MessageKit/Documentation/FAQs.md

MessageKit Frequently Asked Questions

Why doesn't the MessageInputBar appear in my controller?

If you're using the MessagesViewController as a child view controller then you have to call becomeFirstResponder() on your view controller. The reason is because the MessageInputBar is the inputAccessoryView of the MessagesViewController. This means that it is not in the view hierarchy of MessagesViewController's root view.

class ParentVC: UIViewController {
    override func viewDidLoad() {
       super.viewDidLoad()
       let childVC = MessagesViewController()
       addChildViewController(childVC)
       self.view.addSubview(childVC.view)
       childVC.didMove(toParentViewController:self)
       self.becomeFirstResponder()
    }
}

How can I remove the AvatarView from the cell?

You can set the AvatarView to hidden through the configureAvatarView(_:AvatarView,for:MessageType,at:IndexPath,in:MessagesCollectionView) method of MessagesDisplayDelegate.

func configureAvatarView(_ avatarView: AvatarView, for message: MessageType, at indexPath: IndexPath, in messagesCollectionView: MessagesCollectionView) {
  avatarView.isHidden = true
}

If you also like to remove the space the AvatarView occupies you have to change the properties outgoingAvatarSize or incomingAvatarSize of the CellSizeCalculator object for the respective message to CGSize.zero.

if let layout = messagesCollectionView.collectionViewLayout as? MessagesCollectionViewFlowLayout {
  layout.textMessageSizeCalculator.outgoingAvatarSize = .zero
  layout.textMessageSizeCalculator.incomingAvatarSize = .zero
}

How can I dismiss the keyboard?

The MessagesViewController needs to resign the first responder.

let controller = MessagesViewController()
controller.resignFirstResponder()

How can I get a reference to the MessageType in the MessageCellDelegate methods?

You can use UICollectionView's method indexPath(for: UICollectionViewCell) to get the IndexPath for the MessageCollectionViewCell argument. Using this IndexPath, you can then get the MessageType for this cell through the MessagesDataSource method messageForItem(at:IndexPath,in:MessagesCollectionView).

func didTapMessage(in cell: MessageCollectionViewCell) {
    guard let indexPath = messagesCollectionView.indexPath(for: cell) else { return }
    guard let messagesDataSource = messagesCollectionView.messagesDataSource else { return }
    let message = messagesDataSource.messageForItem(at: indexPath, in: messagesCollectionView)
}