Channel Resource
Programmable Chat has been deprecated and is no longer supported. Instead, we'll be focusing on the next generation of chat: Twilio Conversations. Find out more about the EOL process here.
If you're starting a new project, please visit the Conversations Docs to begin. If you've already built on Programmable Chat, please visit our Migration Guide to learn about how to switch.
A Channel resource of Programmable Chat represents a chat room, which is a familiar concept for what is, programmatically, a scope in which Messages can be sent and received by its members. Members can be added or invited to join channels and Channels exist within a Chat Service scope.
Channels can have an optional unique_name
that can replace the Channel's {ChannelSid}
in the URL. This allows a channel to be named something specific and be addressed by that name. A Channel's unique_name
must be unique within its Service instance.
The User Channels resource lists all the Channels to which a specific User is a Member.
Twilio Console
Chat Channels are organized by their Chat service. You can view that Channels in a Chat service by using your Twilio console when logged in to the console and selecting the Chat Service from the list. Within a Chat Service, you can browse its Channels.
Channel properties
Each Channel resource contains these properties.
Resource Properties in REST API format | |
---|---|
sid
|
The unique string that we created to identify the Channel resource. |
account_sid
|
The SID of the Account that created the Channel resource. |
service_sid
|
The SID of the Service the Channel resource is associated with. |
friendly_name
|
The string that you assigned to describe the resource. |
unique_name
|
An application-defined string that uniquely identifies the resource. It can be used to address the resource in place of the resource's |
attributes
|
The JSON string that stores application-specific data. If attributes have not been set, |
type
|
The visibility of the channel. Can be: |
date_created
|
The date and time in GMT when the resource was created specified in ISO 8601 format. |
date_updated
|
The date and time in GMT when the resource was last updated specified in ISO 8601 format. |
created_by
|
The |
members_count
|
The number of Members in the Channel. |
messages_count
|
The number of Messages that have been passed in the Channel. |
url
|
The absolute URL of the Channel resource. |
links
|
The absolute URLs of the Members, Messages, Invites, Webhooks and, if it exists, the last Message for the Channel. |
Create a Channel resource
https://chat.twilio.com/v2/Services/{ServiceSid}/Channels
Parameters
Parameters in REST API format | |
---|---|
service_sid
Path
|
The SID of the Service to create the Channel resource under. |
friendly_name
Optional
|
A descriptive string that you create to describe the new resource. It can be up to 64 characters long. |
unique_name
Optional
|
An application-defined string that uniquely identifies the resource. It can be used to address the resource in place of the Channel resource's |
attributes
Optional
|
A valid JSON string that contains application-specific data. |
type
Optional
|
The visibility of the channel. Can be: |
date_created
Optional
|
The date, specified in ISO 8601 format, to assign to the resource as the date it was created. The default value is the current time set by the Chat service. Note that this should only be used in cases where a Channel is being recreated from a backup/separate source. |
date_updated
Optional
|
The date, specified in ISO 8601 format, to assign to the resource as the date it was last updated. The default value is |
created_by
Optional
|
The |
x_twilio_webhook_enabled
Header
|
The X-Twilio-Webhook-Enabled HTTP request header |
Example 1
Fetch a Channel resource
https://chat.twilio.com/v2/Services/{ServiceSid}/Channels/{Sid}
When fetching a Channel resource, the {Sid}
value can be either the sid
or the unique_name
of the Channel resource to fetch.
Parameters
Parameters in REST API format | |
---|---|
service_sid
Path
|
The SID of the Service to fetch the Channel resource from. |
sid
Path
|
The SID of the Channel resource to fetch. This value can be either the |
Example 1
Read multiple Channel resources
https://chat.twilio.com/v2/Services/{ServiceSid}/Channels
Parameters
Parameters in REST API format | |
---|---|
service_sid
Path
|
The SID of the Service to read the Channel resources from. |
type
Optional
|
The visibility of the Channels to read. Can be: |
Example 1
Update a Channel resource
https://chat.twilio.com/v2/Services/{ServiceSid}/Channels/{Sid}
When updating a Channel resource, the {Sid}
value can be either the sid
or the unique_name
of the Channel resource to update.
Parameters
Parameters in REST API format | |
---|---|
service_sid
Path
|
The SID of the Service to update the Channel resource in. |
sid
Path
|
The SID of the Channel resource to update. This value can be either the |
friendly_name
Optional
|
A descriptive string that you create to describe the resource. It can be up to 256 characters long. |
unique_name
Optional
|
An application-defined string that uniquely identifies the resource. It can be used to address the resource in place of the resource's |
attributes
Optional
|
A valid JSON string that contains application-specific data. |
date_created
Optional
|
The date, specified in ISO 8601 format, to assign to the resource as the date it was created. The default value is the current time set by the Chat service. Note that this should only be used in cases where a Channel is being recreated from a backup/separate source. |
date_updated
Optional
|
The date, specified in ISO 8601 format, to assign to the resource as the date it was last updated. |
created_by
Optional
|
The |
x_twilio_webhook_enabled
Header
|
The X-Twilio-Webhook-Enabled HTTP request header |
Example 1
Delete a Channel resource
https://chat.twilio.com/v2/Services/{ServiceSid}/Channels/{Sid}
When deleting a Channel resource, the {Sid}
value can be either the sid
or the unique_name
of the Channel resource to delete.
Parameters
Parameters in REST API format | |
---|---|
service_sid
Path
|
The SID of the Service to delete the resource from. |
sid
Path
|
The SID of the Channel resource to delete. This value can be either the |
x_twilio_webhook_enabled
Header
|
The X-Twilio-Webhook-Enabled HTTP request header |
Example 1
Need some help?
We all do sometimes; code is hard. Get help now from our support team, or lean on the wisdom of the crowd by visiting Twilio's Stack Overflow Collective or browsing the Twilio tag on Stack Overflow.