Quick replies for Discourse Chat notifications

Falco · May 11, 2026, 8:12pm

This was broken for a while, and I have re-added support for it in a more robust way

github.com/discourse/discourse

FEATURE: Restore web push quick reply for chat messages (#39614)

main ← chat-push-quick-reply

merged 03:36PM - 29 Apr 26 UTC

xfalcox

+401 -98

**Previously**, the "Reply" action on chat web push notifications was silently b…roken — the service worker's chat URL regex stopped matching when chat routes moved to `/chat/c/:slug/:id`, and the chat-specific code lived in core with no thread support, URL encoding, or error handling. **In this update**, generalize the core service worker into a plugin-extensible action registry, move chat reply handling into the chat plugin with proper thread/encoding/fallback support, and convert single-emoji replies into reactions on the source message (falling back to a regular message post on any failure). ## Architecture Core (`app/views/static/service-worker.js.erb`) now exposes: ```js self.registerNotificationActionHandler(action, handler); ``` Push payloads can carry `actions` (Web Notifications API format) and `action_data` (an arbitrary object surfaced to the handler at `event.notification.data.actionData`). The click handler dispatches by `event.action` name and falls back to the existing focus-or-open behavior when no handler matches or a handler throws. `PushNotificationPusher` forwards `actions` / `action_data` when present. The chat plugin owns its own service worker (`plugins/chat/assets/javascripts/service-worker.js`), registered via `register_service_worker`. It registers a `chat-reply` handler that: 1. Fetches a CSRF token. 2. If the reply is a single emoji grapheme (detected via `Intl.Segmenter`, with a `\p{Extended_Pictographic}` regex fallback), `PUT`s to `/chat/:channel_id/react/:message_id`. 3. Otherwise — or if the reaction request fails — `POST`s to `/chat/:channel_id` with proper `URLSearchParams` encoding and the source `thread_id` if present. 4. If everything fails, opens the channel so the user can retype. `Chat::Notifier.push_notification_reply_action(chat_message, user)` builds the payload in the user's locale with `channel_id`, `message_id`, and optional `thread_id`. `Chat::MessageReactor#react!` resolves raw Unicode via `Emoji.unicode_replacements[emoji] || emoji` before validation, so smartwatch quick-reply chips (which send raw Unicode like `👍🏽` or ZWJ sequences) just work. Existing shortcode callers are unaffected. ## Why this matters Smartwatch notification UIs expose a single "reply" affordance with canned chips that include short text and emoji. The user can't choose between "send as message" and "react"; they tap a chip and a string comes through. Treating a single-grapheme pictographic reply as a reaction matches user intent on the watch UX without any new product surface. ## Test plan - [ ] On a chat-enabled site, subscribe to web push notifications. - [ ] Have another user post a message that mentions you, or a watched channel message. - [ ] On the resulting OS notification, confirm a "Reply" action button appears. - [ ] Type a text reply and submit — verify it posts as a message in the right channel/thread. - [ ] Submit a single emoji (e.g. 👍 or 👍🏽 with skin tone) — verify it lands as a reaction on the source message instead of posting a message. - [ ] Submit a ZWJ sequence (e.g. 👨‍👩‍👧) — verify it lands as a reaction (or falls back to message post if not in the emoji DB). - [ ] Sign out / let session expire and submit a reply — verify the channel opens as a fallback rather than silently failing. - [ ] Watch via Wear OS / watchOS quick-reply chips and confirm the same behavior end-to-end.

Now we also capture replies that consist of a single emoji as a reaction, and support chat threads!.

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Quick replies for Discourse Chat notifications

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