Group Overview

Group chat is a common multi-user communication method in instant messaging applications, typically involving two or more participants. RC's group services support rich features including member management, mute controls, offline push notifications, and message history roaming—ideal for interest groups, work teams, and customer service scenarios. IMKit provides out-of-the-box group chat UI components.

Service Configuration

The client SDK supports group functionality by default without additional activation. Basic features and value-added services can be enabled and configured in the Console under Basic features and IM service management.

• No limit exists on the number of groups creatable under an App Key. Individual users may join unlimited groups.
• Groups have capacity limits: Default member cap is 3,000 (configurable 联系客服).
• By default, Cloud Storage for One-to-One and Group Messages is disabled for App Keys. Self-service activation is available—see Enable Cloud Storage for One-to-One and Group Messages. For production App Keys, this service is exclusive to IM Premium and IM Enterprise plans.
• Normally, users only see messages sent after joining a group. When enabled, new members can access historical messages predating their membership. Learn more at Enable Access to Pre-join Group History.

Client SDK Notes

• Neither IMLib nor IMKit provides group management APIs. Group creation must be initiated via RC's server API through your application server. Other operations (e.g., disbanding groups, adding/removing members) also require server API calls. See Group Management Features below.
• Features like group ownership, admin roles, announcements, invitations, and group ID search are business logic to be implemented app-side.
• RC solely delivers messages to group members—it doesn't maintain group metadata (avatars, names, member profiles). Your app must:
  • Host this data on your business server
  • Implement IMKit interfaces to supply data
  • Refer to:
    • Group Information
    • Member Profiles
    • Member Lists

Group Management Features

Client developers interact solely with their app's backend for core management tasks (create/disband groups), which then calls RC's server APIs.

Server API	Description
Create Group, Dismiss Group	Requires creator UID, group ID, and name. Dismissal removes all member relationships.
Join Group, Quit Group	New members see messages post-join by default. Quitting stops new message delivery.
Refresh Group Info	Updates group metadata used in RC push services.
Query Group Members	Retrieves all member UIDs for a specified group.
Query User's Groups	Lists all groups a user has joined (IDs + names). Use to verify app-server data against RC's records.
Sync User's Groups	Aligns RC's records with your app's group membership data. Critical during initial RC integration if pre-existing groups exist.
Mute Specified Members	Restricts users from sending messages in specific/all groups while allowing message reception.
Enable Group-wide Mute	Silences all members. Exceptions require adding users to [Mute Exceptions].
Add to Mute Exceptions	Permits exempted users to send messages during group-wide mutes.