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Read receipts

2026-07-24

Overview

Message reading receipt helps users know whether other users have read the messages they sent in a conversation. This feature applies to enterprise office businesses and other scenarios in which the message reading status needs to be known in real time.

Message receipt.png

This document describes how to use APIs of the In-app Chat SDK to send messages that require a reading receipt, query the receipt status of messages, and set messages as read.

Warning

The In-app Chat SDK supports reading receipts for one-to-one messages and group messages (only common messages and rich media messages) and does not support reading receipts for in-room messages.

Implementation process

The sender sends a message through the In-app Chat SDK and sets the hasReceipt field of ZIMMessageSendConfig to identify whether a reading receipt is required for the message. Based on the receiptStatus field, the receiver determines whether a reading receipt is required for the message or whether the message is read or unread to render different UI effects. The message receiver can use different reading methods based on the scenario.

Send a message that requires a reading receipt

When Client A wants to send a message that requires a reading receipt to Client B:

  1. Client A and Client B log in to the In-app Chat service.
  2. Client A calls the sendMessage or sendMediaMessage API to send a message (common message or rich media message in one-to-one or group chats) to Client B and sets the hasReceipt field of ZIMMessageSendConfig to true.
  1. Client A calls the sendMessage or sendMediaMessage API to send a message to Client B (only supports ZIMTextMessage, ZIMImageMessage, ZIMFileMessage, ZIMAudioMessage, ZIMVideoMessage, ZIMCombineMessage, and ZIMMultipleMessage in "one-to-one" chats and "group" chats), and sets the hasReceipt field of ZIMMessageSendConfig to true;
  1. By listening for related callback (onMessageReceived or onMessageReceived), Client B receives a message whose receiptStatus is set to PROCESSING.

Set the reading receipt status as read

In this operation, set a message as read and set a conversation as read are both supported.

Set a message as read

The receiver can set a message that requires a reading receipt from the sender as read. Then, the sender will receive a message read notification.

Warning
  • A single message or a batch of messages are supported. The sender and receiver must be in the same conversation. Cross-conversation operations are not supported.

  • To perform operations on the historical messages of the conversation, you need to get the historical messages and determine the receipt status of the historical messages. For details, see Get message history.

  1. Through related callback (onMessageReceived or onMessageReceived), Client B receives a message that requires a reading receipt from Client A.
  2. Based on the receiptStatus field of the callback, Client B determines the receipt status of the message. If this field is set to PROCESSING, the message is unread. Developers can call the sendMessageReceiptsRead API to set the message as read based on the service logic.
  3. Client B determines whether the setting is successful based on ZIMMessageReceiptsReadSentCallback.
  4. Based on onMessageReceiptChanged of ZIMEventHandler, Client A receives a callback notification, indicating that the message is set as read. Developers can implement the service logic of setting the message as read on Client A based on this callback.

Set a conversation as read

The receiver can set all messages received from the sender in a specified conversation as read.

Warning
  • The In-app Chat SDK supports this feature only in one-to-one chats.

  • This feature takes effect only on messages received before setting the feature.

  • It is recommended that this feature be used when a user switches from the conversation list page to a conversation. It is not recommended that this feature be used together with the sendMessageReceiptsRead API on a message chat page.

  • To perform operations on the historical messages of the conversation, you need to get the historical messages and determine the receipt status of the historical messages. For details, see Get message history.

  1. Based on the receiptStatus field of the onMessageReceived callback, Client B determines the receipt status of the message. If this field is set to PROCESSING, the message is unread. Developers can call the sendConversationMessageReceiptRead API to set all messages sent by Client A in the conversation as read based on the service logic.
  2. Client B determines whether the setting is successful based on ZIMConversationMessageReceiptReadSentResult .
  3. Based on onConversationMessageReceiptChanged of ZIMEventHandler , Client A receives a callback notification, indicating that all messages in the conversation are set as read. Developers can implement the logic of setting all messages sent from the sender in the conversation as read based on this callback. Developers can implement the service logic of knowing all sent messages in a conversation are set as read by Client B on Client A based on this callback.

More features

Get read receipt time

Through ZIMMessageReceiptInfo.readTime , you can get the read receipt time of the message, which can be used to implement the business scenario of secret chat, such as "burn after reading".

Supported interfaces: queryMessageReceiptsInfoonMessageReceiptChanged.

Warning
  • For the message sender: When all members in the conversation have read the message, the read receipt time will have a value, and the server timestamp when the last member reads will be returned. Otherwise, the value is 0.
  • For the message receiver: The read receipt time is the server timestamp when the sendMessageReceiptsRead API is successfully called. Otherwise, the value is 0.
  • Get read receipt time does not support “Set a conversation as read”.
  • 2.22.0 version onwards.

Batch query the message receipt status, number of users who have read the message, and number of users who have not read the message

To query the message receipt status, the number of users who have read the message, and the number of users who have not read the message of a message or a batch of messages, call the queryMessageReceiptsInfo API. Call ZIMMessageReceiptsInfoQueriedResult to obtain related information.

Warning
  • If messages sent by other users are queried, the number of users who have read the message and the number of users who have not read the message are 0.

  • To perform operations on the historical messages of the conversation, you need to get the historical messages and determine the receipt status of the historical messages. For details, see Get message history.

Query the list of members who have or have not read a group message

The In-app Chat SDK supports querying the list of members who have or have not read a group message.

Query the list of members who have read a group message

To query the list of members who have read a group message, call the queryGroupMessageReceiptReadMemberList API.

Warning

To perform operations on the historical messages of the conversation, you need to get the historical messages and determine the receipt status of the historical messages. For details, see Get message history.

Query the list of members who have not read a group message

To query the list of members who have not read a group message, call the queryGroupMessageReceiptUnreadMemberList API.

Warning
  • If the SDK version is older than 2.16.0, when the number of group members is greater than 100, this API will not return the list of members who have not read a group message. To use this feature, contact ZEGOCLOUD technical support.

  • To perform operations on the historical messages of the conversation, you need to get the historical messages and determine the receipt status of the historical messages. For details, see Get message history.

Sample code

ZIMEventHandler.onMessageReceiptChanged = (zim, infos) {
// The other party has set the message read receipt
= };
    
ZIMEventHandler.onConversationMessageReceiptChanged = (zim, infos) {
        // The other party has set the conversation read receipt
};

// User A sends a message that requires a reading receipt. A text one-to-one message is used as an example.

String conversationID = "xxx" ; // The conversation ID

ZIMTextMessage message = ZIMTextMessage(message: "test");
ZIMMessageSendConfig sendConfig = ZIMMessageSendConfig();
sendConfig.hasReceipt = true; 
ZIM
    .getInstance()!
    .sendMessage(
        message, conversationID, ZIMConversationType.peer, sendConfig)
    .then((result) {
        // This indicates that the message has been successfully sent. The receiptStatus of the message will be PROCESSING, and the business layer can implement logic to display the unread receipt.
    })
    .catchError((onError) {

    });

// User B receives the message that requires a reading receipt and sets the message as read by calling any of the following APIs.

// Set a message as read

List<ZIMMessage> messages = [];
ZIM
    .getInstance()!
    .sendMessageReceiptsRead(
        messages, conversationID, ZIMConversationType.peer)
    .then((result) {
    // Callback for setting a message as read.
    })
    .catchError((onError) {

    });

// Set a conversation as read

ZIM
    .getInstance()!
    .sendConversationMessageReceiptRead(
        conversationID, ZIMConversationType.peer)
    .then((value) {
    // A conversation is read. Developers can listen for this callback to set all messages sent by the sender in this conversation as read.
    })
    .catchError((onError) {

    });

// (Optional) Batch query the message receipt status, number of users who have read the message, and number of users who have not read the message.


List<ZIMMessage> messages = [];
ZIM
    .getInstance()!
    .queryMessageReceiptsInfo(
        messages, conversationID, ZIMConversationType.peer)
    .then((value) {
    // The status and quantity of this batch of messages are queried, and the corresponding message ID and count are obtained by traversing the information.
    })
    .catchError((onError) {});

// (Optional) Query the list of members who have or have not read a group message.

// The list of members who have read a group message
ZIMGroupMessageReceiptMemberQueryConfig config =
    ZIMGroupMessageReceiptMemberQueryConfig();
config.nextFlag = 0;    // The query flag. It is set to 0 in the first query. In subsequent queries, it is set to the flag returned in the callback.
config.count = 10;    // The user quantity to be queried.

ZIM
    .getInstance()!
    .queryGroupMessageReceiptReadMemberList(message, groupID, config)
    .then((result) {
        //  The corresponding member list is queried.
    })
    .catchError((onError) {

    });

// The list of members who have not read a group message
ZIMGroupMessageReceiptMemberQueryConfig config = ZIMGroupMessageReceiptMemberQueryConfig();
config.nextFlag = 0;    // The query flag. It is set to 0 in the first query. In subsequent queries, it is set to the flag returned in the callback.
config.count = 10;    // The user quantity to be queried.

ZIM
    .getInstance()!
    .queryGroupMessageReceiptUnreadMemberList(message, groupID, config)
    .then((result) {
        // The corresponding member list is queried.
    })
    .catchError((onError) {

    });

Get the delivered status of receipt messages

After the sender sends a receipt message, if the receiver's device has received the message, the receipt status of the message will change to delivered. Developers can listen for receipt status changes through the onMessageReceiptChanged callback.

Note

Since ZIM 3.1.0, a "delivered" status has been added between "processing" and "completed" for message receipts, indicating that the receipt message has been delivered. To use this feature, contact ZEGO technical support.

The receipt status of messages in the following scenarios will change to "delivered" and trigger the onMessageReceiptChanged callback.

One-to-one chat:

  • After the receiver receives the message online, the SDK automatically confirms delivery.
  • After the receiver receives an offline push and calls the server API to confirm delivery.
  • When there is no offline push, the SDK automatically confirms delivery after the receiver comes online and pulls the message.

Group chat:

  • When all group members have received the message and some members have not yet read it, the receipt status transitions to "delivered".
Note

Offline push delivery does not mean the message itself has been delivered. Only when the ZIM message actually reaches the receiver or is confirmed through the server API will the status transition to "delivered".

If you need the message receipt status on the sender side to change to "delivered" after the message receiver receives an offline push (iOS can enable push interception, Android FCM can use DataMessage push message type, domestic Android manufacturers currently do not support this), you can call Server API - Set delivered receipts for group messages after receiving the push to confirm.

Query the member list of group message receipt status

Call queryGroupMessageReceiptMemberList to query the member list of group messages with read, unread (undelivered), or delivered status.

Parameter description:

ParameterDescription
messageThe message with receipt to query.
groupIDThe group ID of the corresponding group conversation.
countThe number of users to query, up to 100 per query.
configQuery configuration: ZIMGroupMessageReceiptMemberQueryConfig, which can configure the query start marker nextFlag and the query item (read, unread [undelivered], delivered).
Return valueDescription
ZIMGroupMessageReceiptMemberListQueriedResultQuery result, where userList is the group member list matching the query conditions, and nextFlag is the start marker for the next query (when nextFlag is 0, the query is complete).

Sample code:

ZIMGroupMessageReceiptMemberQueryConfig config = ZIMGroupMessageReceiptMemberQueryConfig();
config.nextFlag = 0;    // Query start marker, initially set to 0, then set to the nextFlag returned from the callback.
config.count = 10;      // Number of users to query, up to 100 per query.

ZIM.getInstance()!
    .queryGroupMessageReceiptMemberList(message, groupID, count, config)
    .then((result) {
        // Query successful, result.userList is the group member list matching the query conditions
        // result.nextFlag is the start marker for the next query, nextFlag is 0 when the query is complete
    })
    .catchError((onError) {
        // Query failed
    });

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