        ) { success 
            ()
        } onError: { error 
            ()
        }
    }
    
     (
         : ,
         : ,
         : ,
        :  () -> 
    ) {
        ()
        
        
          callData  payload.dictionaryPayload[]  [: ] {
            handleIncomingCall(callData)
        }
        
        completion()
    }
    
      ( : [: ]) {
        
        
    }
}

---

6. UIKitSettings with Push Tokens

You can also pass tokens during initialization:

let uiKitSettings = UIKitSettings()
    .set(appID: "YOUR_APP_ID")
    .set(authKey: "YOUR_AUTH_KEY")
    .set(region: "us")
    .set(deviceToken: apnsToken)      // APNs token
    .set(voipToken: voipToken)        // VoIP token
    .subscribePresenceForAllUsers()
    .build()

CometChatUIKit(uiKitSettings: uiKitSettings) { result in
    // ...
}

---

7. Notification Service Extension

For rich notifications with images and custom content:

Create Extension

1. In Xcode, go to File → New → Target
2. Select Notification Service Extension
3. Name it (e.g., "NotificationService")

Implement Extension

// NotificationService.swift
import UserNotifications

class NotificationService: UNNotificationServiceExtension {
    
    var contentHandler: ((UNNotificationContent) -> Void)?
    var bestAttemptContent: UNMutableNotificationContent?
    
    override func didReceive(
        _ request: UNNotificationRequest,
        withContentHandler contentHandler: @escaping (UNNotificationContent) -> Void
    ) {
        self.contentHandler = contentHandler
        bestAttemptContent = (request.content.mutableCopy() as? UNMutableNotificationContent)
        
        guard let bestAttemptContent = bestAttemptContent else {
            contentHandler(request.content)
            return
        }
        
        // Customize notification content
        if let messageData = request.content.userInfo["message"] as? [String: Any] {
            customizeNotification(bestAttemptContent, with: messageData)
        }
        
        contentHandler(bestAttemptContent)
    }
    
    private func customizeNotification(
        _ : ,
         : [: ]
    ) {
        
          senderName  data[]   {
            content.title  senderName
        }
        
        
          messageText  data[]   {
            content.body  messageText
        }
        
        
          imageURL  data[]  ,
            url  (string: imageURL) {
            downloadAndAttachImage(url, to: content)
        }
    }
    
      ( : ,  : ) {
         task  .shared.downloadTask(with: url) { localURL, , error 
              localURL  localURL, error    {  }
            
             tempDir  .default.temporaryDirectory
             tempFile  tempDir.appendingPathComponent(().uuidString  )
            
             .default.moveItem(at: localURL, to: tempFile)
            
              attachment   (identifier: , url: tempFile) {
                content.attachments  [attachment]
            }
            
            .contentHandler(content)
        }
        task.resume()
    }
    
      () {
          contentHandler  contentHandler,  bestAttemptContent  bestAttemptContent {
            contentHandler(bestAttemptContent)
        }
    }
}

---

8. Badge Count Management

Update Badge Count

// Set badge count
UIApplication.shared.applicationIconBadgeNumber = unreadCount

// Clear badge count
UIApplication.shared.applicationIconBadgeNumber = 0

Sync with CometChat Unread Count

func updateBadgeCount() {
    // getUnreadMessageCount's success closure receives a SINGLE [String: Any]
    // (conversations keyed by uid/guid → count) — NOT two separate dicts.
    CometChat.getUnreadMessageCount { unread in
        var totalUnread = 0
        for (_, count) in unread {
            totalUnread += count as? Int ?? 0
        }

        DispatchQueue.main.async {
            UIApplication.shared.applicationIconBadgeNumber = totalUnread
        }
    } onError: { error in
        print("Error getting unread count: \(error?.errorDescription ?? "")")
    }
}

---

9. Testing Push Notifications

Using Terminal

# Test APNs push (requires authentication)
curl -v \
  --header "apns-topic: com.yourapp.bundleid" \
  --header "apns-push-type: alert" \
  --header "authorization: bearer $JWT_TOKEN" \
  --data '{"aps":{"alert":"Test message"}}' \
  --http2 \
  https://api.push.apple.com/3/device/$DEVICE_TOKEN

Using CometChat Dashboard

1. Go to CometChat Dashboard
2. Navigate to Users
3. Select a user
4. Click Send Push Notification
5. Enter a test message
6. Send

---

Troubleshooting

Issue	Solution
Token not registering	Ensure device is physical, not simulator
Notifications not received	Check APNs certificate in dashboard
Badge not updating	Check notification permissions
VoIP not working	Ensure VoIP capability is enabled
Notifications delayed	Check APNs environment (dev vs prod)

---

Best Practices

1. Always request permission before registering for notifications
2. Handle token refresh — tokens can change
3. Test on real devices — simulators don't support push
4. Use Notification Service Extension for rich notifications
5. Implement proper deep linking for notification taps
6. Clear badge count when user opens the app
7. Handle both foreground and background notifications