ShortCut Formatter

Add shortcut text expansion to the message composer using CometChatTextFormatter and the message-shortcuts extension.

AI Agent Component Spec

Field	Value
Package	Custom class extending com.cometchat.chatuikit.shared.formatters.CometChatTextFormatter
Key class	ShortCutFormatter (extends CometChatTextFormatter)
Required setup	CometChatUIKit.init() then CometChatUIKit.login("UID")
Track character	! — triggers shortcut expansion in the message composer
Extension	message-shortcuts CometChat extension must be enabled
Sample app	GitHub
Related	Mentions Formatter | All Guides

ShortCutFormatter extends CometChatTextFormatter to expand shortcodes (like !hi) into full text via the Message Shortcuts extension. When a user types a shortcut trigger in the composer, a suggestion appears with the expansion — selecting it inserts the text.

---

Steps

1. Create the ShortCutFormatter class

Extend CometChatTextFormatter with '!' as the tracking character:

Kotlin

class ShortCutFormatterKotlin : CometChatTextFormatter('!') {
    private val messageShortcuts: HashMap<String, String> = HashMap()
    private val shortcuts: MutableList<SuggestionItem> = ArrayList()

    init {
        prepareShortCuts()
    }
}

Java

public class ShortCutFormatter extends CometChatTextFormatter {
    private HashMap<String, String> messageShortcuts;
    private List<SuggestionItem> shortcuts;

    public ShortCutFormatter() {
        super('!');
        messageShortcuts = new HashMap<>();
        shortcuts = new ArrayList<>();
        prepareShortCuts();
    }
}

2. Fetch shortcuts from the extension

Kotlin

private fun prepareShortCuts() {
    CometChat.callExtension(
        "message-shortcuts", "GET", "/v1/fetch", null,
        object : CometChat.CallbackListener<JSONObject>() {
            override fun onSuccess(responseObject: JSONObject) {
                try {
                    val shortcutObject = responseObject
                        .getJSONObject("data").getJSONObject("shortcuts")
                    val keysItr = shortcutObject.keys()
                    while (keysItr.hasNext()) {
                        val key = keysItr.next()
                        messageShortcuts[key] = shortcutObject.getString(key)
                    }
                } catch (e: JSONException) { e.printStackTrace() }
            }
            override fun onError(e: CometChatException) {}
        })
}

Java

private void prepareShortCuts() {
    CometChat.callExtension("message-shortcuts", "GET", "/v1/fetch", null,
        new CometChat.CallbackListener<JSONObject>() {
            @Override
            public void onSuccess(JSONObject responseObject) {
                try {
                    JSONObject shortcutObject = responseObject
                        .getJSONObject("data").getJSONObject("shortcuts");
                    Iterator<String> keysItr = shortcutObject.keys();
                    while (keysItr.hasNext()) {
                        String key = keysItr.next();
                        messageShortcuts.put(key, shortcutObject.getString(key));
                    }
                } catch (JSONException e) { e.printStackTrace(); }
            }
            @Override
            public void onError(CometChatException e) {}
        });
}

3. Override the search method

Match user input against stored shortcuts and update the suggestion list:

Kotlin

override fun search(context: Context, queryString: String?) {
    val query = trackingCharacter.toString() + queryString
    shortcuts.clear()
    if (messageShortcuts.containsKey(query)) {
        val suggestionItem = SuggestionItem(
            "", "$query  =>  ${messageShortcuts[query]}",
            null, null, messageShortcuts[query], null, null
        )
        suggestionItem.isHideLeadingIcon = true
        shortcuts.add(suggestionItem)
    }
    setSuggestionItemList(shortcuts)
}

Java

@Override
public void search(@NonNull Context context, String queryString) {
    String query = getTrackingCharacter() + queryString;
    shortcuts.clear();
    if (messageShortcuts.containsKey(query)) {
        SuggestionItem suggestionItem = new SuggestionItem(
            "", query + "  =>  " + messageShortcuts.get(query),
            null, null, messageShortcuts.get(query), null, null);
        suggestionItem.setHideLeadingIcon(true);
        shortcuts.add(suggestionItem);
    }
    setSuggestionItemList(shortcuts);
}

4. Override onScrollToBottom

Kotlin

override fun onScrollToBottom() {
    // No pagination needed for shortcuts
}

Java

@Override
public void onScrollToBottom() {
    // No pagination needed for shortcuts
}

5. Integrate with MessageComposer

Add the XML element to your layout:

<com.cometchat.chatuikit.messagecomposer.CometChatMessageComposer
    android:id="@+id/composer"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent" />

Then add the formatter to the composer:

Kotlin

val cometChatMessageComposer: CometChatMessageComposer = findViewById(R.id.composer)

val cometChatTextFormatters = CometChatUIKit.getDataSource().getTextFormatters(this, cometChatMessageComposer.additionParameter)
cometChatTextFormatters.add(ShortCutFormatterKotlin())
cometChatMessageComposer.setTextFormatters(cometChatTextFormatters)

Java

CometChatMessageComposer cometChatMessageComposer = findViewById(R.id.composer);

List<CometChatTextFormatter> cometChatTextFormatters = CometChatUIKit.getDataSource().getTextFormatters(this, cometChatMessageComposer.getAdditionParameter());
cometChatTextFormatters.add(new ShortCutFormatter());
cometChatMessageComposer.setTextFormatters(cometChatTextFormatters);

Typing ! followed by a valid shortcut key (e.g., !hi) displays a suggestion with the expanded text. Selecting it inserts the expansion into the composer.

---

Next Steps

Message Composer

Configure the composer where ShortCutFormatter is integrated

Mentions Formatter

Format @mentions with styled tokens and click handling

All Guides

Browse all feature and formatter guides

Sample App

Full working sample application on GitHub