Chats

Chats cover direct messages, group chats, file sharing, record links, reactions, unread tracking, browser calls, and screen sharing. The inbox lives at Chats.

What a chat is

• A direct chat is a 1:1 conversation. Its title and avatar come from the other participant.
• A group chat has three or more participants, or is explicitly created as a group. It can have a custom title.
• Creating a direct chat with someone you already message does not create a duplicate. Einblick reuses the existing 1:1 chat.
• Group titles are auto-generated from the selected members if you do not enter one.

Who you can chat with

• Everyone in your current workspace can be found in the new-chat picker.
• People outside your workspace only appear if their account is active and they enabled public discoverability in Account Settings.
• Only participants can open a chat, load messages, upload files to that chat, or join its calls.

Inbox behavior

• The chat list is sorted by latest activity.
• Unread badges are based on messages you have not read yet.
• Your own messages never count as unread for you.
• Call-control and WebRTC signaling messages do not increase unread counts.
• Messages are marked as read when they become visible in the conversation view.

Sending messages

• Press Enter to send.
• Press Shift+Enter for a new line.
• You can send plain text, files, screenshots pasted from the clipboard, and browser-recorded voice memos.
• Images, audio, video, and common document formats are supported in the composer.
• Your own messages show a sent/read indicator. Read means at least one other participant has read the message.

Files and storage

• Each chat gets its own folder under the system Chats area in Files.
• New attachments are stored in that chat folder.
• If a group chat title changes, the linked folder name is updated too.
• Deleting a chat archives the chat record and removes its chat folder recursively.
• The backend supports a dedicated chat image, but the current edit dialog still exposes title changes only.

Record links and previews

• The @ picker in the composer inserts links to app records. It does not create special person mentions or mention notifications.
• Supported link targets include chats, users, organizations, contacts, projects, tasks, work orders, inquiries, quotes, invoices, boards, and other core records.
• Internal record links render as clickable references with preview cards.
• External URLs render as link previews after Open Graph metadata is fetched and cached.

Reactions and thread details

• Every message can receive emoji reactions.
• Clicking your own reaction removes it.
• Group chats show sender names and avatars inside the thread where needed.

Chat info sheet

• The info sheet shows participants, shared media, shared files, and shared links.
• Group chat admins can add or remove participants from this sheet.
• Direct chats do not expose group management actions.
• If the last admin leaves or is removed, another remaining participant is promoted automatically.

Calls

• Calls run in the browser with WebRTC and use camera/microphone permissions.
• Supported browsers can also share a screen during a call.
• On the full chat page, the header shows the call action.
• Direct chats use phone-style ringing. If nobody answers within about 30 seconds, the outgoing call times out.
• Group chats use a shared room. Starting a group call creates an active session immediately, and other participants can join while it is running.
• Shared screens appear as their own call stage.
• The floating call window can be dragged and resized while you keep working elsewhere in the app.
• Fullscreen mode supports grid and spotlight layouts, and you can pin a participant or shared screen while presenting.
• Incoming calls create in-app call UI and notification events.
• Stale participants and stale sessions are cleaned up automatically if a browser disconnects without leaving cleanly.

Notifications

• New chat messages use the chat.message notification event.
• Incoming calls use the call.incoming notification event.
• Both events are account-scoped because chats can cross workspace boundaries.
• Personal delivery channels are managed in Notification Settings.
• Workspace defaults do not control chat messages or incoming calls.
• Incoming call delivery is enforced at the platform level, so users cannot fully disable ring delivery.

Related records

• Use chats to share links to Organizations, Contacts, Projects, Tasks, and Work Orders.
• Chat discovery depends on user profile settings from Account Settings and the user directory in Users.
• Shared files follow the same file storage rules documented in Files.

Data model

• chats: the chat record itself, including isGroup, optional title, optional image, and the chat root folder.
• chatUsers: participants, their status, and whether they are admins.
• chatMessages: the message body and created date.
• chatMessageFiles, chatMessageReads, chatMessageReactions: attachments, read receipts, and emoji reactions.
• linkPreviews: cached external URL preview metadata.
• chatUnreadMessages: per-user unread tracking used for fast aggregate counts.
• chatCallSessions, chatCallParticipants, chatCallSignals: the call session, active call presence, and signaling layer.