avatar (24)

The avatar message is used to send a user's profile picture to a contact. This message is typically sent in response to a getAvatar request or proactively after a handshake is completed.

Core Data Types

• IxiBytes: See IxiBytes Encoding.

Payload Structure

The entire payload consists of a single field containing the raw image data.

Field	Data Type	Min	Max	Description
avatarImage	IxiBytes	1	500KB	The raw binary data of the user's avatar image. The format is typically JPEG or PNG.

Behavioral Notes

• Sending: A client sends this message after the user sets or changes their avatar, or in response to a getAvatar message. The client may resize the image to a standard dimension and apply compression to respect the payload size limit before sending.
• Receiving: Upon receipt, the client application should store the image data and associate it with the sender's address for display in the user interface.
• Verification: The StreamMessage carrying this payload MUST be signed. The recipient must verify the signature against the sender's public key before accepting the avatar. This ensures the avatar genuinely originates from the claimed contact.
• Bot Context: When receiving an avatar within a bot-managed group, the client uses the real_sender_address from the StreamMessage to associate the avatar with the correct group participant.