Chat Messenger

Introduction

Chat Messenger is a Drupal module that adds a complete real-time messaging
system to your website. Instead of providing only a basic private messaging
form, it delivers a modern chat experience with one-to-one conversations,
group chats, live message delivery, typing indicators, emoji reactions,
presence status, profile pictures, and file sharing—all built directly on
Drupal core.

The module requires no separate chat server, WebSocket service, or Node.js
installation. Everything runs on a standard Drupal stack, making it easy to
install and deploy while providing a fast and familiar messaging experience
for your users.

Project Summary

Add a complete real-time chat system to Drupal with private and group
messaging, live updates, emoji reactions, presence status, attachments, and
read receipts.

Features

Chat Messenger brings a modern real-time messaging experience directly into
your Drupal website.

• One-to-one private conversations between site users.
• Create and manage group conversations.
• Floating chat button available throughout the website.
• Live message delivery without refreshing the page.
• Typing indicators while another user is composing a message.
• Delivered and read receipts.
• Unread message badges that update automatically.
• Emoji picker for composing messages.
• Emoji reactions on individual messages.
• Presence status with Available, Busy, and Away options.
• Uses Drupal user profile pictures as chat avatars.
• Supports image and file attachments with configurable limits.
• Clear chat option that hides conversation history only for the current user.

Real-time Messaging

Messages appear automatically while conversations are open without requiring
users to refresh the page.

• Instant message updates.
• Typing indicators.
• Delivered and read receipts.
• Live unread message counts.
• Real-time emoji reactions.

User Presence

Users can see each other's availability while chatting.

• Automatic online/offline detection.
• Custom presence status:
  • Available
  • Busy
  • Away

Profile Pictures and Attachments

• Uses Drupal's existing user picture field.
• Automatically generates initial-based avatars when no profile picture exists.
• Supports image and file attachments.
• Configurable upload size and allowed file types.
• Private file storage for uploaded attachments.

Typical Use Cases

• Community websites.
• Membership portals.
• Educational platforms.
• Corporate intranets.
• Customer collaboration portals.
• Volunteer organizations.
• Social networking websites.

Post-Installation

After installing the module:

1. Enable the Chat Messenger module.
2. Grant the appropriate chat permissions to user roles.
3. Users will automatically see the floating chat button while browsing the website.
4. Clicking the chat button displays available users and existing conversations.
5. Start a private conversation or create a new group chat.

No additional services, WebSocket servers, or external messaging
infrastructure are required.

Additional Requirements

• Drupal core User module.
• Drupal core File module.
• Drupal core Image module.
• AI — only required if
  AI-generated quick-reply suggestions are enabled; unused otherwise.
  Chat Messenger routes generation through whatever chat-capable provider is
  configured in the AI module (for example,
  AI Provider OpenAI).

No external chat server, WebSocket server, Node.js service, Redis, or
third-party messaging platform is required.

Recommended Modules/Libraries

No additional modules or third-party libraries are required for the core
messaging experience.

For the best experience, configure user profile pictures and the private
file system for secure attachment storage. If you want AI-generated
quick-reply suggestions instead of the built-in rule-based ones, install and
configure a chat-capable AI provider through the
AI module.

Similar Projects

Drupal offers messaging modules such as Private Message for user-to-user
communication.

Chat Messenger focuses on providing:

• A modern chat interface.
• Floating chat access from every page.
• Real-time messaging using long polling.
• Typing indicators.
• Delivered and read receipts.
• Emoji reactions.
• User presence status.
• Group conversations.
• Optional AI-generated quick-reply suggestions.
• No WebSocket or Node.js server requirements.

Supporting This Module

Bug reports, feature requests, patches, and documentation improvements are
welcome through the Drupal.org issue queue.

Community contributions, testing, and feedback help improve the module for
everyone.

Community Documentation

See the module README for installation instructions,
configuration, permissions, performance tuning, and usage examples.

Community-contributed tutorials, videos, and demonstrations are always
welcome.