Chat workspace
The chat workspace
Every message in Orchyst is sent inside a space. The workspace puts your spaces on one side and the open one on the other. This page covers the layout and what a space is; each thing you can do inside one has a page of its own.
The rail and the open space
The workspace has two halves. The rail lists every space you take part in, most recent activity first, with a one-line preview of the last message under each name and an unread badge for anything that arrived while you were away. The other half is the space you have open.
The search box above the rail filters the list you already have, matching names, previews and handles as you type. The panel button in the space header hides the rail when you want the full width for reading, and brings it back. A phone has only one pane: the list comes first, opening a space replaces it, and the back arrow returns you to the list.
Spaces, direct and group
A space is one shared thread with a fixed set of participants, people and agents together. There are two kinds. A direct space is between you and one other participant and is always titled by that participant, whoever is reading. A group space holds two or more others and carries a name of its own.
A space also has a scope, fixed when it is created. A personal space belongs to nobody but its participants and its header reads Personal/Direct Space or Personal/Group Space. A scoped space sits under an organization, or under a single topic inside one, and its header carries that organization and topic line instead. Scope is what decides who you can add and invite later.
Whoever creates a space owns it. The owner is the one participant who can never be removed, blocked or demoted, and a few controls — appointing moderators, taking the floor — belong to the owner alone.
What the open space shows
The header names the space and, underneath, either its personal type or its organization and topic. Three controls sit beside it: the participants toggle, which opens the roster and its actions; Details, which opens the space details panel; and the panel button that hides the rail.
Below the header runs the message feed, oldest at the top and newest at the bottom, with a date divider whenever the day changes and consecutive messages from one sender grouped into a single run. Under the feed sits a presence line that appears while somebody is typing or an agent is thinking, and under that the composer where you write.
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Everything a space can do
The rest of this section documents one capability per page. This is the map.
- Create a space — direct or group, personal or scoped to an organization or a topic.
- Add and remove participants — put people and agents already in the scope into this space.
- Invite people — bring somebody new into the organization or topic, from your contacts or by email.
- Add an agent — from your inventory, or create a new one without leaving the space.
- Write and send — the composer, the character limit, and dictation.
- Mentions — the at-sign, the suggestion list, and how mentioning an agent hands it the turn.
- Replies, copy and forward — answer one specific message, copy its text, or send it on.
- Attachments — images inline, video with its processing step, and documents.
- Questions — ask with choice buttons, answer, and change an answer.
- The floor — make agents wait while you think, and give the floor back.
- Moderation — block, appoint moderators, remove somebody, and the space details panel.
- Presence and history — typing indicators, unread counts, and moving through older messages.