StreamChannel Calls Child Immediately If cid Is Null

[venbrinoDev]

Which packages are you using?

stream_chat_flutter

On what platforms did you experience the issue?

Android, iOS

What version are you using?

stream_chat_flutter: ^9.14.0

What happened?

When using StreamChannel, the widget immediately renders its child even if the underlying channel's cid is still loading . Since _maybeInitChannel() exits early when channel.cid == null, the FutureBuilder completes and renders the child prematurely—before the channel is ready.

Steps to reproduce

Create a Channel with a null cid (e.g., when only the channel members is known, but the CID isn't yet assigned).

Pass the channel to a StreamChannel.

Observe that the child widget is rendered immediately.

the child starts depending on the channel state, causing null errors or invalid behavior.

Supporting info to reproduce

Future<void> _maybeInitChannel() async {
  if (channel.cid == null) return;  // <-- Returns immediately
  if (channel.state == null) await channel.watch();
}

And in build():

return FutureBuilder<void>(
  future: _channelInitFuture,
  builder: (context, snapshot) {
    if (snapshot.hasError) {
      return widget.errorBuilder(context, snapshot.error!, snapshot.stackTrace);
    }

    if (snapshot.connectionState != ConnectionState.done) {
      if (widget.showLoading) return widget.loadingBuilder(context);
    }

    return widget.child; // <-- Rendered even if cid is null
  },
);

Relevant log output

════════ Exception caught by widgets library ═══════════════════════════════════
Channel null is not initialized
'package:stream_chat_flutter/src/channel/stream_channel_avatar.dart':
Failed assertion: line 61 pos 11: 'channel.state != null'

Flutter analyze output

Flutter doctor output

Code of Conduct

• I agree to follow this project's Code of Conduct

[xsahil03x]

Hey @venbrinoDev this is by design, you should not have the child depend on the StreamChannel until the channel is created in the backend. This should be handled in the application layer.

Can you go a bit more on your usecase? maybe share a video or flow

[venbrinoDev]

Hi @xsahil03x this was working on previous versions of stream_chat_flutter, but started breaking after updating to ^9.14.0.

Use case:
We create a channel using:

return client?.channel('messaging', extraData: {
  'members': [myId, sellersId],
  'product': {'title': title}
});

Once two users initiate a chat, we immediately take them to the chat screen:

class Chats extends ConsumerStatefulWidget {
  static const String route = '/Chats';

  final Channel channel;

  const Chats({super.key, required this.channel});

  @override
  ConsumerState<Chats> createState() => _ChatsState();
}

class _ChatsState extends ConsumerState<Chats> {
  @override
  void initState() {
    super.initState();
    widget.channel.watch();
  }

  @override
  Widget build(BuildContext context) {
    return SizedBox(
      width: pageWidth(context),
      height: pageHeight(context),
      child: Stack(
        children: [
          StreamChannel(
            channel: widget.channel,
            errorBuilder: (context, error, stackTrace) {
              debugPrint(error.toString());
              return ChatErrorScreen(error: error.toString());
            },
            loadingBuilder: (context) => ChatPreLoad(channel: widget.channel),
            child: ChatItem(channel: widget.channel),
          ),
        ],
      ),
    );
  }
}

Let me know if there’s now a required pre-check before passing the channel to StreamChannel, or if this behavior has changed in recent versions. Happy to share a screen recording if needed.

[xsahil03x]

Hey @venbrinoDev , I added a quick fix for this. Until then you can also use a FutureBuilder yourself for the child and wait for channel.initialized future to complete.

StreamChannel(
  channel: channel,
  child: FutureBuilder<bool>(
    future: channel.initialized,
    builder: (context, snapshot) {
      if (snapshot.hasError) {
        final error = snapshot.error!;
        final stackTrace = snapshot.stackTrace;
        return errorBuilder(context, error, stackTrace);
      }
      if (snapshot.connectionState != ConnectionState.done) {
        return loadingBuilder(context);
      }
      return child;
    },
  ),
);

[venbrinoDev]

Okay Thanks @xsahil03x