Message Reminders

Message reminders let users schedule notifications for specific messages, making it easier to follow up later. When a reminder includes a timestamp, it’s like saying “remind me later about this message,” and the user who set it will receive a notification at the designated time. If no timestamp is provided, the reminder functions more like a bookmark, allowing the user to save the message for later reference.

Reminders require Push V3 to be enabled - see details here

Enabling reminders

The Message Reminders feature must be activated at the channel level before it can be used. You have two configuration options: activate it for a single channel using configuration overrides, or enable it globally for all channels of a particular type.

// Enabling it for a channel
await channel.updatePartial({
  config_overrides: {
    user_message_reminders: true,
  },
});

// Enabling it for a channel type
const update = await client.updateChannelType("messaging", {
  user_message_reminders: true,
});

Message reminders allow users to:

  • schedule a notification after given amount of time has elapsed
  • bookmark a message without specifying a deadline

Limits

  • A user cannot have more than 250 reminders scheduled
  • A user can only have one reminder created per message

Creating a message reminder

You can create a reminder for any message. When creating a reminder, you can specify a reminder time or save it for later without a specific time.

// Create a reminder with a specific due date
await client.createReminder(
  messageId,
  // Remind in 1 hour
  remindAt: DateTime.now().add(const Duration(hours: 1)),
)

// Create a "Save for later" reminder without a specific time
await client.createReminder(messageId);

Updating a message reminder

You can update an existing reminder for a message to change the reminder time.

  // Update a reminder with a new due date
  await client.updateReminder(
    messageId,
    // New reminder time in 2 hours
    remindAt: DateTime.now().add(const Duration(hours: 2)),
  );

  // Convert a timed reminder to "Save for later"
  await client.updateReminder(
    messageId,
    remindAt: null, // Remove specific reminder time
  );

Deleting a message reminder

You can delete a reminder for a message when it’s no longer needed.

  // Delete the reminder for the message
  await client.deleteReminder(messageId);

Querying message reminders

The SDK allows you to fetch all reminders of the current user. You can filter, sort, and paginate through all the user’s reminders.

// Retrieve all reminders for the current user.
await client.queryReminders();

Filtering reminders

You can filter the reminders based on different criteria:

  • message_id - Filter by the message that the reminder is created on.
  • remind_at - Filter by the reminder time.
  • created_at - Filter by the creation date.
  • channel_cid - Filter by the channel ID.

The most common use case would be to filter by the reminder time. Like filtering overdue reminders, upcoming reminders, or reminders with no due date (saved for later).

// Backend SDK
// Filter overdue reminders
const overdueFilter = { remind_at: { $lt: new Date() } };
const overdueReminders = await client.queryReminders("user-id", overdueFilter);

// Filter upcoming reminders
const upcomingFilter = { remind_at: { $gt: new Date() } };
const upcomingReminders = await client.queryReminders(
  "user-id",
  upcomingFilter,
);

// Filter reminders with no due date (saved for later)
const savedFilter = { remind_at: null };
const savedReminders = await client.queryReminders("user-id", savedFilter);

// JavaScript SDK
// Direct API call
// Create filter for overdue reminders
await client.queryReminders({
  filter: {
    remind_at: { $lte: new Date().toISOString() },
  },
  sort: {
    remind_at: -1, // sort from the most recently expired
  },
});

// Create filter for upcoming reminders
await client.queryReminders({
  filter: {
    remind_at: { $gt: new Date().toISOString() },
  },
  sort: {
    remind_at: 1, // sort from the nearest to expire
  },
});

// Create filter for reminders with no due date (saved for later)
await client.queryReminders({
  filter: {
    remind_at: null,
  },
  sort: {
    created_at: -1, // sort from the most recently created
  },
});

// Client-side calls with local state updates before starting the pagination.
// Setting sort or filters resets the pagination state

// Create filter for overdue reminders
client.reminders.paginator.filters = {
  remind_at: { $lte: new Date().toISOString() },
};
client.reminders.paginator.sort = {
  remind_at: -1, // sort from the most recently expired
};

// Create filter for upcoming reminders
client.reminders.paginator.filters = {
  remind_at: { $gt: new Date().toISOString() },
};
client.reminders.paginator.sort = {
  remind_at: 1, // sort from the nearest to expire
};
// Create filter for reminders with no due date (saved for later)

client.reminders.paginator.filters = {
  remind_at: null,
};
client.reminders.paginator.sort = {
  created_at: -1, // sort from the most recently created
};

// adjust the page size
client.reminders.paginator.pageSize = 15;

Pagination

If you have many reminders, you can paginate the results.

// Load more reminders
final response = await client.queryReminders(
  sort: sort,
  filter: filter,
  // Pass the limit and next page key for pagination
  pagination: PaginationParams(limit: limit, next: nextPageKey),
);

Events

The following WebSocket events are available for message reminders:

  • reminder.created, triggered when a reminder is created.
  • reminder.updated, triggered when a reminder is updated.
  • reminder.deleted, triggered when a reminder is deleted.
  • notification.reminder_due, triggered when a reminder’s due time is reached.

When a reminder’s due time is reached, the server will also send a push notification to the user. Make sure you have configured push notifications in your app to handle these reminders.

// Listen for reminder created events
client.on(EventType.reminderCreated).listen((event) {
  print('Reminder created for message: ${event.messageId}');
});

// Listen for reminder updated events
client.on(EventType.reminderUpdated).listen((event) {
  print('Reminder updated for message: ${event.messageId}');
});

// Listen for reminder deleted events
client.on(EventType.reminderDeleted).listen((event) {
  print('Reminder deleted for message: ${event.messageId}');
});

// Listen for reminder due events
client.on(EventType.notificationReminderDue).listen((event) {
  print('Reminder due for message: ${event.messageId}');
});
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