# Discourse Chat **URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/discourse-chat/230881 **Category:** Plugin **Tags:** official, chat, included-in-core **Created:** [July 4, 2022, 10:47am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/discourse-chat/230881 "2022-07-04T10:47:47Z") **Posts on this page:** 1 **Showing post:** 1
### Author: ![Discourse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/discourse/32/148734_2.png) [@Discourse](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Discourse) #### Post date: [July 4, 2022, 10:47am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/discourse-chat/230881/1 "2022-07-04T10:47:47Z")
| | | | | --- | --- | --- | | :discourse2: | **Summary** | **Discourse Chat** adds chat functionality to your Discourse instance. | | 📖 | **Install Guide** | **This plugin is bundled with Discourse core**. There is no need to install the plugin separately. | > [@](#): > > :discourse2: As this is an #official plugin maintained by the Discourse team, #Support, #Contribute > Bug, #Contribute > UX, and #Contribute > Feature requests can be made in the respective categories here on Meta, and tagged with the appropriate plugin tag. Click on a link below to get one started. 👍 > > [❓ **Support**](https://meta.discourse.org/new-topic?category_id=6&body=%3E%20Before%20asking,%20did%20you%20search%20first%3F%20Press%20%F0%9F%94%8D%20at%20the%20upper%20right%20to%20search.&tags=chat "Ask for support on configuring and using Discourse Chat") [🐛 **Bug**](https://meta.discourse.org/new-topic?category_id=1&tags=chat "A bug report means something is broken, preventing normal/typical use of the plugin") [👀 **UX**](https://meta.discourse.org/new-topic?category_id=9&tags=chat "Discussion about the user interface of Discourse Chat, and how features are presented (including language and UI elements)") [💡 **Feature**](https://meta.discourse.org/new-topic?category_id=2&tags=chat "Discussion about how existing Discourse Chat features can be improved or enhanced, and how proposed new features could work") # Features As mentioned in our [initial announcement](https://meta.discourse.org/t/introducing-discourse-chat-beta/210734) and [most recent update](https://meta.discourse.org/t/discourse-chat-is-now-available-try-it-out-today/234824) and [threading announcement](https://meta.discourse.org/t/introducing-chat-threads/270613) , this plugin adds chat functionality to your Discourse so it can natively support both, long-form and short-form communication needs of your online community. # Configuration ## Initial setup Chat is enabled by default for all our hosted sites, but if it is not yet enabled, you can go to `/admin/plugins` and toggle the plugin on: ![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/meta/original/4X/b/5/6/b568e8dee588fdfabb60d470618a62a22392e5ab.png) By default, Chat will be available to the staff group only, but you can add more groups by adding them to the `chat allowed groups` setting. ## Channel retention By default, channels are configured to retain messages for 90 days and direct and group messages are configured to retain messages forever, but these are configurable site settings: - `chat channel retention days` (default 90 days) Choose how long to retain Chat messages for channels - `chat dm retention days` (default forever) Choose how long to retain your Chat messages for direct message and group message channels ## Other site settings Additional site settings allow you to configure a set of default emoji reactions and a range of safety features (such as maximum chat messages per second, minimum message length, silence duration, and whether to allow uploads). ## Accessing channels and creating new channels After the plugin is enabled, a speech bubble will appear in the header next to the Search icon, and clicking on that will open your **Full Screen** Chat window, where you can access default channels as well as start new personal chats. To navigate back to your Full Screen Chat window from inside each channel, use the \< icon in the top left corner. > Using the ![Screenshot 2022-06-24 at 5.52.54 PM](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/meta/original/4X/4/4/2/44286e25559ded12ee00b903150c295f3cefc619.png) button on any Chat window, you can toggle between **Full Screen** mode and **Drawer** mode. ### Create a channel To create a new channel (staff only), go to `/chat/browse/open` by clicking select the ✏ icon in the channel sidebar: ![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/meta/original/4X/0/0/4/0045898332bd2d494a07e8591462e51832ce77f0.png) Then, select New channel from the top-right of the page. Choose a category to associate it with, give it a name, an emoji, and add an optional description to display on the Browse Channels page. ![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/meta/original/4X/0/d/6/0d6a61ca8d6d7e9b80bde8d875ea841e67ed17b7.png) A Category can have multiple channels associated to it, and more can be added anytime. As a channel is always linked to a category, you can rely on existing category permissions to automatically limit who has access to that particular conversation. > 💡 Want a channel just for your TL3+ users? Then creating a new channel for your #lounge category will do just that. ## Threading Channels can have threading enabled on creation, or later on in the channel settings page: ![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/meta/original/4X/8/e/4/8e44da9c0549460a14ff8eabdc33301dfc3d0663.png) When a member replies to a chat message when the channel has threading enabled, a thread sidebar will open, and an excerpt of the latest message in the thread will show beneath the original message in the main channel stream: ![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/meta/original/4X/2/e/8/2e8d71df4a8cd2f465ed5ab378ab6fb4bf0d3ad6.png) Threads have similar tracking levels to topics, which can be changed via the 🔔 icon at the top right corner of the thread: ![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/meta/original/4X/e/3/a/e3a0756eac68eb4861651cee7559cb8ae21a425e.png) The creator of the thread can change the thread title. On Discourse hosted sites, AI thread title generation is enabled by default ✨ ![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/meta/original/4X/8/7/6/876411845c5381d5de61d4879e3a4af638f74244.png) Members can see all the threads they are participating in via the “My Threads” link at the top of the chat sidebar: ![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/meta/original/4X/6/c/3/6c37e2233c9f576c6646fb452c6dc4c12692e7cc.png) ### Joining a channel You can preview and join channels from the ‘Browse channels’ page. From this page, you can view all the channels that are visible to you and eligible to join. ### Inviting users to channels with `@mentions` `@mentioning` individual users or groups will give the option to invite them to the channel if they aren’t participants already. To invite groups in this way, the ‘Who can `@mention` this group?’ on the group’s `/manage/interaction` page must be set to something other than ‘Nobody’. ### Starting a direct message or group chat To start a direct message, use the ➕ icon on your Full Screen Chat window in the DMs section and start adding usernames to the recipients list. To leave a direct message or group chat click the **X** icon next to the channel name (only on desktop). > ℹ If you accidentally leave a direct message, starting a new chat with the same person/people will link you back to the messages sent previously. ## Chat message options Like topics, chat messages support: - Edits - Replies - Quoting - Oneboxing - Reactions - Bookmarks - Deletion In the composer, you can insert dates, upload files, and GIFs! Chat channels support channel-wide `@here` and `@all` mentions with per channel while presence features like a green halo for online users & _username is typing…_ indicator are also present. You can also select one or more chat messages and ‘Quote to topic’ to take a quick conversation and make it into a Discourse topic for in-depth discussion, or press ‘Copy’ to get the messages onto your clipboard to post into an existing topic or different chat channel: ![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/meta/original/4X/f/5/c/f5cbd8d70f7792630c28a06507bdce304d2821b6.png) Admins and moderators also have the ability to select chat messages and move them to a different channel. ![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/meta/original/4X/f/7/1/f715b05015146a3a6f3ad011c3d845d585ed7ca8.png) ## Automatically add users to a channel While creating a new channel, admins will now see a preference to add all new and existing users to it. Using this, admins can configure “default channels” for groups of users to be included in automatically: ![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/meta/original/4X/1/9/b/19b957f821376c6baa67d01826618fe845fcea1a.png) For an existing channel, admins can toggle this behaviour in Channel Settings. In all cases, a confirmation dialog will appear to indicate the number of users being added. ## Search Members can search either individual channel messages with the search icon at the top right of each channel: ![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/meta/original/4X/f/0/a/f0aceef57773f922e9209310c48b4260caa78970.png) Or search all channels via the “Search” link at the top of the chat sidebar: ![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/meta/original/4X/9/3/d/93d0c0b5ae347c1c4a2f161ea44efcefd8976f59.png) ## Chat information panel Clicking a channel title will now take users to a useful info panel with two tabs: ![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/meta/original/4X/f/e/9/fe9f0397c5bd9620661575bd7fac66eddd697ca6.png) - The **Settings** tab will display title, description and linked category, so users have the context they need for each channel. - The **Members** tab lets users see who else is in the room with them (member list and total count). It includes a filter so they can use search. ![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/meta/original/4X/b/c/2/bc2dbebe3fc149d10dd04c444978f060f865330f.png) ## Chat preferences When Chat is enabled, users see a new `/preferences/chat` page in their preferences. On this page, they can opt-out of Chat, customise the chat experience, and find accessibility settings. On the `/preferences/notifications` page, they can find all the settings related to notifications such as opt-out of the `@here` and `@all` notifications, and choose a desktop sound. The existing settings on `/preferences/users` page also apply to chat direct messages, so users can also turn off direct messages or mute or ignore other individual users. ## Closing, deleting, and archiving channels Admins and moderators can close or delete channels from the channel’s settings page, which can by accessed by clicking the channel name in the channel’s header. A closed channel can be reopened any time, but deleting a channel is not reversible, so there is an additional confirmation check in place. To archive a channel, the `chat allow archiving channels` setting must be enabled, and the channel must be closed. You can then choose “Archive channel” from channel settings, and you will be presented with a modal that asks if you want to create a new topic or use an existing topic for the archive process: ![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/meta/original/4X/2/a/3/2a3e3f466f8338bf71448469950da53a54da4d69.png) Archiving will copy the chat messages into a chat transcript then post them in the selected topic, and they appear like this: ![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/meta/original/4X/f/5/c/f5cbd8d70f7792630c28a06507bdce304d2821b6.png) # Integrations Discourse Chat supports Incoming webhooks but has no support for interactive bots or slash commands yet. ## 📢 Sending Chat messages using Incoming webhooks [Slack-compatible] ![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/meta/original/4X/5/7/a/57af8a9c301850438a7b525abdbe51522a1a3ecc.png) The UI for creating webhooks can be found at Admin \> Plugins \> Chat \> New incoming webhook. You can configure a name, description, username (that posts messages), destination channel and emoji for each webhook. > :discourse2: **Hosted by us?** Chat is included as a bundled plugin for everyone. 🥳 > Last edited by @chapoi 2026-07-14T07:42:59Z > > > **Check document** > > > > Perform check on document: --- _[View the full topic](https://meta.discourse.org/t/discourse-chat/230881)._