Transient Messages

Guide to sending real-time only transient messages using the CometChat iOS SDK that are not persisted.

Quick Reference for AI Agents & Developers

• Send transient: CometChat.sendTransientMessage(message:) — pass TransientMessage(receiverID:receiverType:data:)
• Receive transient: onTransientMessageReceived(_:) in message listener delegate
• Note: Transient messages are NOT saved — receiver must be online
• Use cases: Live location sharing, real-time indicators, ephemeral data
• Related: Send Message · Typing Indicators · Messaging Overview

Key Characteristics

Characteristic	Description
Fire-and-forget	No success/failure callbacks
NOT persisted	Cannot be retrieved from history
Real-time only	Receiver must be online
No receipts	No delivery/read receipts

---

Use Cases

Use Case	Description
Live reactions	Heart, thumbs up, emoji animations
Live location	Real-time location sharing
Ephemeral indicators	Temporary status updates
Custom real-time data	Any data that doesn’t need persistence

---

Send Transient Message (User)

Swift

let data: [String: Any] = ["LIVE_REACTION": "heart", "timestamp": Date().timeIntervalSince1970]
let transientMessage = TransientMessage(receiverID: "cometchat-uid-2", receiverType: .user, data: data)
CometChat.sendTransientMessage(message: transientMessage)

// Note: Fire-and-forget - no success/failure callback
// Message is NOT persisted - receiver must be online

Objective C

NSDictionary *data = @{@"LIVE_REACTION": @"heart"};
TransientMessage *transientMessage = [[TransientMessage alloc] initWithReceiverID:@"cometchat-uid-2" receiverType:ReceiverTypeUser data:data];
[CometChat sendTransientMessageWithMessage:transientMessage];

Sample Payloads - Transient Message (User)

Request

Method: CometChat.sendTransientMessage(message:)

Parameter	Type	Value
receiverID	String	"cometchat-uid-2"
receiverType	CometChat.ReceiverType	.user
data	[String: Any]	["LIVE_REACTION": "heart", "timestamp": 1772028567.875231]

Sent

Message Sent:

Parameter	Type	Value
receiverID	String	"cometchat-uid-2"
receiverType	String	"user"
data	[String: Any]	["LIVE_REACTION": "heart", "timestamp": 1772028567.875231]

Receiver Will Get:

Delegate Method	Description
onTransisentMessageReceived(_:)	Called with TransientMessage object

---

Send Transient Message (Group)

Swift

let data: [String: Any] = ["LIVE_REACTION": "thumbsup", "timestamp": Date().timeIntervalSince1970]
let transientMessage = TransientMessage(receiverID: "cometchat-guid-1", receiverType: .group, data: data)
CometChat.sendTransientMessage(message: transientMessage)

Sample Payloads - Transient Message (Group)

Request

Method: CometChat.sendTransientMessage(message:)

Parameter	Type	Value
receiverID	String	"cometchat-guid-1"
receiverType	CometChat.ReceiverType	.group
data	[String: Any]	["LIVE_REACTION": "thumbsup", "timestamp": 1772028570.0602489]

Sent

Message Sent:

Parameter	Type	Value
receiverID	String	"cometchat-guid-1"
receiverType	String	"group"
data	[String: Any]	["LIVE_REACTION": "thumbsup", "timestamp": 1772028570.0602489]

Receiver Will Get:

Delegate Method	Description
onTransisentMessageReceived(_:)	Called with TransientMessage object

---

Send Live Reaction

Swift

let data = ["LIVE_REACTION": "heart", "type": "live_reaction"]
let transientMessage = TransientMessage(receiverID: "cometchat-uid-2", receiverType: .user, data: data)
CometChat.sendTransientMessage(message: transientMessage)

Sample Payloads - Live Reaction

Request

Method: CometChat.sendTransientMessage(message:)

Parameter	Type	Value
receiverID	String	"cometchat-uid-2"
receiverType	CometChat.ReceiverType	.user
data.LIVE_REACTION	String	"heart"
data.type	String	"live_reaction"

Sent

Message Sent:

Parameter	Type	Value
receiverID	String	"cometchat-uid-2"
receiverType	String	"user"
data	[String: Any]	["LIVE_REACTION": "heart", "type": "live_reaction"]

Common Live Reactions

Reaction	Value
Heart	"heart"
Thumbs Up	"thumbsup"
Thumbs Down	"thumbsdown"
Laugh	"laugh"
Wow	"wow"
Sad	"sad"
Angry	"angry"

---

Send Live Location

Swift

let data: [String: Any] = [
    "type": "live_location",
    "latitude": 37.7749,
    "longitude": -122.4194,
    "accuracy": 10.0,
    "timestamp": Date().timeIntervalSince1970
]
let transientMessage = TransientMessage(receiverID: "cometchat-uid-2", receiverType: .user, data: data)
CometChat.sendTransientMessage(message: transientMessage)

Sample Payloads - Live Location

Request

Method: CometChat.sendTransientMessage(message:)

Parameter	Type	Value
receiverID	String	"cometchat-uid-2"
receiverType	CometChat.ReceiverType	.user
data.type	String	"live_location"
data.latitude	Double	37.7749
data.longitude	Double	-122.4194
data.accuracy	Double	10.0
data.timestamp	Double	1772028575.777206

Sent

Message Sent:

Parameter	Type	Value
receiverID	String	"cometchat-uid-2"
receiverType	String	"user"
data	[String: Any]	Location data dictionary

Live Location Data Properties

Property	Type	Description
type	String	"live_location"
latitude	Double	Latitude coordinate
longitude	Double	Longitude coordinate
accuracy	Double	Location accuracy in meters
timestamp	Double	Unix timestamp

---

Real-time Transient Message Events

To receive transient messages, implement CometChatMessageDelegate:

Swift

extension YourViewController: CometChatMessageDelegate {
    
    func onTransisentMessageReceived(_ message: TransientMessage) {
        print("Transient message received")
        print("Sender UID: \(message.sender?.uid ?? "")")
        print("Sender Name: \(message.sender?.name ?? "")")
        print("Receiver ID: \(message.receiverID)")
        print("Receiver Type: \(message.receiverType)")
        print("Data: \(message.data)")
        
        // Handle specific data types
        if let reaction = message.data["LIVE_REACTION"] as? String {
            print("Live Reaction: \(reaction)")
            // Show reaction animation
        }
        
        if let type = message.data["type"] as? String, type == "live_location" {
            let lat = message.data["latitude"] as? Double ?? 0
            let lon = message.data["longitude"] as? Double ?? 0
            print("Live Location: \(lat), \(lon)")
            // Update map marker
        }
    }
}

// Register the delegate:
CometChat.messagedelegate = self

Objective C

- (void)onTransisentMessageReceived:(TransientMessage *)message {
    NSLog(@"TransientMessage received: %@", [message stringValue]);
}

Sample Payloads - Receive Transient Message

Delegate Payload

Method: onTransisentMessageReceived(_ message: TransientMessage)

TransientMessage Object:

Parameter	Type	Value
sender.uid	String	"cometchat-uid-1"
sender.name	String	"John Doe"
receiverID	String	"cometchat-uid-2"
receiverType	ReceiverType	.user
data	[String: Any]	["LIVE_REACTION": "heart"]

---

TransientMessage Object Properties

Property	Type	Description
sender	User?	User who sent the transient message
receiverID	String	UID of user or GUID of group
receiverType	ReceiverType	.user or .group
data	[String: Any]	Custom data dictionary

Transient messages are NOT persisted and cannot be retrieved later. The receiver must be online to receive them. There are no delivery/read receipts for transient messages.