Update a message

This guide explains how to use the update() method on the Message resource of the Google Chat API to update a text or card message in a space. Update a message to change message attributes, such as what it says, or the content of a card. You can also prepend a text message to a card message, or append a card to a text message.

In the Chat API, a Chat message is represented by the Message resource . While Chat users can only send messages that contain text, Chat apps can use many other messaging features, including displaying static or interactive user interfaces, collecting information from users, and delivering messages privately. To learn more about messaging features available for the Chat API, see the Google Chat messages overview .

Prerequisites

Node.js

A Business or Enterprise Google Workspace account with access to Google Chat .

Set up your environment:
- Create a Google Cloud project .
- Configure the OAuth consent screen .
- Enable and configure the Google Chat API with a name, icon, and description for your Chat app.
- Install the Node.js Cloud Client Library .
- Create access credentials based on how you want to authenticate in your Google Chat API request:
  - To authenticate as a Chat user, create OAuth client ID credentials and save the credentials as a JSON file named credentials.json to your local directory.
  - To authenticate as the Chat app, create service account credentials and save the credentials as a JSON file named credentials.json .
Choose an authorization scope based on whether you want to authenticate as a user or the Chat app.

Python

A Business or Enterprise Google Workspace account with access to Google Chat .

Set up your environment:
- Create a Google Cloud project .
- Configure the OAuth consent screen .
- Enable and configure the Google Chat API with a name, icon, and description for your Chat app.
- Install the Python Cloud Client Library .
- Create access credentials based on how you want to authenticate in your Google Chat API request:
  - To authenticate as a Chat user, create OAuth client ID credentials and save the credentials as a JSON file named credentials.json to your local directory.
  - To authenticate as the Chat app, create service account credentials and save the credentials as a JSON file named credentials.json .
Choose an authorization scope based on whether you want to authenticate as a user or the Chat app.

Java

A Business or Enterprise Google Workspace account with access to Google Chat .

Set up your environment:
- Create a Google Cloud project .
- Configure the OAuth consent screen .
- Enable and configure the Google Chat API with a name, icon, and description for your Chat app.
- Install the Java Cloud Client Library .
- Create access credentials based on how you want to authenticate in your Google Chat API request:
  - To authenticate as a Chat user, create OAuth client ID credentials and save the credentials as a JSON file named credentials.json to your local directory.
  - To authenticate as the Chat app, create service account credentials and save the credentials as a JSON file named credentials.json .
Choose an authorization scope based on whether you want to authenticate as a user or the Chat app.

Apps Script

A Business or Enterprise Google Workspace account with access to Google Chat .

Set up your environment:
- Create a Google Cloud project .
- Configure the OAuth consent screen .
- Enable and configure the Google Chat API with a name, icon, and description for your Chat app.
- Create a standalone Apps Script project , and turn on the Advanced Chat Service .
- In this guide, you must use either user or app authentication . To authenticate as the Chat app, create service account credentials. For steps, see Authenticate and authorize as a Google Chat app .
Choose an authorization scope based on whether you want to authenticate as a user or the Chat app.

Update a message on behalf of a user

With user authentication , only the text of a message can be updated.

To update a message with user authentication, pass the following in your request:

Specify the chat.messages authorization scope.
Call the UpdateMessage() method.
Pass message as an instance of Message with the following:
- The name field set to the message to update, which includes a space ID and a message ID.
- The text field set with the new text.
Pass updateMask with the value text .

If the updated message is a card message , then the text prepends to the cards (which continue to display).

Here's how to update a message, or prepend a text message to a card message with user authentication :

Node.js

chat/client-libraries/cloud/update-message-user-cred.js

View on GitHub

 import 
  
 { 
 createClientWithUserCredentials 
 } 
  
 from 
  
 './authentication-utils.js' 
 ; 
 const 
  
 USER_AUTH_OAUTH_SCOPES 
  
 = 
  
 [ 
 'https://www.googleapis.com/auth/chat.messages' 
 ]; 
 // This sample shows how to update a message with user credential 
 async 
  
 function 
  
 main 
 () 
  
 { 
  
 // Create a client 
  
 const 
  
 chatClient 
  
 = 
  
 await 
  
 createClientWithUserCredentials 
 ( 
 USER_AUTH_OAUTH_SCOPES 
 ); 
  
 // Initialize request argument(s) 
  
 const 
  
 request 
  
 = 
  
 { 
  
 message 
 : 
  
 { 
  
 // Replace SPACE_NAME and MESSAGE_NAME here 
  
 name 
 : 
  
 'spaces/SPACE_NAME/messages/MESSAGE_NAME' 
 , 
  
 text 
 : 
  
 'Updated with user credential!' 
  
 }, 
  
 // The field paths to update. Separate multiple values with commas or use 
  
 // `*` to update all field paths. 
  
 updateMask 
 : 
  
 { 
  
 // The field paths to update. 
  
 paths 
 : 
  
 [ 
 'text' 
 ] 
  
 } 
  
 }; 
  
 // Make the request 
  
 const 
  
 response 
  
 = 
  
 await 
  
 chatClient 
 . 
 updateMessage 
 ( 
 request 
 ); 
  
 // Handle the response 
  
 console 
 . 
 log 
 ( 
 response 
 ); 
 } 
 main 
 (). 
 catch 
 ( 
 console 
 . 
 error 
 );

Python

chat/client-libraries/cloud/update_message_user_cred.py

View on GitHub

 from 
  
 authentication_utils 
  
 import 
 create_client_with_user_credentials 
 from 
  
 google.apps 
  
 import 
 chat_v1 
 as 
 google_chat 
 SCOPES 
 = 
 [ 
 "https://www.googleapis.com/auth/chat.messages" 
 ] 
 # This sample shows how to update a message with user credential 
 def 
  
 update_message_with_user_cred 
 (): 
 # Create a client 
 client 
 = 
 create_client_with_user_credentials 
 ( 
 SCOPES 
 ) 
 # Initialize request argument(s) 
 request 
 = 
 google_chat 
 . 
 UpdateMessageRequest 
 ( 
 message 
 = 
 { 
 # Replace SPACE_NAME and MESSAGE_NAME here 
 "name" 
 : 
 "spaces/SPACE_NAME/messages/MESSAGE_NAME" 
 , 
 "text" 
 : 
 "Updated with user credential!" 
 }, 
 # The field paths to update. Separate multiple values with commas or use 
 # `*` to update all field paths. 
 update_mask 
 = 
 "text" 
 ) 
 # Make the request 
 response 
 = 
 client 
 . 
 update_message 
 ( 
 request 
 ) 
 # Handle the response 
 print 
 ( 
 response 
 ) 
 update_message_with_user_cred 
 ()

Java

chat/client-libraries/cloud/src/main/java/com/google/workspace/api/chat/samples/UpdateMessageUserCred.java

View on GitHub

 import 
  
 com.google.chat.v1.ChatServiceClient 
 ; 
 import 
  
 com.google.chat.v1.UpdateMessageRequest 
 ; 
 import 
  
 com.google.chat.v1.Message 
 ; 
 import 
  
 com.google.protobuf.FieldMask 
 ; 
 // This sample shows how to update message with user credential. 
 public 
  
 class 
 UpdateMessageUserCred 
  
 { 
  
 private 
  
 static 
  
 final 
  
 String 
  
 SCOPE 
  
 = 
  
 "https://www.googleapis.com/auth/chat.messages" 
 ; 
  
 public 
  
 static 
  
 void 
  
 main 
 ( 
 String 
 [] 
  
 args 
 ) 
  
 throws 
  
 Exception 
  
 { 
  
 try 
  
 ( 
 ChatServiceClient 
  
 chatServiceClient 
  
 = 
  
 AuthenticationUtils 
 . 
 createClientWithUserCredentials 
 ( 
  
 ImmutableList 
 . 
 of 
 ( 
 SCOPE 
 ))) 
  
 { 
  
 UpdateMessageRequest 
 . 
 Builder 
  
 request 
  
 = 
  
 UpdateMessageRequest 
 . 
 newBuilder 
 () 
  
 . 
 setMessage 
 ( 
 Message 
 . 
 newBuilder 
 () 
  
 // replace SPACE_NAME and MESSAGE_NAME here 
  
 . 
 setName 
 ( 
 "spaces/SPACE_NAME/messages/MESSAGE_NAME" 
 ) 
  
 . 
 setText 
 ( 
 "Updated with user credential!" 
 )) 
  
 . 
 setUpdateMask 
 ( 
 FieldMask 
 . 
 newBuilder 
 () 
  
 // The field paths to update. 
  
 . 
 addPaths 
 ( 
 "text" 
 )); 
  
 Message 
  
 response 
  
 = 
  
 chatServiceClient 
 . 
 updateMessage 
 ( 
 request 
 . 
 build 
 ()); 
  
 System 
 . 
 out 
 . 
 println 
 ( 
 JsonFormat 
 . 
 printer 
 (). 
 print 
 ( 
 response 
 )); 
  
 } 
  
 } 
 }

Apps Script

chat/advanced-service/Main.gs

View on GitHub

 /** 
 * This sample shows how to update a message with user credential 
 * 
 * It relies on the OAuth2 scope 'https://www.googleapis.com/auth/chat.messages' 
 * referenced in the manifest file (appsscript.json). 
 */ 
 function 
  
 updateMessageUserCred 
 () 
  
 { 
  
 // Initialize request argument(s) 
  
 // TODO(developer): Replace SPACE_NAME and MESSAGE_NAME here 
  
 const 
  
 name 
  
 = 
  
 'spaces/SPACE_NAME/messages/MESSAGE_NAME' 
 ; 
  
 const 
  
 message 
  
 = 
  
 { 
  
 text 
 : 
  
 'Updated with user credential!' 
  
 }; 
  
 // The field paths to update. Separate multiple values with commas or use 
  
 // `*` to update all field paths. 
  
 const 
  
 updateMask 
  
 = 
  
 'text' 
 ; 
  
 // Make the request 
  
 const 
  
 response 
  
 = 
  
 Chat 
 . 
 Spaces 
 . 
 Messages 
 . 
 patch 
 ( 
 message 
 , 
  
 name 
 , 
  
 { 
  
 updateMask 
 : 
  
 updateMask 
  
 }); 
  
 // Handle the response 
  
 console 
 . 
 log 
 ( 
 response 
 ); 
 }

To run this sample, replace the following:

SPACE_NAME : the ID from the space's name . You can obtain the ID by calling the ListSpaces() method or from the space's URL.
MESSAGE_NAME : the ID from the message's name . You can obtain the ID from the response body returned after creating a message asynchronously with the Chat API, or with the custom name assigned to the message at creation.

The Chat API returns an instance of Message that details the message that's updated.

Update a message as the Chat app

With app authentication , both the text and the cards of a message can be updated.

To update a message with app authentication, pass the following in your request:

Specify the chat.bot authorization scope.
Call the UpdateMessage() method.
Pass message as an instance of Message with the following:
- The name field set to the message to update, which includes a space ID and a message ID.
- The text field set with the new text if it needs to be updated.
- The cardsV2 field set with the new cards if they need to be updated.
Pass updateMask with the list of fields to updates such as text , and cardsV2 .

If the updated message is a card message and text is updated, then the updated text prepends to the cards (which continue to display). If the updated message is a text message and cards are updated, then the updated cards append to the text (which continues to display).

Here's how to update the text and cards of a message with app authentication :

Node.js

chat/client-libraries/cloud/update-message-app-cred.js

View on GitHub

 import 
  
 { 
 createClientWithAppCredentials 
 } 
  
 from 
  
 './authentication-utils.js' 
 ; 
 // This sample shows how to update a message with app credential 
 async 
  
 function 
  
 main 
 () 
  
 { 
  
 // Create a client 
  
 const 
  
 chatClient 
  
 = 
  
 createClientWithAppCredentials 
 (); 
  
 // Initialize request argument(s) 
  
 const 
  
 request 
  
 = 
  
 { 
  
 message 
 : 
  
 { 
  
 // Replace SPACE_NAME and MESSAGE_NAME here 
  
 name 
 : 
  
 'spaces/SPACE_NAME/messages/MESSAGE_NAME' 
 , 
  
 text 
 : 
  
 'Text updated with app credential!' 
 , 
  
 cardsV2 
  
 : 
  
 [{ 
  
 card 
 : 
  
 { 
  
 header 
 : 
  
 { 
  
 title 
 : 
  
 'Card updated with app credential!' 
 , 
  
 imageUrl 
 : 
  
 'https://fonts.gstatic.com/s/i/short-term/release/googlesymbols/info/default/24px.svg' 
  
 }}}] 
  
 }, 
  
 // The field paths to update. Separate multiple values with commas or use 
  
 // `*` to update all field paths. 
  
 updateMask 
 : 
  
 { 
  
 // The field paths to update. 
  
 paths 
 : 
  
 [ 
 'text' 
 , 
  
 'cards_v2' 
 ] 
  
 } 
  
 }; 
  
 // Make the request 
  
 const 
  
 response 
  
 = 
  
 await 
  
 chatClient 
 . 
 updateMessage 
 ( 
 request 
 ); 
  
 // Handle the response 
  
 console 
 . 
 log 
 ( 
 response 
 ); 
 } 
 main 
 (). 
 catch 
 ( 
 console 
 . 
 error 
 );

Python

chat/client-libraries/cloud/update_message_app_cred.py

View on GitHub

 from 
  
 authentication_utils 
  
 import 
 create_client_with_app_credentials 
 from 
  
 google.apps 
  
 import 
 chat_v1 
 as 
 google_chat 
 # This sample shows how to update a message with app credential 
 def 
  
 update_message_with_app_cred 
 (): 
 # Create a client 
 client 
 = 
 create_client_with_app_credentials 
 () 
 # Initialize request argument(s) 
 request 
 = 
 google_chat 
 . 
 UpdateMessageRequest 
 ( 
 message 
 = 
 { 
 # Replace SPACE_NAME and MESSAGE_NAME here 
 "name" 
 : 
 "spaces/SPACE_NAME/messages/MESSAGE_NAME" 
 , 
 "text" 
 : 
 "Text updated with app credential!" 
 , 
 "cards_v2" 
 : 
 [{ 
 "card" 
 : 
 { 
 "header" 
 : 
 { 
 "title" 
 : 
 'Card updated with app credential!' 
 , 
 "image_url" 
 : 
 'https://fonts.gstatic.com/s/i/short-term/release/googlesymbols/info/default/24px.svg' 
 }}}] 
 }, 
 # The field paths to update. Separate multiple values with commas or use 
 # `*` to update all field paths. 
 update_mask 
 = 
 "text,cardsV2" 
 ) 
 # Make the request 
 response 
 = 
 client 
 . 
 update_message 
 ( 
 request 
 ) 
 # Handle the response 
 print 
 ( 
 response 
 ) 
 update_message_with_app_cred 
 ()

Java

chat/client-libraries/cloud/src/main/java/com/google/workspace/api/chat/samples/UpdateMessageAppCred.java

View on GitHub

 import 
  
 com.google.apps.card.v1.Card 
 ; 
 import 
  
 com.google.apps.card.v1.Card.CardHeader 
 ; 
 import 
  
 com.google.chat.v1.CardWithId 
 ; 
 import 
  
 com.google.chat.v1.ChatServiceClient 
 ; 
 import 
  
 com.google.chat.v1.UpdateMessageRequest 
 ; 
 import 
  
 com.google.chat.v1.Message 
 ; 
 import 
  
 com.google.protobuf.FieldMask 
 ; 
 // This sample shows how to update message with app credential. 
 public 
  
 class 
 UpdateMessageAppCred 
  
 { 
  
 public 
  
 static 
  
 void 
  
 main 
 ( 
 String 
 [] 
  
 args 
 ) 
  
 throws 
  
 Exception 
  
 { 
  
 try 
  
 ( 
 ChatServiceClient 
  
 chatServiceClient 
  
 = 
  
 AuthenticationUtils 
 . 
 createClientWithAppCredentials 
 ()) 
  
 { 
  
 UpdateMessageRequest 
 . 
 Builder 
  
 request 
  
 = 
  
 UpdateMessageRequest 
 . 
 newBuilder 
 () 
  
 . 
 setMessage 
 ( 
 Message 
 . 
 newBuilder 
 () 
  
 // replace SPACE_NAME and MESSAGE_NAME here 
  
 . 
 setName 
 ( 
 "spaces/SPACE_NAME/messages/MESSAGE_NAME" 
 ) 
  
 . 
 setText 
 ( 
 "Text updated with app credential!" 
 ) 
  
 . 
 addCardsV2 
 ( 
 CardWithId 
 . 
 newBuilder 
 (). 
 setCard 
 ( 
 Card 
 . 
 newBuilder 
 () 
  
 . 
 setHeader 
 ( 
 CardHeader 
 . 
 newBuilder 
 () 
  
 . 
 setTitle 
 ( 
 "Card updated with app credential!" 
 ) 
  
 . 
 setImageUrl 
 ( 
 "https://fonts.gstatic.com/s/i/short-term/release/googlesymbols/info/default/24px.svg" 
 ))))) 
  
 . 
 setUpdateMask 
 ( 
 FieldMask 
 . 
 newBuilder 
 () 
  
 // The field paths to update. 
  
 . 
 addAllPaths 
 ( 
 List 
 . 
 of 
 ( 
 "text" 
 , 
  
 "cards_v2" 
 ))); 
  
 Message 
  
 response 
  
 = 
  
 chatServiceClient 
 . 
 updateMessage 
 ( 
 request 
 . 
 build 
 ()); 
  
 System 
 . 
 out 
 . 
 println 
 ( 
 JsonFormat 
 . 
 printer 
 (). 
 print 
 ( 
 response 
 )); 
  
 } 
  
 } 
 }

Apps Script

chat/advanced-service/Main.gs

View on GitHub

 /** 
 * This sample shows how to update a message with app credential 
 * 
 * It relies on the OAuth2 scope 'https://www.googleapis.com/auth/chat.bot' 
 * used by service accounts. 
 */ 
 function 
  
 updateMessageAppCred 
 () 
  
 { 
  
 // Initialize request argument(s) 
  
 // TODO(developer): Replace SPACE_NAME and MESSAGE_NAME here 
  
 const 
  
 name 
  
 = 
  
 'spaces/SPACE_NAME/messages/MESSAGE_NAME' 
 ; 
  
 const 
  
 message 
  
 = 
  
 { 
  
 text 
 : 
  
 'Text updated with app credential!' 
 , 
  
 cardsV2 
  
 : 
  
 [{ 
  
 card 
 : 
  
 { 
  
 header 
 : 
  
 { 
  
 title 
 : 
  
 'Card updated with app credential!' 
 , 
  
 imageUrl 
 : 
  
 'https://fonts.gstatic.com/s/i/short-term/release/googlesymbols/info/default/24px.svg' 
  
 }}}] 
  
 }; 
  
 // The field paths to update. Separate multiple values with commas or use 
  
 // `*` to update all field paths. 
  
 const 
  
 updateMask 
  
 = 
  
 'text,cardsV2' 
 ; 
  
 // Make the request 
  
 const 
  
 response 
  
 = 
  
 Chat 
 . 
 Spaces 
 . 
 Messages 
 . 
 patch 
 ( 
 message 
 , 
  
 name 
 , 
  
 { 
  
 updateMask 
 : 
  
 updateMask 
  
 }, 
  
 getHeaderWithAppCredentials 
 ()); 
  
 // Handle the response 
  
 console 
 . 
 log 
 ( 
 response 
 ); 
 }

To run this sample, replace the following:

SPACE_NAME : the ID from the space's name . You can obtain the ID by calling the ListSpaces() method or from the space's URL.
MESSAGE_NAME : the ID from the message's name . You can obtain the ID from the response body returned after creating a message asynchronously with the Chat API, or with the custom name assigned to the message at creation.

The Chat API returns an instance of Message that details the message that's updated.

Update a message Stay organized with collections Save and categorize content based on your preferences.

Prerequisites

Node.js

Python

Java

Apps Script

Update a message on behalf of a user

Node.js

Python

Java

Apps Script

Update a message as the Chat app

Node.js

Python

Java

Apps Script

Related topics

Update a message