Whatsapp4j is a library built to interact with Whatsapp. It can be used to work with:
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WhatsappWeb (MultiDevice)
This functionality is fully documented and ready. No browser, application or any additional software is necessary. Everything as of now has been successfully reverse engineered. A companion device with the Whatsapp app installed is needed to scan the QR code the first time. As the multi device api is supported, the companion doesn't need to remain online for the client to work.
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Whatsapp Mobile App
This functionality is still being developed. Right now it's in alpha. Currently only message sending and
If you like my work, you can become a sponsor here on GitHub or tip me on Paypal. I can also work on sponsored features and/or projects!
This library was built for Java 17, the latest LTS. Remember to enable preview features as they are required. If you don't know how, there are many tutorials available online. Please don't open any issue because of this.
If the machine you are hosting this library on has memory constraints, please look into how to tune a JVM. The easiest thing you can do is use the -Xmx argument to specify the maximum size, in bytes, of the memory allocation pool. I have written this disclaimer because many new devs tend to get confused by Java's opportunistic memory allocation.
While there is no risk in using this library with your main account, keep in mind that Whatsapp has anti-spam measures for their web client. If you add a participant from a brand-new number to a group, it will most likely get you banned. If you compile the library yourself, don't run the CI on a brand-new number, or it will get banned for spamming too many requests(the CI has to test that all the library works). In short, if you use this library without a malicious intent, you will never get banned.
<dependency>
<groupId>com.github.auties00</groupId>
<artifactId>whatsappweb4j</artifactId>
<version>3.2.3</version>
</dependency>
-
Groovy DSL
implementation 'com.github.auties00:whatsappweb4j:3.2.3'
-
Kotlin DSL
implementation("com.github.auties00:whatsappweb4j:3.2.3")
If you need some examples to get started, check the examples' directory in this project. There are several easy and documented projects and more will come. Any contribution is welcomed!
Javadocs for Whatsapp4j are available here. The documentation for this project reaches most of the publicly available APIs(i.e. public members in exported packages), but sometimes the Javadoc may be incomplete or some methods could be absent from the project's README. If you find any of the latter, know that even small contributions are welcomed!
As of today, no additional configuration or artifact building is needed to edit this project. I recommend using the latest version of IntelliJ, though any other IDE should work. If you are not familiar with git, follow these short tutorials in order:
- Fork this project
- Clone the new repo
- Create a new branch
- Once you have implemented the new feature, create a new merge request
If you are trying to implement a feature that is present on WhatsappWeb's WebClient, for example audio or video calls, consider using WhatsappWeb4jRequestAnalyzer, a tool I built for this exact purpose.
This library heavily depends on async operations using the CompletableFuture construct. Remember to handle them as your application will terminate without doing anything if the main thread is not executing any task. Please do not open redundant issues on GitHub because of this.
The most important class of this API is Whatsapp, an interface between your application and WhatsappWeb's socket.
You can create a new connection directly:
var api = Whatsapp.newConnection();
If you need, you can supply a custom set of options:
var options = WhatsappOptions.defaultOptions(); // Set the options you need using the wither or the builder
var api = Whatsapp.newConnection(options);
If a connection was already created previously, use any of these methods instead depending on your needs:
var apiByOptions = Whatsapp.newConnection(options); // Finds a connection by using options
var latestApi = Whatsapp.lastConnection(); // Finds the latest connection that was opened
var firstApi = Whatsapp.firstConnection(); // Finds the first connection that was opened
var allKnownApis = Whatsapp.streamConnections(); // Streams all the known connections
IMPORTANT: If no previous session exists or if the id doesn't match a known connection, a new one will be created silently
To open the connection to Whatsapp use the connect method. This method returns a CompletableFuture that will be completed when a connection is established. So, by calling the join method which awaits a future, we are waiting for the connection to be established:
api.connect().join();
If you also want to wait for the connection to be closed, use:
api.connect()
.join()
.awaitDisconnection();
Any code after awaitDisconnection
will not be called until the connection is closed.
There are three ways to close a connection:
-
Disconnect
api.disconnect();
IMPORTANT: The session remains valid for future uses
-
Reconnect
api.reconnect();
IMPORTANT: The session remains valid for future uses
-
Log out
api.logout();
IMPORTANT: The session doesn't remain valid for future uses
Listeners are crucial to handle events related to Whatsapp and implement logic for your application. Listeners can be used either as:
-
Standalone concrete implementation
If your application is complex enough, it's preferable to divide your listeners' logic across multiple specialized classes. To create a new concrete listener, declare a class or record that implements the Listener interface:
import it.auties.whatsapp.listener.Listener; public class MyListener implements Listener { @Override public void onLoggedIn() { System.out.println("Hello :)"); } }
Remember to manually register this listener:
api.addListener(new MyListener());
Or to register it automatically using the @RegisterListener annotation:
import it.auties.whatsapp.listener.RegisterListener; import it.auties.whatsapp.listener.Listener; @RegisterListener // Automatically registers this listener public class MyListener implements Listener { @Override public void onLoggedIn() { System.out.println("Hello :)"); } }
Listeners often need access to the Whatsapp instance that registered them to, for example, send messages. If your listener is marked with @RegisterListener and a single argument constructor that takes a Whatsapp instance as a parameter exists, the latter can be injected automatically, regardless of if your implementation uses a class or a record. Records, though, are usually more elegant:
import it.auties.whatsapp.listener.RegisterListener; import it.auties.whatsapp.api.Whatsapp; import it.auties.whatsapp.listener.Listener; @RegisterListener // Automatically registers this listener public record MyListener(Whatsapp api) implements Listener { // A non-null whatsapp instance is injected @Override public void onLoggedIn() { System.out.println("Hello :)"); } }
IMPORTANT: Only non-abstract classes that provide a no arguments constructor or a single parameter constructor of type Whatsapp can be registered automatically
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Functional interface
If your application is very simple or only requires this library in small operations, it's preferable to add a listener using a lambda instead of using full-fledged classes. To declare a new functional listener, call the method add followed by the name of the listener that you want to implement without the on suffix:
api.addLoggedInListener(() -> System.out.println("Hello :)"));
Functional listeners can also access the instance of Whatsapp that registered them:
api.addLoggedInListener(whatsapp -> System.out.println("Someone sent a new message!"));
This is extremely useful if you want to implement a functionality for your application in a compact manner:
Whatsapp.newConnection() .addLoggedInListener(() -> System.out.println("Connected")) .addNewMessageListener((whatsapp, info) -> whatsapp.sendMessage(info.chatJid(), "Automatic answer", info)) .connect() .join();
In the original version of WhatsappWeb, chats, contacts and messages could be queried at any from Whatsapp's servers. The multi-device implementation, instead, sends all of this information progressively when the connection is initialized for the first time and doesn't allow any subsequent queries to access the latter. In practice, this means that this data needs to be serialized somewhere.
By default, this library serializes data regarding a session at $HOME/.whatsapp4j/[web|mobile]/<session_id>
in two different files, respectively for the store(chats, contacts and messages) and keys(cryptographic data).
The latter is serialized every time a modification occurs to the model, while the store is serialized everytime a ping is sent by the socket to the server.
Both are serialized when the socket is closed.
If your application needs to serialize data in a different way, for example in a database create a custom implementation of ControllerDeserializer and/or ControllerSerializer. Then make sure to specify your implementation in the options:
var options = WebOptions.builder()
.serializer(new YourCustomSerializer()) // Use a custom serializer or new DefaultControllerSerializer() for the default one
.deserializer(new YourCustomDeserializer()) // Use a custom deserializer or new DefaultControllerSerializer() for the default one
.build();
var api = Whatsapp.newConnection(options); // Any named constructor can be used
This works for the mobile api as well.
When the session is closed, the onDisconnect method in any listener is invoked. These are the three reasons that can cause a disconnect:
-
DISCONNECTED
A normal disconnection. This doesn't indicate any error being thrown.
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RECONNECT
The client is being disconnected but only to reopen the connection. This always happens when the QR is first scanned for example.
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LOGGED_OUT
The client was logged out by itself or by its companion. By default, no error is thrown if this happens, though this behaviour can be changed easily:
import it.auties.whatsapp.api.DisconnectReason; import it.auties.whatsapp.listener.Listener; class ThrowOnLogOut implements Listener { @Override public void onDisconnected(DisconnectReason reason) { if (reason != SocketEvent.LOGGED_OUT) { return; } throw new RuntimeException("Hey, I was logged off :/"); } }
Access the store associated with a connection by calling the store method:
var store = api.store();
IMPORTANT: When your program first starts up, these fields will be empty. For each type of data, an event is fired and listenable using a WhatsappListener
You can access all the chats that are in memory:
var chats = store.chats();
Or the contacts:
var contacts = store.contacts();
Or even the media status:
var status = store.status();
Data can also be easily queried by using these methods:
- Chats
- Query a chat by its jid
var chat = store.findChatByJid(jid);
- Query a chat by its name
var chat = store.findChatByName(name);
- Query a chat by a message inside it
var chat = store.findChatByMessage(message);
- Query all chats that match a name
var chats = store.findChatsByName(name);
- Query a chat by its jid
- Contacts
- Query a contact by its jid
var chat = store.findContactByJid(jid);
- Query a contact by its name
var contact = store.findContactByName(name);
- Query all contacts that match a name
var contacts = store.findContactsByName(name);
- Query a contact by its jid
- Media status
- Query status by sender
var chat = store.findStatusBySender(contact);
- Query status by sender
Access keys store associated with a connection by calling the keys method:
var keys = api.keys();
There are several methods to access and query cryptographic data, but as it's only necessary for advanced users, please check the javadocs if this is what you need.
To access information about the companion device:
var companion = store.userCompanionJid();
This object is a jid like any other, but it has the device field filled to distinguish it from the main one. Instead, if you only need the phone number:
var phoneNumber = store.userCompanionJid().toPhoneNumber();
To send a message, start by finding the chat where the message should be sent. Here is an example:
var chat = api.store()
.findChatByName("My Awesome Friend")
.orElseThrow(() -> new NoSuchElementException("Hey, you don't exist"));
All types of messages supported by Whatsapp are supported by this library:
-
Text
api.sendMessage(chat, "This is a text message!");
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Complex text
var message = TextMessage.builder() // Create a new text message .text("Check this video out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ") // Set the text of the message .canonicalUrl("https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ") // Set the url of the message .matchedText("https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ") // Set the matched text for the url in the message .title("A nice suprise") // Set the title of the url .description("Check me out") // Set the description of the url .build(); // Create the message api.sendMessage(chat, message);
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Location
var location = LocationMessage.builder() // Create a new location message .caption("Look at this!") // Set the caption of the message, that is the text below the file .latitude(38.9193) // Set the longitude of the location to share .longitude(1183.1389) // Set the latitude of the location to share .build(); // Create the message api.sendMessage(chat, location);
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Live location
var location = LiveLocationMessage.builder() // Create a new live location message .caption("Look at this!") // Set the caption of the message, that is the text below the file. Not available if this message is live .latitude(38.9193) // Set the longitude of the location to share .longitude(1183.1389) // Set the latitude of the location to share .accuracy(10) // Set the accuracy of the location in meters .speed(12) // Set the speed of the device sharing the location in meter per endTimeStamp .build(); // Create the message api.sendMessage(chat, location);
IMPORTANT: Live location updates are not supported by Whatsapp multi-device. No ETA has been given for a fix.
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Group invite
var group = api.store() .findChatByName("Programmers") .filter(Chat::isGroup) .orElseThrow(() -> new NoSuchElementException("Hey, you don't exist")); var inviteCode = api.queryGroupInviteCode(group).join(); var groupInvite = GroupInviteMessage.builder() // Create a new group invite message .caption("Come join my group of fellow programmers") // Set the caption of this message .name(group.name()) // Set the name of the group .groupJid(group.jid())) // Set the jid of the group .inviteExpiration(ZonedDateTime.now().plusDays(3).toEpochSecond()) // Set the expiration of this invite .inviteCode(inviteCode) // Set the countryCode of the group .build(); // Create the message api.sendMessage(chat, groupInvite);
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Contact
var vcard = ContactCard.builder() // Create a new vcard .name("A nice friend") // Set the name of the contact .phoneNumber(contact) // Set the phone number of the contact .build(); // Create the vcard var contactMessage = ContactMessage.builder() // Create a new contact message .name("A nice friend") // Set the display name of the contact .vcard(vcard) // Set the vcard(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VCard) of the contact .build(); // Create the message api.sendMessage(chat, contactMessage);
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Contact array
var contactsMessage = ContactsArrayMessage.builder() // Create a new contacts array message .name("A nice friend") // Set the display name of the first contact that this message contains .contacts(List.of(jack,lucy,jeff)) // Set a list of contact messages that this message wraps .build(); // Create the message api.sendMessage(chat, contactsMessage);
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Button
Here is how you create a button:
var button = Button.of("A nice button!"); // Create a button var anotherButton = Button.of("Another button :)"); // Create another button with different text
Buttons can be used in several messages:
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Response button
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Empty header
var buttons = ButtonsMessage.simpleBuilder() // Create a new button message builder .body("A nice body") // Set the body .footer("A nice footer") // Set the footer .buttons(List.of(button, anotherButton)) // Set the buttons .build(); // Create the message api.sendMessage(contact, emptyButtons);
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Text header
var buttons = ButtonsMessage.simpleBuilder() // Create a new button message builder .header(TextMessage.of("A nice header :)")) // Set the header .body("A nice body") // Set the body .footer("A nice footer") // Set the footer .buttons(List.of(button, anotherButton)) // Set the buttons .build(); // Create the message api.sendMessage(contact, buttons);
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Document header
var buttons = ButtonsMessage.simpleBuilder() // Create a new button message builder .header(documentMessage) // Set the header .body("A nice body") // Set the body .footer("A nice footer") // Set the footer .buttons(List.of(button, anotherButton)) // Set the buttons .build(); // Create the message api.sendMessage(contact, buttons);
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Image header
var buttons = ButtonsMessage.simpleBuilder() // Create a new button message builder .header(imageMessage) // Set the header .body("A nice body") // Set the body .footer("A nice footer") // Set the footer .buttons(List.of(button, anotherButton)) // Set the buttons .build(); // Create the message api.sendMessage(contact, buttons);
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Video header
var buttons = ButtonsMessage.simpleBuilder() // Create a new button message builder .header(videoMessage) // Set the header .body("A nice body") // Set the body .footer("A nice footer") // Set the footer .buttons(List.of(button, anotherButton)) // Set the buttons .build(); // Create the message api.sendMessage(contact, buttons);
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Location header
var buttons = ButtonsMessage.simpleBuilder() // Create a new button message builder .header(locationMessage) // Set the header .body("A nice body") // Set the body .footer("A nice footer") // Set the footer .buttons(List.of(button, anotherButton)) // Set the buttons .build(); // Create the message api.sendMessage(contact, buttons);
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-
Native flow button
IMPORTANT: There is no documentation for this type of button. Contributions are welcomed.
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Interactive button
IMPORTANT: This type of message is currently not supported by mobile Whatsapp(still in beta).
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List message
var buttons = List.of(ButtonRow.of("First option", "A nice description"), ButtonRow.of("Second option", "A nice description"), ButtonRow.of("Third option", "A nice description")); // Create some buttons var section = ButtonSection.of("First section", buttons); // Create a section from those buttons var otherButtons = List.of(ButtonRow.of("First option", "A nice description"), ButtonRow.of("Second option", "A nice description"), ButtonRow.of("Third option", "A nice description")); // Create some other buttons var anotherSection = ButtonSection.of("First section", otherButtons); // Create another section from those buttons var listMessage = ListMessage.builder() // Create a list message builder .sections(List.of(section, anotherSection)) // Set the sections .button("Click me") // Set the button name that opens the menu .title("A nice title") // Set the title of the message .description("A nice description") // Set the description of the message .footer("A nice footer") // Set the footer of the message .type(ListMessage.Type.SINGLE_SELECT) // Set the type of the message .build(); // Create a list message api.sendMessage(contact, listMessage);
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Template button
var quickReplyButton = HydratedButtonTemplate.of(HydratedQuickReplyButton.of("Click me!")); // Create a quick reply button var urlButton = HydratedButtonTemplate.of(HydratedURLButton.of("Search it", "https://google.com")); // Create an url button var callButton = HydratedButtonTemplate.of(HydratedCallButton.of("Call me", "some_phone_number")); // Create a call button var fourRowTemplate = HydratedFourRowTemplate.simpleBuilder() // Create a new template builder .title(TextMessage.of("A nice title")) // Set the title .body("A nice body") // Set the body .buttons(List.of(quickReplyButton, urlButton, callButton)) // Set the buttons .build(); // Create the template var templateMessage = TemplateMessage.of(fourRowTemplate); // Create a template message api.sendMessage(contact, templateMessage);
-
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Media
IMPORTANT:
The thumbnail for videos and gifs is generated automatically only if ffmpeg is installed on the host machine.
The length of videos, gifs and audios in seconds is computed automatically only if ffprobe is installed on the host machine.
To send a media, start by reading the content inside a byte array. You might want to read it from a file:
var media = Files.readAllBytes(Path.of("somewhere"));
Or from a URL:
var media = new URL(url).openStream().readAllBytes();
All medias supported by Whatsapp are supported by this library:
-
Image
var image = ImageMessage.simpleBuilder() // Create a new image message builder .media(media) // Set the image of this message .caption("A nice image") // Set the caption of this message .build(); // Create the message api.sendMessage(chat, image);
-
Audio or voice
var audio = AudioMessage.simpleBuilder() // Create a new audio message builder .media(urlMedia) // Set the audio of this message .voiceMessage(false) // Set whether this message is a voice message .build(); // Create the message api.sendMessage(chat, audio);
-
Video
var video = VideoMessage.simpleVideoBuilder() // Create a new video message builder .media(urlMedia) // Set the video of this message .caption("A nice video") // Set the caption of this message .width(100) // Set the width of the video .height(100) // Set the height of the video .build(); // Create the message api.sendMessage(chat, video);
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GIF(Video)
var gif = VideoMessage.simpleGifBuilder() // Create a new gif message builder .media(urlMedia) // Set the gif of this message .caption("A nice video") // Set the caption of this message .gifAttribution(VideoMessageAttribution.TENOR) // Set the source of the gif .build(); // Create the message api.sendMessage(chat, gif);
IMPORTANT: Whatsapp doesn't support conventional gifs. Instead, videos can be played as gifs if particular attributes are set. This is the reason why the gif builder is under the VideoMessage class. Sending a conventional gif will result in an exception if detected or in undefined behaviour.
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Document
var document = DocumentMessage.simpleBuilder() // Create a new document message builder .media(urlMedia) // Set the document of this message .title("A nice pdf") // Set the title of the document .fileName("pdf-test.pdf") // Set the name of the document .pageCount(1) // Set the number of pages of the document .build(); // Create the message api.sendMessage(chat, document);
-
-
Reaction
- Send a reaction
var someMessage = ...; // The message to react to api.sendReaction(someMessage, Emojy.RED_HEART); // Use the Emojy class for a list of all Emojys
- Remove a reaction
var someMessage = ...; // The message to react to api.removeReaction(someMessage); // Use the Emojy class for a list of all Emojys
If you want to wait for a single reply, use:
var response = api.awaitReply(info).join();
You can also register a listener, but in many cases the async/await paradigm is easier to use then callback based listeners.
var result = api.delete(someMessage, everyone); // Deletes a message for yourself or everyone
To change the status of the client:
api.changePresence(true); // online
api.changePresence(false); // offline
If you want to change the status of your companion, start by choosing the right presence: These are the allowed values:
- AVAILABLE
- UNAVAILABLE
- COMPOSING
- RECORDING
- PAUSED
Then, execute this method:
api.changePresence(chat, presence);
IMPORTANT: The changePresence method returns a CompletableFuture: remember to handle this async construct if needed
To query the last known status of a Contact, use the following snippet:
var lastKnownPresenceOptional = contact.lastKnownPresence();
If the returned value is an empty Optional, the last status of the contact is unknown.
Whatsapp starts sending updates regarding the presence of a contact only when:
- A message was recently exchanged between you and said contact
- A new message arrives from said contact
- You send a message to said contact
To force Whatsapp to send these updates use:
api.subscribeToUserPresence(contact);
Then, after the subscribeToUserPresence's future is completed, query again the presence of that contact.
var status = api.queryStatus(contact) // A completable future
.join() // Wait for the future to complete
.map(ContactStatusResponse::status) // Map the response to its status
.orElse(null); // If no status is available yield null
var status = api.queryPicture(contact) // A completable future
.join() // Wait for the future to complete
.orElse(null); // If no picture is available yield null
var metadata = api.queryGroupMetadata(group); // A completable future
.join(); // Wait for the future to complete
var messages = chat.messages(); // All the messages in a chat
var firstMessage = chat.firstMessage(); // First message in a chat chronologically
var lastMessage = chat.lastMessage(); // Last message in a chat chronologically
var starredMessages = chat.starredMessages(); // All the starred messages in a chat
var future = api.mute(chat); // A future for the request
var future = api.mute(chat); // A future for the request
var future = api.archive(chat); // A future for the request
var future = api.unarchive(chat); // A future for the request
var future = api.changeEphemeralTimer(chat, ChatEphemeralTimer.ONE_WEEK); // A future for the request
var future = api.markAsRead(chat); // A future for the request
var future = api.markAsUnread(chat); // A future for the request
var future = api.pin(chat); // A future for the request
var future = api.unpin(chat); // A future for the request
var future = api.clear(chat); // A future for the request
IMPORTANT: This method is experimental and may not work
var future = api.delete(chat); // A future for the request
IMPORTANT: This method is experimental and may not work
var future = api.addGroupParticipant(group, contact); // A future for the request
var future = api.removeGroupParticipant(group, contact); // A future for the request
var future = api.promoteGroupParticipant(group, contact); // A future for the request
var future = api.demoteGroupParticipant(group, contact); // A future for the request
var future = api.changeGroupSubject(group, newName); // A future for the request
var future = api.changeGroupDescription(group, newDescription); // A future for the request
var future = api.changeWhoCanSendMessages(group, GroupPolicy.ANYONE); // A future for the request
var future = api.changeWhoCanEditInfo(group, GroupPolicy.ANYONE); // A future for the request
var future = api.changeGroupPicture(group, img); // A future for the request
var future = api.createGroup("A nice name :)", friend, friend2); // A future for the request
var future = api.leaveGroup(group); // A future for the request
var future = api.queryGroupInviteCode(group); // A future for the request
var future = api.revokeGroupInviteCode(group); // A future for the request
var future = api.acceptGroupInvite(inviteCode); // A future for the request
Some methods may not be listed here, all contributions are welcomed to this documentation!