cometchat-react-v7-placement

Ground truth: @cometchat/chat-uikit-react@7. Uses only components defined in cometchat-react-v7-core/-components (from live v7 docs). Status: catalog-verified vs installed 7.1.0 (exports-only web-v7.json). Fetch layout-specific props from the component's .md twin (../cometchat-react-v7-core/references/docs-map.md).

Companion skills (read first)

• cometchat-react-v7-core — install, init→login→render, provider. This skill ASSUMES it.
• cometchat-react-v7-components — the component catalog this composes.

Use this skill when

Deciding/​wiring WHERE chat lives — and either (a) growing the core surface into the whole combined chat app (selector tabs ↔ messages ↔ details/thread/search side panel + incoming call) when the user asks for the full app, or (b) a scoped-down sidebar/split, popup/floating widget, or embedded panel. Triggers: "build a full chat app", "add users/groups/calls tabs and a side panel", "add chat as a sidebar", "full screen chat page", "chat popup widget", "embed chat in my dashboard". Note: a plain unscoped "add chat" defaults to the production-ready CORE surface (list ↔ message pane) in cometchat-react-v7-core — grow to the combined app below only on request.

Prerequisites & install

Covered by core. No new package.

Placement patterns (BAKED) — each composes core components

• Core surface (THE DEFAULT for an unscoped "add chat") — production-ready, but lean. Inside CometChatErrorBoundary → ONE CometChatProvider, a two-column layout: a CometChatConversations LIST ↔ a MESSAGE pane (CometChatMessageHeader + CometChatMessageList + CometChatMessageComposer), sized per ../cometchat-react-v7-core/references/layout.md, with the thread-replies panel and the in-chat scoped message search wired by DEFAULT (opt-out only) and the global conversation search bar wired-or-hidden, collapsing to one pane on mobile. One small host state object coordinates {selected conversation, which side view (thread | in-chat-search | none)}. Complete and wired — NOT a bare demo — but NOT the whole app. See the "Core-surface recipe" below.
• Grow to the full combined app (on request) — the whole app the official sample ships. When the user asks for the full app, grow the core surface into a three-column layout, all under CometChatErrorBoundary → ONE CometChatProvider: a SELECTOR column (the list for the active tab — CometChatConversations / CometChatUsers / CometChatGroups / CometChatCallLogs — + a tab bar), a MESSAGE pane, and a mutually-exclusive SIDE panel (user/group details, a thread CometChatThreadHeader + list/composer, or a scoped CometChatSearch), plus CometChatIncomingCall mounted at root. One host state object coordinates {active tab, selected user/group, thread parent, which side panel}. It is the UNION of the core surface + these growths — see the "Combined-app recipe (grow target)" below. Least-code = reach for these drop-ins (HOW).
• Sidebar / split: conversations list in a fixed side panel; the message pane fills the rest. Selection state links list → message pane. (Scoped-down variant.)
• Popup / floating widget: a toggle button mounts the chat panel in an overlay; keep CometChatProvider mounted at app root so init/login persist across open/close. (Scoped-down variant.)
• Embedded panel: drop the message components into an existing page region; reuse the host layout/containers. (Scoped-down variant.)

Default to the CORE surface for a plain "add chat"; grow to the full combined app when the user asks for the whole app; honor an explicit smaller scope (the narrower three).

Recipes (FETCH — references/recipes.md)

The two production recipes — full TSX + the 3-column CSS — live in references/recipes.md (progressive disclosure; load it when you build):

• Core-surface recipe — THE DEFAULT for a plain "add chat": CometChatErrorBoundary → one CometChatProvider → two-column list ↔ message pane, thread panel + in-chat scoped search wired by default, mobile one-pane collapse.
• Combined-app recipe — the GROW target (whole app, on request): three columns (selector tabs ↔ message pane ↔ mutually-exclusive details/thread/search side panel) + CometChatIncomingCall.

Both encode the same invariants — keep them when you emit the code:

Selection has THREE obligations (AUDIT-079) — a selection that only opens a pane is a dead-end: (1) render the pane; (2) REFLECT it in the list (pass activeConversation/activeUser/activeGroup so the row highlights); (3) every opened side panel is CLOSEABLE (wire onBack/onClose). A list-header action ("New chat"/"Create group") goes in the list's headerView — which REPLACES the default header, so render the title AND the button together inside it — NOT a sibling above the list (AUDIT-083; pattern in ../cometchat-react-v7-core/references/component-props.md).

Both satisfy the reflow-free-surface standard (../cometchat-react-v7-core/references/layout.md) and collapse to one pane on mobile (below). The recipes use the useIsMobile hook defined in the Responsive / mobile section below.

Responsive / mobile — one screen at a time (MANDATORY for any multi-pane layout)

Every pattern above that shows more than one pane (full-screen two-pane, sidebar/split, list+thread/detail) MUST collapse to a SINGLE screen at a time on small viewports — a fixed side-by-side layout that squashes on a phone is a defect (RULES.md §14), not a style choice. The kit has no responsive shell (no WithMessages/CometChatUI); you compose it from the same selection state, gated by a breakpoint.

• Mobile = a navigation stack: conversations list → tap a conversation → the message pane REPLACES the list full-screen → tap the header → the profile/thread panel REPLACES the message pane. Wide viewport → the SAME state renders side-by-side.
• Reuse the built-in back button (don't hand-roll one): CometChatMessageHeader ships hideBackButton (default false) + onBack(). On mobile wire onBack to clear the selection (pop to the list) and keep the button visible; on wide set hideBackButton (the list is always there).

// SSR-guarded breakpoint hook
function useIsMobile(query = "(max-width: 768px)") {
  const read = () => typeof window !== "undefined" && window.matchMedia(query).matches;
  const [m, setM] = useState(read);
  useEffect(() => {
    const mq = window.matchMedia(query);
    const on = () => setM(mq.matches);
    mq.addEventListener("change", on);
    return () => mq.removeEventListener("change", on);
  }, [query]);
  return m;
}

// Mobile: render exactly ONE pane based on state; wide: render them side-by-side.
const isMobile = useIsMobile();
if (isMobile) {
  if (detail && selected) return <DetailOrThread onClose={() => setDetail(null)} />;
  if (selected) return (
    <MessagePane>
      <CometChatMessageHeader {...target} hideBackButton={false} onBack={() => setSelected(null)} />
      {/* list + composer */}
    </MessagePane>
  );
  return <CometChatConversations onItemClick={pick} />;   // list only
}
// wide → the two/three-pane layout, header with hideBackButton

Native (RN/Flutter): use the platform navigator (stack navigation) — one screen per route — not a web split view.

Layout wiring per placement

• Every placement satisfies the reflow-free-surface standard (../cometchat-react-v7-core/references/layout.md) — pin a content-INDEPENDENT height (full-screen → 100dvh; sidebar/split → the panes take a viewport or flex/grid-supplied height; popup/embedded → a fixed height e.g. 600px or a sized grid/flex cell — never min-height/auto), prepare the ancestor chain, and size the columns with min-height:0/overflow:hidden. The kit fills its parent, so a content-driven container both collapses the chat to ~0px AND grows-into-place as content loads (the two named failure modes).
• Keep CometChatProvider at a stable ancestor (not remounted per route/toggle) so init+login survive navigation.
• Manage the selected conversation/user/group in host state and pass it to the message components. Fetch the exact selection props from the component's .md twin (../cometchat-react-v7-core/references/docs-map.md).
• Reuse the app's existing routing/layout; add wiring, never rewrite (RULES.md).
• Open an overlay/companion IN the pane its trigger lives in — not full-screen (AUDIT-014). Search opened from the CometChatConversations search bar (onSearchBarClicked → CometChatSearch) renders in the conversations list column, over the list — the message pane stays visible; onBack/result-click returns to the list. Do NOT take over the whole screen (it hides the conversation the user was reading). Header search (onSearchOptionClicked, scoped by uid/guid) opens the same way. A full-screen replacement is correct ONLY on a mobile single-pane (§ responsive), where the search IS the list-level screen. Same principle for any pane-rooted affordance (thread/profile open in the side panel, not full-screen on desktop).

// Wide: the LEFT column shows search when open, else the list — message pane stays.
const listColumn = searchOpen
  ? <CometChatSearch onBack={() => setSearchOpen(false)} onConversationClicked={pick} onMessageClicked={jump} />
  : <CometChatConversations showSearchBar onSearchBarClicked={() => setSearchOpen(true)} onItemClick={pick} />;
// <aside className="list-column">{listColumn}</aside> <main>{messagePane}</main>
// Mobile (single-pane): if (searchOpen) render <CometChatSearch/> full-screen (it's the list screen).

Common pitfalls (BAKED)

• Remounting CometChatProvider on every route/toggle (re-triggers init/login). Rendering the message pane before a conversation is selected. Nesting multiple providers.
• Shipping a fixed side-by-side layout with no small-viewport collapse — the #1 layout defect. On a phone the list + message panes squash and tapping a conversation does nothing visible. Always add the mobile single-pane branch above and wire the header's built-in onBack (AUDIT-011).
• Not wrapping the surface in CometChatErrorBoundary — a render error in any kit component then blanks the whole page (white screen) instead of showing a localized fallback + retry. Both recipes above wrap the surface; keep it.
• A surface that grows into place as content loads (load-transition reflow) — small while the list loads, then jumps to full size. The box is content-driven, not pinned: satisfy layout.md (pinned 100dvh, prepared ancestor chain, min-height:0 columns) and let the kit's own loadingView/emptyView fill the pinned box — don't gate the surface behind your own placeholder→chat swap (AUDIT-023).
• Over-delivering the whole combined app on a plain "add chat" — the default is the Core-surface recipe (list ↔ message pane); grow to the Combined-app recipe (selector tabs + side panel + incoming call) only when the user asks for the whole app.

Verify it works

Chat renders in the chosen layout inside a CometChatErrorBoundary, and on a narrow viewport it collapses to ONE pane at a time (list → message → back) — no squashed side-by-side panes on a phone. Default "add chat" ⇒ the Core-surface recipe (list ↔ message pane, sized, affordances wired-or-hidden); the whole combined app (tabs + side panel + incoming call) is the grow target for an explicit full-app ask.

Close (after it builds): end with the shared 3-option selectable menu and WAIT for the pick — (1) add another feature (suggest a few not-yet-wired) · (2) customize theming · (3) test it manually (stop; let the user check). Same contract as the cometchat-react-v7-core close (RULES.md §19).