To create a ChatMessage instance, use from_user, from_system, from_assistant, and from_tool class methods.

The content of the ChatMessage can then be inspected using the text, texts, image, images, tool_call, tool_calls, tool_call_result, and tool_call_results properties.

If you are looking for the details of this data class methods and parameters, head over to our API documentation.

Types of Content

ChatMessage currently supports TextContent, ImageContent, ToolCall and ToolCallResult types of content:

@dataclass
class TextContent:
    """
    The textual content of a chat message.

    :param text: The text content of the message.
    """

    text: str

@dataclass
class ToolCall:
    """
    Represents a Tool call prepared by the model, usually contained in an assistant message.

    :param tool_name: The name of the Tool to call.
    :param arguments: The arguments to call the Tool with.
    :param id: The ID of the Tool call.
    """

    tool_name: str
    arguments: Dict[str, Any]
    id: Optional[str] = None  # noqa: A003

@dataclass
class ToolCallResult:
    """
    Represents the result of a Tool invocation.

    :param result: The result of the Tool invocation.
    :param origin: The Tool call that produced this result.
    :param error: Whether the Tool invocation resulted in an error.
    """

    result: str
    origin: ToolCall
    error: bool

@dataclass
class ImageContent:
    """
    The image content of a chat message.

    :param base64_image: A base64 string representing the image.
    :param mime_type: The MIME type of the image (e.g. "image/png", "image/jpeg").
        Providing this value is recommended, as most LLM providers require it.
        If not provided, the MIME type is guessed from the base64 string, which can be slow and not always reliable.
    :param detail: Optional detail level of the image (only supported by OpenAI). One of "auto", "high", or "low".
    :param meta: Optional metadata for the image.
    :param validation: If True (default), a validation process is performed:
        - Check whether the base64 string is valid;
        - Guess the MIME type if not provided;
        - Check if the MIME type is a valid image MIME type.
        Set to False to skip validation and speed up initialization.
    """

    base64_image: str
    mime_type: Optional[str] = None
    detail: Optional[Literal["auto", "high", "low"]] = None
    meta: Dict[str, Any] = field(default_factory=dict)
    validation: bool = True

The ImageContent dataclass also provides two convenience class methods: from_file_path and from_url. For more details, refer to our API documentation.

Working with a ChatMessage

The following examples demonstrate how to create a ChatMessage and inspect its properties.

from_user with TextContent

from haystack.dataclasses import ChatMessage

user_message = ChatMessage.from_user("What is the capital of Australia?")

print(user_message)
>>> ChatMessage(
>>>    _role=<ChatRole.USER: 'user'>,
>>>    _content=[TextContent(text='What is the capital of Australia?')],
>>>    _name=None,
>>>    _meta={}
>>>)

print(user_message.text)
>>> What is the capital of Australia?

print(user_message.texts)
>>> ['What is the capital of Australia?']

from_user with TextContent and ImageContent

from haystack.dataclasses import ChatMessage, ImageContent

capybara_image_url = (
    "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e1/"
    "Cattle_tyrant_%28Machetornis_rixosa%29_on_Capybara.jpg/"
    "960px-Cattle_tyrant_%28Machetornis_rixosa%29_on_Capybara.jpg?download"
)

image_content = ImageContent.from_url(capybara_image_url, detail="low")

user_message = ChatMessage.from_user(
	content_parts=[
		"What does the image show?",
		image_content
		])

print(user_message)
>>> ChatMessage(
>>>     _role=<ChatRole.USER: 'user'>,
>>>     _content=[
>>>         TextContent(text='What does the image show?'),
>>>         ImageContent(
>>>             base64_image='/9j/4...',
>>>             mime_type='image/jpeg',
>>>             detail='low',
>>>             meta={
>>>                 'content_type': 'image/jpeg',
>>>                 'url': '...'
>>>             }
>>>         )
>>>     ],
>>>     _name=None,
>>>     _meta={}
>>> )

print(user_message.text)
>>> What does the image show?

print(user_message.texts)
>>> ['What does the image show?']

print(user_message.image)
>>> ImageContent(
>>>     base64_image='/9j/4...',
>>>     mime_type='image/jpeg',
>>>     detail='low',
>>>     meta={
>>>         'content_type': 'image/jpeg',
>>>         'url': '...'
>>>     }
>>> )

from_assistant with TextContent

from haystack.dataclasses import ChatMessage

assistant_message = ChatMessage.from_assistant("How can I assist you today?")

print(assistant_message)
>>> ChatMessage(
>>>    _role=<ChatRole.ASSISTANT: 'assistant'>,
>>>    _content=[TextContent(text='How can I assist you today?')],
>>>    _name=None,
>>>    _meta={}
>>>)

print(assistant_message.text)
>>> How can I assist you today?

print(assistant_message.texts)
>>> ['How can I assist you today?']

from_assistant with ToolCall

from haystack.dataclasses import ChatMessage, ToolCall

tool_call = ToolCall(tool_name="weather_tool", arguments={"location": "Rome"})

assistant_message_w_tool_call = ChatMessage.from_assistant(tool_calls=[tool_call])

print(assistant_message_w_tool_call)
>>> ChatMessage(
>>>    _role=<ChatRole.ASSISTANT: 'assistant'>,
>>>    _content=[ToolCall(tool_name='weather_tool', arguments={'location': 'Rome'}, id=None)],
>>>    _name=None,
>>>    _meta={}
>>>)

print(assistant_message_w_tool_call.text)
>>> None

print(assistant_message_w_tool_call.texts)
>>> []

print(assistant_message_w_tool_call.tool_call)
>>> ToolCall(tool_name='weather_tool', arguments={'location': 'Rome'}, id=None)

print(assistant_message_w_tool_call.tool_calls)
>>> [ToolCall(tool_name='weather_tool', arguments={'location': 'Rome'}, id=None)]

print(assistant_message_w_tool_call.tool_call_result)
>>> None

print(assistant_message_w_tool_call.tool_call_results)
>>> []

from_tool

from haystack.dataclasses import ChatMessage

tool_message = ChatMessage.from_tool(tool_result="temperature: 25°C", origin=tool_call, error=False)

print(tool_message)
>>> ChatMessage(
>>>    _role=<ChatRole.TOOL: 'tool'>,
>>>    _content=[ToolCallResult(
>>>							   result='temperature: 25°C',
>>>                origin=ToolCall(tool_name='weather_tool', arguments={'location': 'Rome'}, id=None),
>>>                error=False
>>>                )],
>>>    _name=None,
>>>    _meta={}
>>>)

print(tool_message.text)
>>> None

print(tool_message.texts)
>>> []

print(tool_message.tool_call)
>>> None

print(tool_message.tool_calls)
>>> []

print(tool_message.tool_call_result)
>>> ToolCallResult(
>>>     result='temperature: 25°C',
>>>     origin=ToolCall(tool_name='weather_tool', arguments={'location': 'Rome'}, id=None),
>>>     error=False
>>> )

print(tool_message.tool_call_results)
>>> [
>>>     ToolCallResult(
>>>         result='temperature: 25°C',
>>>         origin=ToolCall(tool_name='weather_tool', arguments={'location': 'Rome'}, id=None),
>>>         error=False
>>>     )
>>> ]

Migrating from Legacy ChatMessage (before v2.9)

In Haystack 2.9, we updated the ChatMessage data class for greater flexibility and support for multiple content types: text, tool calls, and tool call results.

There are some breaking changes involved, so we recommend reviewing this guide to migrate smoothly.

Creating a ChatMessage

You can no longer directly initialize ChatMessage using role, content, and meta.

Use the following class methods instead: from_assistant, from_user, from_system, and from_tool.
Replace the content parameter with text.

from haystack.dataclasses import ChatMessage

# LEGACY - DOES NOT WORK IN 2.9.0
message = ChatMessage(role=ChatRole.USER, content="Hello!")

# Use the class method instead
message = ChatMessage.from_user("Hello!")

Accessing ChatMessage Attributes

The legacy content attribute is now internal (_content).
Inspect ChatMessage attributes using the following properties:
- role
- meta
- name
- text and texts
- image and images
- tool_call and tool_calls
- tool_call_result and tool_calls_results

from haystack.dataclasses import ChatMessage

message = ChatMessage.from_user("Hello!")

# LEGACY - DOES NOT WORK IN 2.9.0
print(message.content)

# Use the appropriate property instead
print(message.text)