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/adapters/index.d.ts # static adapter catalog types
node_modules/chat/dist/jsx-runtime.d.ts    # JSX runtime types
node_modules/chat/docs/contributing/       # adapter-authoring docs
node_modules/chat/resources/guides/        # framework/platform guides (markdown)
node_modules/chat/resources/templates.json # starter templates (title, description, href)

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-adapters.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.

Adapter catalog subpath

Chat SDK exposes a zero-dependency static catalog at chat/adapters. Agents can import ADAPTERS, ADAPTER_NAMES, getAdapter, isAdapterSlug, listEnvVars, getSecretEnvVars, and metadata types like CatalogAdapter and AdapterSlug from this subpath without importing any adapter implementation package.

Use it for:

• Listing official and vendor-official adapter slugs, names, npm packages, groups, and platform vs state types.
• Building setup or onboarding flows that need package names, peer dependencies, and install guidance before any adapter is installed.
• Discovering required, optional, and credential-mode environment variables for an adapter, including which variables are secrets.
• Keeping vendor-official adapter docs and metadata aligned with the catalog when adding or updating a listed adapter.

Available resources

Guides

• node_modules/chat/resources/guides/how-to-build-an-ai-agent-for-slack-with-chat-sdk-and-ai-sdk.md — Build a Slack AI agent using Chat SDK, AI SDK's ToolLoopAgent, and Vercel AI Gateway. Covers project setup, tool definitions, streaming responses, deployment to Vercel, and scaling tool selection with toolpick.
• node_modules/chat/resources/guides/human-in-the-loop-with-chat-sdk-and-workflow-sdk.md — Pause durable workflows on Slack approval cards using Chat SDK and Workflow SDK. Uses createWebhook to suspend workflows until a button click, with patterns for multi-stage approvals, timeouts via durable sleep, and approver validation.
• node_modules/chat/resources/guides/liveblocks-chat-sdk-ai-sdk.md — Build an AI agent that replies to @-mentions in Liveblocks comment threads with streamed responses and tool calling. Uses Chat SDK, the Liveblocks adapter, AI SDK's ToolLoopAgent, and Redis for thread subscriptions and distributed locking.
• node_modules/chat/resources/guides/slack-bot-vercel-blob.md — Build a Slack bot that lists, reads, uploads, and deletes files in Vercel Blob through tool calls. Uses Chat SDK, AI SDK's ToolLoopAgent, and Files SDK's createFileTools factory with approval-gated write tools and a read-only mode.
• node_modules/chat/resources/guides/run-and-track-deploys-from-slack.md — Build a Slack deploy bot with Chat SDK and Vercel Workflow. Dispatch GitHub Actions from a slash command, gate production behind approval, poll for completion, and notify Linear and GitHub when the run finishes.
• node_modules/chat/resources/guides/triage-form-submissions-with-chat-sdk.md — Build a Slack bot that triages form submissions with interactive cards. Forward, edit, or mark as spam without leaving Slack. Built with Chat SDK, Hono, and Resend.
• node_modules/chat/resources/guides/how-to-build-a-slack-bot-with-next-js-and-redis.md — This guide walks through building a Slack bot with Next.js, covering project setup, Slack app configuration, event handling, interactive features, and deployment.
• node_modules/chat/resources/guides/create-a-discord-support-bot-with-nuxt-and-redis.md — This guide walks through building a Discord support bot with Nuxt, covering project setup, Discord app configuration, Gateway forwarding, AI-powered responses, and deployment.
• node_modules/chat/resources/guides/ship-a-github-code-review-bot-with-hono-and-redis.md — This guide walks through building a GitHub bot that reviews pull requests on demand. When a user @mentions the bot on a PR, Chat SDK picks up the mention, spins up a Vercel Sandbox with the repo cloned, and uses AI SDK to analyze the diff.

Templates

Listed in node_modules/chat/resources/templates.json:

• Chat SDK Liveblocks Bot — Build a bot that you can engage with inside Liveblocks. (https://vercel.com/templates/next.js/chat-sdk-liveblocks-bot)
• Durable iMessage Agent — Durable iMessage agent powered by the Sendblue adapter. (https://vercel.com/templates/nitro/durable-imessage-ai-agent)
• Knowledge Agent — Open source file-system and knowledge based agent template. Build AI agents that stay up to date with your knowledge base. (https://vercel.com/templates/nuxt/chat-sdk-knowledge-agent)
• Community Agent — Open source AI-powered Slack community management bot with a built-in Next.js admin panel. Uses Chat SDK, AI SDK, and Vercel Workflow. (https://vercel.com/templates/next.js/chat-sdk-community-agent)

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

Button and Modal accept a callbackUrl prop — when triggered, the SDK POSTs the action payload to that URL in addition to firing any onAction / onModalSubmit handler. Use this for webhook-based workflow flows. See node_modules/chat/docs/actions.mdx and node_modules/chat/docs/modals.mdx.

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/resources/guides/how-to-build-a-slack-bot-with-next-js-and-redis.md and node_modules/chat/resources/guides/create-a-discord-support-bot-with-nuxt-and-redis.md for framework-specific route patterns.