Add support for deleting messages only for the current user (#3836)

* Add `deletedForMe` property to `ChatMessage`

* Handle `deletedForMe` in `MessageDeletedEvent`

* Add `ChatMessageController.deleteMessageForMe()`

* Fix `ChatMessage.isDeleted` not accounting for `deletedForMe`

* Add demo app example to test the feature

* Update CHANGELOG.md

* Fix forgotten deletedForMe in ChatMessage Equality

* Only update deletedForMe in MessageDTO if payload exists

Author: nuno-vieira

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -3,7 +3,11 @@ The format is based on [Keep a Changelog](https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.0.0/).
 
 # Upcoming
 
-### 🔄 Changed
+## StreamChat
+### ✅ Added
+- Add support for deleting messages only for the current user [#3836](https://github.com/GetStream/stream-chat-swift/pull/3836)
+  - Add `ChatMessageController.deleteMessageForMe()`
+  - Add `ChatMessage.deletedForMe` 
 
 # [4.90.0](https://github.com/GetStream/stream-chat-swift/releases/tag/4.90.0)
 _October 07, 2025_

DemoApp/StreamChat/Components/DemoChatMessageActionsVC.swift

@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ final class DemoChatMessageActionsVC: ChatMessageActionsVC {
         if message?.isSentByCurrentUser == true {
             if AppConfig.shared.demoAppConfig.isHardDeleteEnabled {
                 actions.append(hardDeleteActionItem())
+                actions.append(deleteForMeActionItem())
             }
         }
 
@@ -108,6 +109,22 @@ final class DemoChatMessageActionsVC: ChatMessageActionsVC {
         )
     }
 
+    func deleteForMeActionItem() -> ChatMessageActionItem {
+        DeleteForMeActionItem(
+            action: { [weak self] _ in
+                guard let self = self else { return }
+                self.alertsRouter.showMessageDeletionConfirmationAlert { confirmed in
+                    guard confirmed else { return }
+
+                    self.messageController.deleteMessageForMe { _ in
+                        self.delegate?.chatMessageActionsVCDidFinish(self)
+                    }
+                }
+            },
+            appearance: appearance
+        )
+    }
+
     func translateActionItem() -> ChatMessageActionItem {
         TranslateActionitem(
             action: { [weak self] _ in
@@ -224,6 +241,21 @@ final class DemoChatMessageActionsVC: ChatMessageActionsVC {
         }
     }
 
+    struct DeleteForMeActionItem: ChatMessageActionItem {
+        var title: String { "Delete only for me" }
+        var isDestructive: Bool { true }
+        let icon: UIImage
+        let action: (ChatMessageActionItem) -> Void
+
+        init(
+            action: @escaping (ChatMessageActionItem) -> Void,
+            appearance: Appearance = .default
+        ) {
+            self.action = action
+            icon = appearance.images.messageActionDelete
+        }
+    }
+
     struct TranslateActionitem: ChatMessageActionItem {
         var title: String { "Translate to Turkish" }
         var isDestructive: Bool { false }

DemoApp/StreamChat/Components/DemoChatMessageContentView.swift

@@ -75,6 +75,10 @@ final class DemoChatMessageContentView: ChatMessageContentView {
             timestampLabel?.text?.append(" - Translated to Turkish")
         }
 
+        if content?.deletedForMe == true {
+            timestampLabel?.text?.append(" - Deleted only for me")
+        }
+
         if content?.isPinned == true, let pinInfoLabel = pinInfoLabel {
             pinInfoLabel.text = "📌 Pinned"
             if let pinDetails = content?.pinDetails {

Sources/StreamChat/APIClient/Endpoints/MessageEndpoints.swift

@@ -15,13 +15,17 @@ extension Endpoint {
         )
     }
 
-    static func deleteMessage(messageId: MessageId, hard: Bool) -> Endpoint<MessagePayload.Boxed> {
-        .init(
+    static func deleteMessage(messageId: MessageId, hard: Bool, deleteForMe: Bool? = nil) -> Endpoint<MessagePayload.Boxed> {
+        var body: [String: AnyEncodable] = ["hard": AnyEncodable(hard)]
+        if let deleteForMe = deleteForMe {
+            body["delete_for_me"] = AnyEncodable(deleteForMe)
+        }
+        return .init(
             path: .deleteMessage(messageId),
             method: .delete,
             queryItems: nil,
             requiresConnectionId: false,
-            body: ["hard": hard]
+            body: body
         )
     }
 

Sources/StreamChat/APIClient/Endpoints/Payloads/MessagePayloads.swift

@@ -57,6 +57,7 @@ enum MessagePayloadsCodingKeys: String, CodingKey, CaseIterable {
     case location = "shared_location"
     case reminder
     case member
+    case deletedForMe = "deleted_for_me"
 }
 
 extension MessagePayload {
@@ -119,6 +120,7 @@ class MessagePayload: Decodable {
     var location: SharedLocationPayload?
     var reminder: ReminderPayload?
     var member: MemberInfoPayload?
+    let deletedForMe: Bool?
 
     /// Only message payload from `getMessage` endpoint contains channel data. It's a convenience workaround for having to
     /// make an extra call do get channel details.
@@ -189,6 +191,7 @@ class MessagePayload: Decodable {
         location = try container.decodeIfPresent(SharedLocationPayload.self, forKey: .location)
         reminder = try container.decodeIfPresent(ReminderPayload.self, forKey: .reminder)
         member = try container.decodeIfPresent(MemberInfoPayload.self, forKey: .member)
+        deletedForMe = try container.decodeIfPresent(Bool.self, forKey: .deletedForMe)
     }
 
     init(
@@ -233,7 +236,8 @@ class MessagePayload: Decodable {
         draft: DraftPayload? = nil,
         reminder: ReminderPayload? = nil,
         location: SharedLocationPayload? = nil,
-        member: MemberInfoPayload? = nil
+        member: MemberInfoPayload? = nil,
+        deletedForMe: Bool? = nil
     ) {
         self.id = id
         self.cid = cid
@@ -277,6 +281,7 @@ class MessagePayload: Decodable {
         self.location = location
         self.reminder = reminder
         self.member = member
+        self.deletedForMe = deletedForMe
     }
 }
 

Sources/StreamChat/Controllers/MessageController/MessageController.swift

@@ -355,6 +355,26 @@ public class ChatMessageController: DataController, DelegateCallable, DataStoreP
         }
     }
 
+    /// Deletes the message this controller manages only for the current user.
+    ///
+    /// This method deletes the message only for the current user, making it invisible to them while keeping it visible to other users.
+    /// This is different from the regular delete which affects all users in the channel.
+    ///
+    /// - Parameter completion: The completion. Will be called on a **callbackQueue** when the network request is finished.
+    ///                         If request fails, the completion will be called with an error.
+    ///
+    public func deleteMessageForMe(completion: ((Error?) -> Void)? = nil) {
+        messageUpdater.deleteMessage(
+            messageId: messageId,
+            hard: false,
+            deleteForMe: true
+        ) { error in
+            self.callback {
+                completion?(error)
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
     /// Creates a new reply message locally and schedules it for send.
     ///
     /// - Parameters:

Sources/StreamChat/Database/DTOs/MessageDTO.swift

@@ -118,6 +118,7 @@ class MessageDTO: NSManagedObject {
     @NSManaged var defaultSortingKey: DBDate!
 
     @NSManaged var channelRole: String?
+    @NSManaged var deletedForMe: Bool
 
     override func willSave() {
         super.willSave()
@@ -990,6 +991,10 @@ extension NSManagedObjectContext: MessageDatabaseSession {
 
         dto.isSilent = payload.isSilent
         dto.isShadowed = payload.isShadowed
+        if let deletedForMe = payload.deletedForMe {
+            dto.deletedForMe = deletedForMe
+        }
+
         // Due to backend not working as advertised
         // (sending `shadowed: true` flag to the shadow banned user)
         // we have to implement this workaround to get the advertised behavior
@@ -1776,6 +1781,7 @@ private extension ChatMessage {
         let isBounced = dto.isBounced
         let isSilent = dto.isSilent
         let isShadowed = dto.isShadowed
+        let deletedForMe = dto.deletedForMe
         let reactionScores = dto.reactionScores.mapKeys { MessageReactionType(rawValue: $0) }
         let reactionCounts = dto.reactionCounts.mapKeys { MessageReactionType(rawValue: $0) }
         let reactionGroups = dto.reactionGroups.asModel()
@@ -1890,6 +1896,7 @@ private extension ChatMessage {
             isBounced: isBounced,
             isSilent: isSilent,
             isShadowed: isShadowed,
+            deletedForMe: deletedForMe,
             reactionScores: reactionScores,
             reactionCounts: reactionCounts,
             reactionGroups: reactionGroups,

Sources/StreamChat/Database/DatabaseSession.swift

@@ -842,6 +842,11 @@ extension DatabaseSession {
             return
         }
 
+        // Update the message if deleted only for the current user.
+        if payload.eventType == .messageDeleted && payload.deletedForMe == true {
+            savedMessage.deletedForMe = true
+        }
+
         // When a message is updated, make sure to update
         // the messages quoting the edited message by triggering a DB Update.
         if payload.eventType == .messageUpdated {

Sources/StreamChat/Database/StreamChatModel.xcdatamodeld/StreamChatModel.xcdatamodel/contents

@@ -219,6 +219,7 @@
         <attribute name="createdAt" attributeType="Date" usesScalarValueType="NO"/>
         <attribute name="defaultSortingKey" optional="YES" attributeType="Date" usesScalarValueType="NO"/>
         <attribute name="deletedAt" optional="YES" attributeType="Date" usesScalarValueType="NO"/>
+        <attribute name="deletedForMe" attributeType="Boolean" defaultValueString="NO" usesScalarValueType="YES"/>
         <attribute name="extraData" optional="YES" attributeType="Binary"/>
         <attribute name="id" attributeType="String"/>
         <attribute name="isActiveLiveLocation" attributeType="Boolean" defaultValueString="NO" usesScalarValueType="YES"/>

Sources/StreamChat/Models/ChatMessage.swift

@@ -85,6 +85,11 @@ public struct ChatMessage {
     ///
     public let isShadowed: Bool
 
+    /// A flag indicating whether the message was deleted only for the current user.
+    ///
+    /// Messages with this flag set to true are deleted for the current user but still visible to others.
+    public let deletedForMe: Bool
+
     /// The reactions to the message created by any user.
     public let reactionScores: [MessageReactionType: Int]
 
@@ -206,6 +211,7 @@ public struct ChatMessage {
         isBounced: Bool,
         isSilent: Bool,
         isShadowed: Bool,
+        deletedForMe: Bool,
         reactionScores: [MessageReactionType: Int],
         reactionCounts: [MessageReactionType: Int],
         reactionGroups: [MessageReactionType: ChatMessageReactionGroup],
@@ -248,6 +254,7 @@ public struct ChatMessage {
         self.isBounced = isBounced
         self.isSilent = isSilent
         self.isShadowed = isShadowed
+        self.deletedForMe = deletedForMe
         self.reactionScores = reactionScores
         self.reactionCounts = reactionCounts
         self.reactionGroups = reactionGroups
@@ -312,6 +319,7 @@ public struct ChatMessage {
             isBounced: isBounced,
             isSilent: isSilent,
             isShadowed: isShadowed,
+            deletedForMe: deletedForMe,
             reactionScores: reactionScores,
             reactionCounts: reactionCounts,
             reactionGroups: reactionGroups,
@@ -427,6 +435,7 @@ public struct ChatMessage {
             isBounced: isBounced,
             isSilent: isSilent,
             isShadowed: isShadowed,
+            deletedForMe: deletedForMe,
             reactionScores: reactionScores,
             reactionCounts: reactionCounts,
             reactionGroups: reactionGroups,
@@ -562,6 +571,7 @@ extension ChatMessage: Hashable {
         guard lhs.localState == rhs.localState else { return false }
         guard lhs.updatedAt == rhs.updatedAt else { return false }
         guard lhs.deletedAt == rhs.deletedAt else { return false }
+        guard lhs.deletedForMe == rhs.deletedForMe else { return false }
         guard lhs.allAttachments == rhs.allAttachments else { return false }
         guard lhs.poll == rhs.poll else { return false }
         guard lhs.author == rhs.author else { return false }