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Getting Started with KendoReact Chat
Premium

The KendoReact Chat component enables you to create interactive conversational interfaces in your React applications. It provides a comprehensive set of features for building chat experiences, including message display, user input handling, and real-time conversation management.

After completing this guide, you will be able to reproduce the following example.

Change Theme

Theme

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Before You Begin

npm create vite@latest my-app -- --template react

This guide requires basic knowledge of React and TypeScript and assumes you have already created a blank React project.

You can speed up the development of your KendoReact application with the Kendo UI Template Wizard for Visual Studio Code.

Install the Component

npm i @progress/kendo-react-conversational-ui

Importing the Component

After installing the package, import the Chat component in your React app. To enable message sending functionality, also import the Message entity.

In the src/App.js file of your React project, import the Chat component from the Conversational UI package:

jsx

// ES2015 module syntax
import { Chat, ChatSendMessageEvent, Message, User } from "@progress/kendo-react-conversational-ui";

jsx

// CommonJS format
const { Chat, ChatSendMessageEvent, Message, User } = require('@progress/kendo-react-conversational-ui');

Using the Component

Add the required Chat entities: a user, bot, and initialMessages.

tsx

const user: User = {
    id: 1,
    avatarUrl: 'assets/dropdowns/contacts/RICSU.jpg',
    avatarAltText: 'KendoReact Conversational UI RICSU'
};

const bot: User = { id: 0 };

const initialMessages: Message[] = [
    {
        id: 1,
        author: bot,
        timestamp: new Date(),
        text: 'Hello, This is the KendoReact Chat component.'
    }
];

Set the component messages and configure the updating of the messages collection in the state.

tsx

const App = () => {
    const [messages, setMessages] = React.useState<Message[]>(initialMessages);

    const addNewMessage = (event: ChatSendMessageEvent) => {
        setMessages([...messages, event.message]);
    };
  ...

Add the component's markup and set the messages, authorId, and message sending handler. Optionally, configure placeholder text and the height of the Chat component.

tsx

return (
    <Chat
        messages={messages}
        authorId={user.id}
        onSendMessage={addNewMessage}
        placeholder={'Type a message...'}
        width={400}
        className="k-m-auto"
    />
);

To style the Chat, install and import the Default theme, which is one of the three beautiful themes for KendoReact.

4.1. Install the Default theme package.
sh
```
npm i @progress/kendo-theme-default
```
4.2. Import the CSS file from the package in src/App.js. Add this import before your existing App.css import.
jsx
```
import '@progress/kendo-theme-default/dist/all.css';
```
Build and run the application by typing the following command in the root folder of your project:
sh
```
npm start
```
Navigate to http://localhost:3000 to see the KendoReact Chat component on the page.

Activating Your License Key

Important: The KendoReact Chat is a premium component that requires a license key file to be installed in your project. This applies to both trial and commercial usage:

Trial usage: Start a free trial and download a trial license key file
Commercial usage: Purchase a license and download a commercial license key file

Without a valid license key file, the component will display licensing warnings and watermarks.

Follow the instructions on the KendoReact My License page to download and install your license key file. You can skip this step if your application already contains a KendoReact license file.

Dependencies

The Chat component requires you to install the following peer dependencies in your application:

Package Name	Description
react 16.8.2*	Contains the functionality necessary to define React components.
react-dom	Contains the React renderer for the web.
@progress/kendo-licensing	Contains the internal infrastructure related to licensing.
@progress/kendo-react-buttons	Contains the KendoReact Buttons components.
@progress/kendo-react-common	Contains common utilities and helpers used across KendoReact components.
@progress/kendo-react-inputs	Contains the KendoReact Input components for handling user input.
@progress/kendo-react-labels	Contains the KendoReact Label components for form labeling and accessibility.
@progress/kendo-react-layout	Contains the KendoReact Layout components for building flexible layouts.
@progress/kendo-react-popup	Contains the KendoReact Popup component for displaying content in overlays.
@progress/kendo-react-treeview	Contains the KendoReact TreeView component for hierarchical data display.
@progress/kendo-react-notification	Contains the KendoReact Notification component for displaying alerts and messages.
@progress/kendo-react-upload	Contains the KendoReact Upload component for file uploading functionality.
@progress/kendo-react-intl	Contains the KendoReact Internationalization package that applies the desired cultures by providing services and pipes for the parsing and formatting of dates and numbers.
@progress/kendo-svg-icons	Contains the KendoReact SVG icons.