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The message object is the heart of a conversation. It encapsulates all the information needed in order to represent a single entry on a message list.

Messages are stored in the rocketchat_message collection on MongoDB.

The IMessage interface represents the structure of a message object in the Rocket.Chat It defines the properties and their types that can be associated with a message sent. You can check the IMessage interface here.

Rocket.Chat/IMessage.ts at develop · RocketChat/Rocket.Chat

Message object

Example object

{
  "_id": "8gMsLe9ApZjo2D2iB",
  "rid": "EhpNtqqrMXT4QWk3z",
  "msg": "This meesage is from Rocket.Chat.",
  "ts": {
    "$date": "2023-02-09T13:35:59.484Z"
  },
  "u": {
    "_id": "rYhzFRd2QZjNwAAXX",
    "username": "rodriq",
    "name": "Rodriq"
  },
  "_updatedAt": {
    "$date": "2023-02-09T13:40:47.334Z"
  },
  "urls": [],
  "mentions": [],
  "channels": [],
  "md": [
    {
      "type": "PARAGRAPH",
      "value": [
        {
          "type": "PLAIN_TEXT",
          "value": "This meesage is from "
        },
        {
          "type": "LINK",
          "value": {
            "src": {
              "type": "PLAIN_TEXT",
              "value": "//Rocket.Chat."
            },
            "label": {
              "type": "PLAIN_TEXT",
              "value": "Rocket.Chat."
            }
          }
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "editedAt": {
    "$date": "2023-02-09T13:40:47.303Z"
  },
  "editedBy": {
    "_id": "rYhzFRd2QZjNwAAXX",
    "username": "rodriq"
  }
}

Fields

The message object contains these fields.

Parameter	Data type	Description
`_id`	String	The unique identifier for the message.
`rid`	String	The unique ID for the room. This will identify the room that the message belongs to. Example: '`GENERAL`'
`msg`	String	The content of the message.
`tmid`	String	The ID of the thread to which the message belongs.
`tshow`	Boolean	Indicates whether the thread should be shown.
`ts`	Date	A timestamp of when the message was created. (The date of creation on client)
`mentions`	Array of objects	An array of user mentions within the message. Identifies (`type`:"type of the mention; either user or tea", `_id`: ID of the user that is mentioned, `username`: username of the user that is mentioned", `name`: name of the user that is mentioned).
`groupable`	Boolean	Boolean that states whether or not this message should be grouped together with other messages from the same user.
`channels`	Array of objects	An array of channels to which the message belongs.
`u`	Object	The user who sent the message (either the _id or username or name).
`blocks`	MessageSurfaceLayout (enum)	If it is a UIkit message, then the UIkit blocks components.
`alias`	String	An alias for the message sender.
`md`	Array of object	The message's content in a markdown format.
`_hidden`	Boolean	Indicates whether the message is hidden.
`imported`	Boolean	Indicates whether the message is imported.
`replies`	Array of strings	An array of user IDs representing the message replies.
`location`	Object	The geographic location associated with the message.
`starred`	Array of objects	A list of users that have the message starred (list of user IDs` (_id)
`pinned`	Boolean	Indicates whether the message is pinned.
`pinnedAt`	Date	The date and time when the message was pinned.
`pinnedBy`	Object	Information about the user who pinned the message.
`unread`	Boolean	Indicates whether the message is unread.
`temp`	Boolean	Indicates whether the message is temporary.
`drid`	String	The direct room ID (if belongs to a direct room).
`tlm`	Date	The date and time when the last thread message was sent.
`dcount`	Number	The count of messages deleted in the thread.
`tcount`	Number	The count of messages in the thread.
`t`	MessageTypesValues (enum)	The message type.
`e2e`	`pending` or `done` (enum)	The end-to-end encryption status of the message.
`otrAck`	String	The acknowledgment status of an off-the-record message.
`urls`	Array of objects	An array of URLs contained within the message.
`actionLinks`	Array of objects (deprecated)	An array of action links associated with the message.
`file`	FileProp (deprecated)	The file property associated with the message.
`fileUpload`	Object	Information about a file upload associated with the message.
`files`	Array of FileProp objects	An array of file properties associated with the message.
`attachments`	Array of MessageAttachment objects	An array of attachment objects, available only when the message has at least one attachment.
`reactions`	Object	Object containing reaction information associated with the message.
`private`	Boolean	Indicates whether the message is private.
`bot`	Boolean (deprecated)	Indicates whether the message is sent by a bot.
`sentByEmail`	Boolean	Indicates whether the message was sent by email.
`webRtcCallEndTs`	Date	The date and time when a WebRTC call ended.
`role`	String	The role associated with the message.
`avatar`	String	A url to an image, that is accessible to anyone, to display as the avatar instead of the message user's account avatar
`emoji`	String	The emoji associated with the user who sent the message.
`tokens`	Array of Token objects	An array of tokens extracted from the message content.
`html`	String	The HTML representation of the message.
`token`	String (deprecated)	A deprecated field used for messages sent by visitors.
`federation`	Object	Information about federation associated with the message.
`slaData`	Object (used for specific message types)	Additional data related to SLA (Service Level Agreements) change history messages.
`priorityData`	Object (used for specific message types)	Additional data related to priority change history messages.

The user presented on u and editedBy fields are a simplified version of the user information: (_id: The user id, username: The username, name: The name)
The URL metadata contains several informational fields: (url: The URL itself (just as it appears on the message), meta: URL metadata (varies accord to the URL), headers: Some HTTP headers (varies accord to the URL), parsedUrl: The parsed URL broken into its parts)

Message type

Some of the message types are listed below. A full list of the message-type property can be found here:

Rocket.Chat/MessageTypes.ts at 957c69d7ebdcf4dca02e7753bfd75086be11ca44 · RocketChat/Rocket.Chat

Type	Description
`r`	Room name changed
`au`	User added by
`ru`	User removed by
`ul`	User left
`ult`	User left team
`uj`	User joined channel
`ujt`	User joined team
`ut`	User joined conversation
`rm`	Message removed
`added-user-to-team`	Added user to team
`removed-user-from-team`	Removed user from team
`user-muted`	User muted by

Attachment object

The attachment object is fully described here

{
    "messages": [
        {
            "_id": "message-id",
            "rid": "room-id",
            "msg": "Hello World!",
            "ts": { "$date": 1480377601 },
            "u": {
                "_id": "user-id",
                "username": "username"
            },
            "_updatedAt": { "$date": 1480377601 }
        },
        {
            "_id": "message-id",
            "rid": "room-id",
            "msg": "Hello!",
            "ts": { "$date": 1480377601 },
            "u": {
                "_id": "user-id",
                "username": "username"
            },
            "_updatedAt": { "$date":1480377601 },
            "editedAt": { "$date": 1480377601 },
            "editedBy": {
                "_id": "user-id",
                "username": "username"
            }
        }
    ]
}

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