> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://cometchat-22654f5b-docs-platform-docs-release.mintlify.site/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Retrieve Conversations

> Retrieve Conversations — CometChat documentation.

CometChat Allows you to fetch the list of conversations the logged-in user is a part of. This list of conversations consists of both user and group conversations.

## Retrieve List of Conversations

*In other words, as a logged-in user, how do I retrieve the latest conversations that I've been a part of?*

In order to fetch the list of conversations, you can use the `ConversationsRequest` class. To use this class i.e to create an object of the `ConversationsRequest` class, you need to use the `ConversationsRequestBuilder` class. The `ConversationsRequestBuilder` class allows you to set the parameters based on which the conversations are to be fetched.

The `ConversationsRequestBuilder` class allows you to set the below parameters:

1. `setLimit(int limit)` - This method sets the limit i.e. the number of conversations that should be fetched in a single iteration.

<Tabs>
  <Tab title="Swift">
    ```swift theme={null}
    var conversationRequest = ConversationRequest.ConversationRequestBuilder()
    .set(limit: 30)
    .build();
    ```
  </Tab>
</Tabs>

<Note>
  A Maximum of only 50 Conversations can be fetched at once. If you want to fetch more conversation, you can use the fetchNext() on the same conversationsRequest Object
</Note>

2. `setConversationType(String conversationType)` - This method can be used to fetch user or group conversations specifically.\
   The `conversationType` variable can hold one of the below two values:\
   a. CometChat.conversationType.user(user) - Only fetches user conversation.\
   b. CometChat.conversationType.group(group)- Only fetches group conversations\
   If none is set, the list of conversations will include both user and group conversations.

<Tabs>
  <Tab title="Swift (User)">
    ```swift theme={null}
    var conversationRequest = ConversationRequest.ConversationRequestBuilder()
    .setLimit(50)
    .setConversationType(conversationType: .user)
    .build();
    ```
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="Swift (Group)">
    ```swift theme={null}
    var conversationRequest = ConversationRequest.ConversationRequestBuilder()
    .setLimit(50)
    .setConversationType(conversationType: .group)
    .build();
    ```
  </Tab>
</Tabs>

Finally, once all the parameters are set to the builder class, you need to call the `build()` method to get the object of the `ConversationsRequest` class.

Once you have the object of the `ConversationsRequest` class, you need to call the `fetchNext()` method. Calling this method will return a list of `Conversation` objects containing X number of users depending on the limit set.

<Tabs>
  <Tab title="Swift (User)">
    ```swift theme={null}
    let convRequest = ConversationRequest.ConversationRequestBuilder(limit: 20).setConversationType(conversationType: .user).build()

    convRequest.fetchNext(onSuccess: { (conversationList) in
                
      print("success of convRequest \(conversationList)")            
    }) { (exception) in
                
      print("here exception \(String(describing: exception?.errorDescription))")
    }
    ```
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="Swift (Group)">
    ```swift theme={null}
    let convRequest = ConversationRequest.ConversationRequestBuilder(limit: 20).setConversationType(conversationType: .group).build()

    convRequest.fetchNext(onSuccess: { (conversationList) in
                
      print("success of convRequest \(conversationList)")            
    }) { (exception) in
                
      print("here exception \(String(describing: exception?.errorDescription))")
    }
    ```
  </Tab>
</Tabs>

The `Conversation`object consists of the below fields:

| Field              | Information                                                       |
| ------------------ | ----------------------------------------------------------------- |
| conversationId     | id of the conversation                                            |
| conversationType   | type of conversation (user/group)                                 |
| lastMessage        | last message the conversation.                                    |
| conversationWith   | User or Group object containing the details of the user or group. |
| unreadMessageCount | unread message count for the conversation.                        |

## Retrieve Single Conversation

*In other words, as a logged-in user, how do I retrieve a specific conversation?*

In order to fetch a specific conversation, you can use the `getConversation` method. The `getConversation` method accepts two parameters.

1. `conversationWith`: UID/GUID of the user/group whose conversation you want to fetch.
2. `conversationType`: The `conversationType` variable can hold one of the below two values:

* user - Only fetches user conversation.
* group - Only fetches group conversations.

<Tabs>
  <Tab title="Swift (User)">
    ```swift theme={null}
    CometChat.getConversation(conversationWith: "conversationWith", conversationType: .user, onSuccess: { (conversation) in
    	print("success \(String(describing: conversation?.stringValue()))")
    }) { (error) in
      print("error \(String(describing: error?.errorDescription))")
    }
    ```
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="Swift (Group)">
    ```swift theme={null}
    CometChat.getConversation(conversationWith: "conversationWith", conversationType: .group, onSuccess: { (conversation) in
    	print("success \(String(describing: conversation?.stringValue()))")
    }) { (error) in
      print("error \(String(describing: error?.errorDescription))")
    }
    ```
  </Tab>
</Tabs>

## Get Conversation From Message

For real-time events, you will always receive Message objects and not conversation objects. Thus, you will need a mechanism to convert the Message object to `Conversation` object. You can use the `getConversationFromMessage(BaseMessage message)` of the `CometChatHelper` class.

<Tabs>
  <Tab title="Swift">
    ```swift theme={null}
    let myConversation = CometChat.getConversationFromMessage(message)
    ```
  </Tab>
</Tabs>

<Warning>
  While converting a `Message` object to `Conversation` object, the `unreadMessagecount` will not be available in the `Conversation` object. As this is for the real-time events, the unread message count needs to be managed in your client-side code.
</Warning>