chat-sdk

name

chat-sdk

description

Build multi-platform chat bots with Chat SDK (`chat` npm package). Use when developers want to build a Slack, Teams, Google Chat, Discord, Telegram, GitHub, Linear, or WhatsApp bot, handle mentions, direct messages, subscribed threads, reactions, slash commands, cards, modals, files, or AI streaming, set up webhook routes or multi-adapter bots, send rich cards or streamed AI responses to chat platforms, or build a custom adapter or state adapter.

Chat SDK

Unified TypeScript SDK for building chat bots across Slack, Teams, Google Chat, Discord, Telegram, GitHub, Linear, and WhatsApp. Write bot logic once, deploy everywhere.

Start with published sources

When Chat SDK is installed in a user project, inspect the published files that ship in node_modules:

node_modules/chat/docs/                    # bundled docs
node_modules/chat/dist/index.d.ts          # core API types
node_modules/chat/dist/jsx-runtime.d.ts    # JSX runtime types
node_modules/chat/docs/contributing/       # adapter-authoring docs
node_modules/chat/docs/guides/             # framework/platform guides

If one of the paths below does not exist, that package is not installed in the project yet.

Read these before writing code:

• node_modules/chat/docs/getting-started.mdx — install and setup
• node_modules/chat/docs/usage.mdx — Chat config and lifecycle
• node_modules/chat/docs/handling-events.mdx — event routing and handlers
• node_modules/chat/docs/threads-messages-channels.mdx — thread/channel/message model
• node_modules/chat/docs/posting-messages.mdx — post, edit, delete, schedule
• node_modules/chat/docs/streaming.mdx — AI SDK integration and streaming semantics
• node_modules/chat/docs/cards.mdx — JSX cards
• node_modules/chat/docs/actions.mdx — button/select interactions
• node_modules/chat/docs/modals.mdx — modal submit/close flows
• node_modules/chat/docs/slash-commands.mdx — slash command routing
• node_modules/chat/docs/direct-messages.mdx — DM behavior and openDM()
• node_modules/chat/docs/files.mdx — attachments/uploads
• node_modules/chat/docs/state.mdx — persistence, locking, dedupe
• node_modules/chat/docs/adapters.mdx — cross-platform feature matrix
• node_modules/chat/docs/api/chat.mdx — exact Chat API
• node_modules/chat/docs/api/thread.mdx — exact Thread API
• node_modules/chat/docs/api/message.mdx — exact Message API
• node_modules/chat/docs/api/modals.mdx — modal element and event details

For the specific adapter or state package you are using, inspect that installed package's dist/index.d.ts export surface in node_modules.

Quick start

import { Chat } from "chat";
import { createSlackAdapter } from "@chat-adapter/slack";
import { createRedisState } from "@chat-adapter/state-redis";

const bot = new Chat({
  userName: "mybot",
  adapters: {
    slack: createSlackAdapter(),
  },
  state: createRedisState(),
  dedupeTtlMs: 600_000,
});

bot.onNewMention(async (thread) => {
  await thread.subscribe();
  await thread.post("Hello! I'm listening to this thread.");
});

bot.onSubscribedMessage(async (thread, message) => {
  await thread.post(`You said: ${message.text}`);
});

Core concepts

• Chat — main entry point; coordinates adapters, routing, locks, and state
• Adapters — platform-specific integrations for Slack, Teams, Google Chat, Discord, Telegram, GitHub, Linear, and WhatsApp
• State adapters — persistence for subscriptions, locks, dedupe, and thread state
• Thread — conversation context with post(), stream(), subscribe(), setState(), startTyping()
• Message — normalized content with text, formatted, attachments, author info, and platform raw
• Channel — container for threads and top-level posts

Event handlers

Handler	Trigger
onNewMention	Bot @-mentioned in an unsubscribed thread
onDirectMessage	New DM in an unsubscribed DM thread
onSubscribedMessage	Any message in a subscribed thread
onNewMessage(regex)	Regex match in an unsubscribed thread
onReaction(emojis?)	Emoji added or removed
onAction(actionIds?)	Button clicks and select/radio interactions
onModalSubmit(callbackId?)	Modal form submitted
onModalClose(callbackId?)	Modal dismissed/cancelled
onSlashCommand(commands?)	Slash command invocation
onAssistantThreadStarted	Slack assistant thread opened
onAssistantContextChanged	Slack assistant context changed
onAppHomeOpened	Slack App Home opened
onMemberJoinedChannel	Slack member joined channel event

Read node_modules/chat/docs/handling-events.mdx, node_modules/chat/docs/actions.mdx, node_modules/chat/docs/modals.mdx, and node_modules/chat/docs/slash-commands.mdx before wiring handlers. onDirectMessage behavior is documented in node_modules/chat/docs/direct-messages.mdx.

Streaming

Pass any AsyncIterable<string> to thread.post(). For AI SDK, prefer result.fullStream over result.textStream when available so step boundaries are preserved.

import { ToolLoopAgent } from "ai";

const agent = new ToolLoopAgent({ model: "anthropic/claude-4.5-sonnet" });

bot.onNewMention(async (thread, message) => {
  const result = await agent.stream({ prompt: message.text });
  await thread.post(result.fullStream);
});

Key details:

• streamingUpdateIntervalMs controls post+edit fallback cadence
• fallbackStreamingPlaceholderText defaults to "..."; set null to disable
• Structured StreamChunk support is Slack-only; other adapters ignore non-text chunks

Cards and modals (JSX)

Set jsxImportSource: "chat" in tsconfig.json.

Card components:

• Card, CardText, Section, Fields, Field, Button, CardLink, LinkButton, Actions, Select, SelectOption, RadioSelect, Table, Image, Divider

Modal components:

• Modal, TextInput, Select, SelectOption, RadioSelect

await thread.post(
  <Card title="Order #1234">
    <CardText>Your order has been received.</CardText>
    <Actions>
      <Button id="approve" style="primary">Approve</Button>
      <Button id="reject" style="danger">Reject</Button>
    </Actions>
  </Card>
);

Adapter inventory

See chat-sdk.dev/adapters for the current list of official, vendor-official, and community adapters, including package names and authors. For the exact factory function and config types of an installed adapter, inspect its dist/index.d.ts in node_modules.

Building a custom adapter

Read these published docs first:

• node_modules/chat/docs/contributing/building.mdx
• node_modules/chat/docs/contributing/testing.mdx
• node_modules/chat/docs/contributing/publishing.mdx

Also inspect:

• node_modules/chat/dist/index.d.ts — Adapter and related interfaces
• node_modules/@chat-adapter/shared/dist/index.d.ts — shared errors and utilities
• Installed official adapter dist/index.d.ts files — reference implementations for config and APIs

A custom adapter needs request verification, webhook parsing, message/thread/channel operations, ID encoding/decoding, and a format converter. Use BaseFormatConverter from chat and shared utilities from @chat-adapter/shared.

Webhook setup

Each registered adapter exposes bot.webhooks.<name>. Wire those directly to your HTTP framework routes. See node_modules/chat/docs/guides/slack-nextjs.mdx and node_modules/chat/docs/guides/discord-nuxt.mdx for framework-specific route patterns.