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# Hellion Chat IPC Integration Guide
This document describes the inter-plugin-communication (IPC) channels that Hellion Chat exposes to other Dalamud
plugins. Two integration surfaces are covered: the **Context Menu IPC** for adding custom items to Hellion Chat's
right-click menus, and the **Typing State IPC** for reacting to the user's input-box activity.
---
## Compatibility with Chat 2
Hellion Chat is a standalone fork of [Chat 2](https://github.com/Infiziert90/ChatTwo) (EUPL-1.2). The IPC surface is one
of the parts the fork inherits directly: the same call shapes, the same tuple payloads, the same call semantics, the
same lifecycle. We did not redesign the API, we re-published it under our own plugin name.
Concretely, this means:
- **Tuple shapes are identical.** A subscriber that worked against Chat 2's `ChatTwo.Invoke` works against Hellion
Chat's `HellionChat.Invoke` without any code change beyond the channel string.
- **Lifecycle is identical.** The `Available` ping fires when the plugin becomes ready, your subscriber re-registers,
and the registration ID is returned by the same `Register` call as before.
- **Channel-name prefix changed in v1.0.0.** Every `ChatTwo.*` channel name is now `HellionChat.*`. Existing third-party
integrations need a one-line rename per channel string and nothing else.
If your plugin already supports Chat 2 and you want to add Hellion Chat support, the cleanest path is to bind both
prefixes and treat whichever one becomes available first as the active host.
---
## Channel Reference
| Surface | Channel | Direction | Payload |
| ------------ | ----------------------------------- | --------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Context Menu | `HellionChat.Available` | plugin → caller | event, no payload |
| Context Menu | `HellionChat.Register` | caller → plugin | returns registration `string` ID |
| Context Menu | `HellionChat.Unregister` | caller → plugin | takes registration ID `string` |
| Context Menu | `HellionChat.Invoke` | plugin → caller | event, see Context Menu section |
| Typing State | `HellionChat.GetChatInputState` | caller → plugin | returns the typing-state tuple |
| Typing State | `HellionChat.ChatInputStateChanged` | plugin → caller | event, fires once on subscribe and on every state change, payload is the same tuple |
---
## Context Menu IPC
Use this surface to draw your own selectables inside Hellion Chat's right-click context menus. All registrations are
called inside an ImGui `BeginMenu`, so anything you draw appears as a regular menu entry.
### Lifecycle
1. Subscribe to `HellionChat.Available`. The host fires this once when it loads or reloads, so your plugin can
re-register without polling.
2. Call `HellionChat.Register` to obtain a registration ID. Save it. You need it to filter `Invoke` callbacks that
target your registration and to call `Unregister` later.
3. Subscribe to `HellionChat.Invoke` and draw your menu items inside the handler when the `id` matches your saved
registration ID.
4. On plugin disable or unload, call `HellionChat.Unregister` with your saved ID and unsubscribe from `Invoke`.
### Example
```cs
public class HellionChatContextMenu {
// Used to register your plugin with the IPC; returns an ID you must save.
private ICallGateSubscriber<string> Register { get; }
// Used to unregister your plugin from the IPC; call this on unload.
private ICallGateSubscriber<string, object?> Unregister { get; }
// Subscribe to receive a notification when Hellion Chat becomes ready
// or reloads, so you can re-register.
private ICallGateSubscriber<object?> Available { get; }
// Subscribe to draw your custom context-menu items.
private ICallGateSubscriber<string, PlayerPayload?, ulong, Payload?, SeString?, SeString?, object?> Invoke { get; }
private string? _id;
public HellionChatContextMenu(DalamudPluginInterface @interface) {
this.Register = @interface.GetIpcSubscriber<string>("HellionChat.Register");
this.Unregister = @interface.GetIpcSubscriber<string, object?>("HellionChat.Unregister");
this.Invoke = @interface.GetIpcSubscriber<string, PlayerPayload?, ulong, Payload?, SeString?, SeString?, object?>("HellionChat.Invoke");
this.Available = @interface.GetIpcSubscriber<object?>("HellionChat.Available");
}
public void Enable() {
// Re-register automatically when Hellion Chat becomes ready or reloads.
this.Available.Subscribe(() => this.DoRegister());
// Register if Hellion Chat is already loaded.
this.DoRegister();
// Listen for context-menu events.
this.Invoke.Subscribe(this.OnInvoke);
}
private void DoRegister() {
this._id = this.Register.InvokeFunc();
}
public void Disable() {
if (this._id != null) {
this.Unregister.InvokeAction(this._id);
this._id = null;
}
this.Invoke.Unsubscribe(this.OnInvoke);
}
private void OnInvoke(string id, PlayerPayload? sender, ulong contentId, Payload? payload, SeString? senderString, SeString? content) {
// Filter: only react to invocations that target our registration.
if (id != this._id) {
return;
}
// Draw your custom menu items here. Available context:
// sender — first PlayerPayload in the sender SeString, or null
// contentId — content ID of the message sender, or 0 when not known
// payload — the payload that was right-clicked, or null when text
// senderString — the full sender SeString
// content — the full message content SeString
if (ImGui.Selectable("Test plugin")) {
PluginLog.Log($"hi!\nsender: {sender}\ncontent id: {contentId:X}\npayload: {payload}\nsender string: {senderString}\ncontent string: {content}");
}
}
}
```
### Migration from Chat 2
If your plugin already integrates with `ChatTwo.*`, the rename is the only required change:
```diff
-this.Register = @interface.GetIpcSubscriber<string>("ChatTwo.Register");
-this.Unregister = @interface.GetIpcSubscriber<string, object?>("ChatTwo.Unregister");
-this.Invoke = @interface.GetIpcSubscriber<...>("ChatTwo.Invoke");
-this.Available = @interface.GetIpcSubscriber<object?>("ChatTwo.Available");
+this.Register = @interface.GetIpcSubscriber<string>("HellionChat.Register");
+this.Unregister = @interface.GetIpcSubscriber<string, object?>("HellionChat.Unregister");
+this.Invoke = @interface.GetIpcSubscriber<...>("HellionChat.Invoke");
+this.Available = @interface.GetIpcSubscriber<object?>("HellionChat.Available");
```
---
## Typing State IPC
Use this surface when you need to know whether the player is currently interacting with Hellion Chat's input box. Useful
for typing indicators, keyboard-shortcut suppression, or HUD elements that hide while the user is typing.
### Tuple Payload
Both `HellionChat.GetChatInputState` (poll) and `HellionChat.ChatInputStateChanged` (event) return the same tuple:
```cs
(bool InputVisible, bool InputFocused, bool HasText, bool IsTyping, int TextLength, ChatType ChannelType)
```
| Field | Type | Meaning |
| -------------- | ---------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `InputVisible` | `bool` | True when Hellion Chat is not hidden by user, cutscene or battle settings. |
| `InputFocused` | `bool` | True while the input box currently has keyboard focus. |
| `HasText` | `bool` | True when the input buffer contains more than whitespace. |
| `IsTyping` | `bool` | Convenience flag, equivalent to `InputFocused && HasText`. |
| `TextLength` | `int` | Length of the raw input buffer in characters. |
| `ChannelType` | `ChatType` | The channel/mode that will be used if the buffer is submitted right now. |
### Where `ChannelType` comes from
`ChannelType` is the `HellionChat.Code.ChatType` enum value representing the target channel for the current submission.
It is sourced from the active tab's `UsedChannel` (`HellionChat/Configuration.cs`), which the plugin keeps in sync by
hooking the in-game shell (`HellionChat/GameFunctions/Chat.cs`) and by resolving temporary overrides inside the chat UI
(`HellionChat/Ui/ChatLogWindow.cs:597`). `InputChannel` values are converted into the exported `ChatType` via
`HellionChat/Code/InputChannelExt.ToChatType`.
### Behavior
- `ChatInputStateChanged` fires once immediately after subscribe so you do not need a separate `GetChatInputState` poll
for the initial snapshot.
- After that it fires only when one or more fields actually change, so it is safe to subscribe without rate-limiting.
- `GetChatInputState` is available for one-shot polls, e.g. on plugin enable.
### Example 2
```cs
public sealed class HellionChatTypingIntegration {
private ICallGateSubscriber<(bool InputVisible, bool InputFocused, bool HasText, bool IsTyping, int TextLength, ChatType ChannelType)> GetChatInputState { get; }
private ICallGateSubscriber<(bool InputVisible, bool InputFocused, bool HasText, bool IsTyping, int TextLength, ChatType ChannelType)> ChatInputStateChanged { get; }
public HellionChatTypingIntegration(DalamudPluginInterface @interface) {
this.GetChatInputState = @interface.GetIpcSubscriber<(bool, bool, bool, bool, int, ChatType)>("HellionChat.GetChatInputState");
this.ChatInputStateChanged = @interface.GetIpcSubscriber<(bool, bool, bool, bool, int, ChatType)>("HellionChat.ChatInputStateChanged");
}
public void Enable() {
this.ChatInputStateChanged.Subscribe(OnChatInputStateChanged);
// Optional: poll once for an initial snapshot. The Subscribe call
// above already fires once, so this is only useful when your code
// path needs the value before the framework hands you the event.
var state = this.GetChatInputState.InvokeFunc();
PluginLog.Information($"Initial typing state: {state}");
}
public void Disable() {
this.ChatInputStateChanged.Unsubscribe(OnChatInputStateChanged);
}
private void OnChatInputStateChanged((bool InputVisible, bool InputFocused, bool HasText, bool IsTyping, int TextLength, ChatType ChannelType) state) {
if (state.IsTyping) {
// Show typing indicator.
} else {
// Hide typing indicator.
}
}
}
```
### Migration
Same shape as the Context Menu surface — only the channel-name prefix needs the rename:
```diff
-this.GetChatInputState = @interface.GetIpcSubscriber<...>("ChatTwo.GetChatInputState");
-this.ChatInputStateChanged = @interface.GetIpcSubscriber<...>("ChatTwo.ChatInputStateChanged");
+this.GetChatInputState = @interface.GetIpcSubscriber<...>("HellionChat.GetChatInputState");
+this.ChatInputStateChanged = @interface.GetIpcSubscriber<...>("HellionChat.ChatInputStateChanged");
```
---
## License & Attribution
This guide and the IPC surface it documents derive directly from the Chat 2 codebase. Hellion Chat is licensed under
[EUPL-1.2](LICENSE), and credit for the original IPC design and implementation goes to
**[Infiziert90 (Infi)](https://github.com/Infiziert90)** and **[Anna](https://github.com/anna-is-cute)**,— see
[`NOTICE.md`](NOTICE.md) for full attribution.