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The friend system manages relationships between users, including friend requests, accepted friendships, and blocking.

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Overview

The tangle.client.friends package provides functionality for managing user relationships, syncing platform friends, and handling friend requests.

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Getting Relationships

Retrieve all relationships for the current user.

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GetRelationships

This message requests all relationships for the authenticated user. 
// friends.getRelationships -> Relationships
message GetRelationships {}
This message has no parameters. The server returns relationships for the authenticated user.

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Response: Relationships

The server responds with a Relationships message containing relationship data and associated user information.
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relationships
types.Relationship[]
required
Array of all relationships for the current user
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users
types.User[]
required
Array of user objects for all users involved in the relationships

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Protocol Definition

message Relationships {
  repeated types.Relationship relationships = 1;
  repeated types.User users = 2;
}

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Changing Relationships

Modify the relationship status with another user.

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ChangeRelationship

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user
refs.UserRef
required
Reference to the user to change the relationship with
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change
RelationshipChangeType
required
The type of relationship change to perform

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Protocol Definition

// friends.changeRelationship -> ()
message ChangeRelationship {
  refs.UserRef user = 1;
  RelationshipChangeType change = 2;

  enum RelationshipChangeType {
    INVALID = 0;
    REQUEST_FRIEND = 1;
    ACCEPT_FRIEND = 2;
    REMOVE_FRIEND = 3;
    BLOCK = 4;
    UNBLOCK = 5;
  }
}

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Relationship Change Types

The RelationshipChangeType enum defines the possible relationship operations.
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INVALID
0
Invalid/default value, should not be used
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REQUEST_FRIEND
1
Send a friend request to the specified user
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ACCEPT_FRIEND
2
Accept an incoming friend request from the specified user
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REMOVE_FRIEND
3
Remove an existing friendship or cancel an outgoing friend request
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BLOCK
4
Block the specified user
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UNBLOCK
5
Unblock the specified user

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Syncing Platform Friends

The SyncFriends message allows synchronizing friends from external platforms.

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SyncFriends

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platform_user_id
string
required
User’s ID on the external platform
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hashed_platform_user_id
bytes
required
Hashed version of the platform user ID for privacy
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platform_user_name
string
Optional username on the external platform
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platform
string
required
Name/identifier of the external platform
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friend_ids_hashed
bytes[]
required
Array of hashed friend IDs from the platform
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community_ids_hashed
bytes[]
required
Array of hashed community/server IDs from the platform

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Protocol Definition

// friends.syncFriends -> ()
message SyncFriends {
  string platform_user_id = 1;
  bytes hashed_platform_user_id = 2;
  optional string platform_user_name = 3;
  string platform = 4;
  repeated bytes friend_ids_hashed = 5;
  repeated bytes community_ids_hashed = 6;
}
The sync friends functionality uses hashed IDs to protect user privacy while enabling cross-platform friend discovery.

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Common Workflows

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Sending a Friend Request

  1. Send ChangeRelationship with change set to REQUEST_FRIEND
  2. The target user receives a friend request
  3. The relationship status updates to reflect the pending request

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Accepting a Friend Request

  1. Receive notification of incoming friend request
  2. Send ChangeRelationship with change set to ACCEPT_FRIEND
  3. Both users’ relationship status updates to friends

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Removing a Friend

  1. Send ChangeRelationship with change set to REMOVE_FRIEND
  2. The friendship is terminated
  3. Both users’ relationship status updates

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Blocking a User

  1. Send ChangeRelationship with change set to BLOCK
  2. The user is blocked
  3. Any existing friendship is removed
  4. Communication from the blocked user is filtered

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Best Practices

  • Always fetch current relationships with GetRelationships before displaying the friends list
  • Handle relationship updates from the server to keep the UI synchronized
  • Use appropriate confirmation dialogs before blocking or removing friends
  • Validate user references before sending relationship change requests

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