> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://studio.assembly.com/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Message Channels

> A messaging channel between internal users and clients, scoped to an individual, group, or company.

This resource represents a channel where [Messages](/docs/api-reference/resources/messages) can be sent between Internal Users and [Clients](/docs/api-reference/resources/clients).

Messages sent in a channel are only accessible to the members of that channel.

Based on whether your [default channels](https://app.assembly.com/settings/main) are set to clients or companies, every new client (or every new company) in your portal will have a "Welcome Channel" created for them in the Messages app by default (this can also be disabled globally in the Messages App settings). Other message channels must be created manually, either in the UI or via this API.

Based on the `membershipType` of a message channel, the client members are either pre-determined or fluid. An `individual` message channel is with a single client; a `company` message channel contains **all clients** associated with the corresponding company.

On the other hand, a `group` message channel has a fluid list of clients within a company (it could potentially have one, several, or even all clients within the company). The members of a `group` message channel can be added or removed via the UI.

The clientId and companyId properties allow you to easily identify the source entity for a message channel (without having to e.g. search through the memberIds). Only individual channels will have a clientId. The companyId for individual channels indicates which company of the client this channel belongs to.

## Properties

**id** `string`\
The unique identifier for this item. **Note:** Not all `id` properties will be in UUID format.

**createdAt** `string`\
The date this item was created in RFC3339 format.

**object** `string`\
The object type of this resource.

**membershipType** `string`\
The type of membership that this channel is associated with. Can be one of `individual`, `group` or `company`.

| Value        | Description                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      |
| ------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| `individual` | This channel contains a single client user.                                                                                                                                                                                                      |
| `group`      | This channel contains multiple client users. All clients users in a group must belong to the same company.                                                                                                                                       |
| `company`    | This channel contains all clients that are associated with a company. When a client is assigned to a company, they will be added to this channel. When a client is deleted or unassigned from a company, they will be removed from this channel. |

**clientId** `string`

The client this channel belongs to. This is only set for channels when `membershipType` is `individual`.

**companyId** `string`

Which company this channel belongs to.

~~**membershipEntityId** `string`~~

Deprecated. Use clientId and companyId instead.

**memberIds** `array of strings`\
The user IDs associated with this particular channel. These will always be UUIDs of the members of the channel, including clients and internal users.

**lastMessageDate** `string`\
The timestamp of when the last message was sent in this channel. If no messages have been sent in this channel, the value is `null`.

```json Example Message Channel Object theme={null}
{
    "id": "s6v9eziejrrmad40vf3vgp",
    "object": "messageChannel",
    "createdAt": "2022-08-07T15:04:23.024217Z",
    "updatedAt": "2022-08-07T15:12:05.024217Z",
    "membershipType": "company",
  	"membershipEntityId": "a6fcd58b-fc40-46e1-ab49-219ec8162a6b",
	  "companyId": "a6fcd58b-fc40-46e1-ab49-219ec8162a6b",
    "memberIds": [
        "b22a34db-f6ba-40cb-a415-c112d4c853d8",
        "1dbb3e36-af70-4f41-89e6-6ddf9e2c62b5",
        "5c65898e-ce60-4668-b7c8-901a124d046b"
    ],
    "lastMessageDate": "2023-06-26T20:13:53.700046Z"
}
```