chat-sdk

Originally fromvercel/chat
SKILL.md

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.mdxChat 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() or thread.stream(). 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

Official platform adapters

Platform Package Factory
Slack @chat-adapter/slack createSlackAdapter
Microsoft Teams @chat-adapter/teams createTeamsAdapter
Google Chat @chat-adapter/gchat createGoogleChatAdapter
Discord @chat-adapter/discord createDiscordAdapter
GitHub @chat-adapter/github createGitHubAdapter
Linear @chat-adapter/linear createLinearAdapter
Telegram @chat-adapter/telegram createTelegramAdapter
WhatsApp Business Cloud @chat-adapter/whatsapp createWhatsAppAdapter

Official state adapters

State backend Package Factory
Redis @chat-adapter/state-redis createRedisState
ioredis @chat-adapter/state-ioredis createIoRedisState
PostgreSQL @chat-adapter/state-pg createPostgresState
Memory @chat-adapter/state-memory createMemoryState

Community adapters

  • chat-state-cloudflare-do
  • @beeper/chat-adapter-matrix
  • chat-adapter-imessage
  • @bitbasti/chat-adapter-webex
  • @resend/chat-sdk-adapter
  • chat-adapter-baileys

Coming-soon platform entries

  • Instagram
  • Signal
  • X
  • Messenger

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.tsAdapter 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.

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