cometchat-react-v7-calls

Ground truth: calling is part of @cometchat/chat-uikit-react@7 (the call UI ships INSIDE the kit — there is no separate calls-UI package), but the WebRTC engine is a SEPARATE, NOT-bundled dependency: @cometchat/chat-uikit-react@^7 + @cometchat/chat-sdk-javascript@^4.1.9 + @cometchat/calls-sdk-javascript@^5 (major 5 — distinct from the chat SDK's v4). Every CometChat* symbol below exists in the web-v7 catalog. Exhaustive props + advanced call surfaces are FETCHED from the docs .md twins via cometchat-react-v7-core/references/docs-map.md. APPEND to the user's app — additive wiring only (RULES.md).

Companion skills (read first)

• cometchat-react-v7-core — install, credentials, init→login→render, CometChatProvider. This skill ASSUMES it (calling is enabled on the SAME init).
• cometchat-react-v7-components — the component catalog (message header the call buttons live in).
• cometchat-react-v7-features — voice-video-calls is the feature entry; this skill is its operational depth.

Use this skill when

"add voice & video calls", "add calling to my chat", "enable video call", "add call buttons", "show call logs". Precondition: chat is already integrated (core done) — calling rides on the same init/login.

Prerequisites & install

Core setup done (init + login + CometChatProvider). Calling adds ONE package:

npm install @cometchat/calls-sdk-javascript@5

The Calls SDK is major 5 (not the chat SDK's v4) and is NOT bundled by the UI Kit — if it isn't installed, every call affordance stays hidden. Do not "upgrade" @cometchat/chat-sdk-javascript to a non-existent v7; it stays ^4.1.9.

Enable calling (BAKED — the two-part contract, the #1 gotcha)

Calling is OFF until BOTH are true: the Calls SDK is installed (above) and calling is turned ON in the init settings. Since the core inits via CometChatUIKit.initFromSettings (telemetry — RULES.md §5 / AUDIT-084), enable calling IN the SAME settings object with a truthy uiKit.callsSDK:

import { CometChatUIKit } from "@cometchat/chat-uikit-react";

await CometChatUIKit.initFromSettings({
  appId: APP_ID, region: REGION,
  credentials: { authKey: AUTH_KEY },                        // dev-only; prod → server-minted auth token
  chatSDK: { presenceSubscription: { type: "ALL_USERS" } },
  uiKit: { callsSDK: {} },   // ← turns calling ON (the initFromSettings equivalent of setCallingEnabled(true))
});

How calling maps in the initFromSettings path (verified vs the compiled 7.1.x kit; DOCS-GAP). The kit computes callingEnabled = !!settings.uiKit.callsSDK, so a truthy uiKit.callsSDK is the initFromSettings equivalent of UIKitSettingsBuilder().setCallingEnabled(true) — WITHOUT it, call buttons + incoming-call render nothing. The docs don't yet document this shape (owner: docs — confirm with a live call). The classic path still works — CometChatUIKit.init(new UIKitSettingsBuilder()…setCallingEnabled(true).build()) — but it SKIPS the ai-agent telemetry attribution, so prefer initFromSettings. No separate CometChatUIKitCalls.init() is needed for the default path. (CometChatUIKitCalls is the kit's namespace for advanced call-settings builders; reach for it only on a custom surface — FETCH then.) initFromSettings routes the Calls SDK internally — do NOT call raw CometChat.init().