setup

name	setup
description	Set up CometChat Calls SDK v5 for React Native. Use when installing the SDK, configuring app settings, calling init, login, or setting up platform permissions. Triggers on "setup calls sdk", "install cometchat", "initialize calls", "npm install", "login calls sdk", "Info.plist", "AndroidManifest".
inclusion	manual

CometChat Calls SDK v5 — Setup (React Native)

Overview

Install and initialize the CometChat Calls SDK v5 in a React Native project. Covers npm installation, platform configuration, CometChatCalls.init(), authentication with login() or loginWithAuthToken(), and native permissions.

Key Imports

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

Implementation

1. Install the Package

npm install @cometchat/calls-sdk-react-native@latest

2. iOS Setup

Install CocoaPods:

cd ios && pod install && cd ..

Add to ios/YourApp/Info.plist:

<key>NSCameraUsageDescription</key>
<string>This app needs camera access for video calls</string>
<key>NSMicrophoneUsageDescription</key>
<string>This app needs microphone access for voice and video calls</string>

3. Android Setup

Add to android/app/src/main/AndroidManifest.xml:

<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.CAMERA" />
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.RECORD_AUDIO" />
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.MODIFY_AUDIO_SETTINGS" />
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.BLUETOOTH" />
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.BLUETOOTH_CONNECT" />

4. Initialize the SDK

const result = await CometChatCalls.init({
  appId: 'YOUR_APP_ID',
  region: 'us', // 'us' | 'eu' | 'in'
  authKey: 'YOUR_AUTH_KEY', // optional, can pass to login() instead
});

if (result.success) {
  console.log('Calls SDK initialized');
} else {
  console.error('Init failed:', result.error.message);
}

5. Login with UID + Auth Key (Development Only)

try {
  const user = await CometChatCalls.login('USER_UID', 'AUTH_KEY');
  console.log('Logged in:', user.name);
} catch (error) {
  console.error('Login failed:', error.errorDescription);
}

If authKey was provided in init(), you can omit it from login():

const user = await CometChatCalls.login('USER_UID');

6. Login with Auth Token (Production)

try {
  const user = await CometChatCalls.loginWithAuthToken('AUTH_TOKEN');
  console.log('Logged in:', user.name);
} catch (error) {
  console.error('Login failed:', error.errorDescription);
}

7. Check Login State

const user = CometChatCalls.getLoggedInUser();
if (user) {
  console.log('Already logged in as:', user.name);
}

if (CometChatCalls.isUserLoggedIn()) {
  // ready to join sessions
}

8. Logout

await CometChatCalls.logout();

9. Login Listeners (Optional)

CometChatCalls.addLoginListener('my-listener', {
  onLoginSuccess: (user) => console.log('Login success:', user.name),
  onLoginFailure: (error) => console.error('Login failed:', error.errorDescription),
  onLogoutSuccess: () => console.log('Logged out'),
  onLogoutFailure: (error) => console.error('Logout failed:', error.errorDescription),
});

// Remove when done
CometChatCalls.removeLoginListener('my-listener');

Gotchas

• Call init() before any other SDK method — typically in your app's root component or entry point
• init() returns { success, error } — it does not throw
• login() and loginWithAuthToken() throw on failure — use try/catch
• Auth Key login is for development only — use Auth Token in production
• The SDK persists login state in AsyncStorage — users stay logged in across app restarts
• If using both Chat SDK and Calls SDK, initialize and login to both separately
• On Android, you must request runtime permissions (PermissionsAndroid) before joining a session
• region accepts both lowercase ('us') and uppercase ('US')

Sample App Reference

• sample-apps/cometchat-calls-sample-app-react-native/ — React Native CLI sample with init + login flow