Inbox & messaging

Two tabs: Activity and Messages

Inbox combines async awareness (feed) with realtime chat (messages). The badge on Inbox in the sidebar counts unread feed items plus unread DMs and channel messages. The browser tab title also shows an unread count — (3) Inbox | Teamtastic — so you can see new messages without switching tabs.

Activity feed

The default tab is your personalized stream, organized into three sections:

Needs your action: approvals, mentions, and assignments waiting on you.
Updates on your work: comments and status changes on tasks you own or follow.
Around you: broader org activity you may care about.

Managers also see an org-wide activity view. Filter by event type (overdue, due today, leave, mentions, calls) when hunting for one item. Click any row to jump to the underlying task, PTO request, or thread.

Direct messages

Open Messages (/inbox?tab=messages) for 1:1 threads.

Start a DM from a teammate's profile or from the Messages sidebar.
Messages arrive instantly via realtime push — no page refresh needed.
Unread badges update in the sidebar and in the browser tab title.

Click any avatar in a DM (or anywhere in the app) to open a profile card: name, status, local time in their timezone, and a "Send message" link.

Channels

Group channels are lightweight team rooms for ongoing topics, project coordination, or announcements.

Create a channel from the Messages tab — name, slug, and optional description.
Sending the first message auto-joins you as a member.
@mention teammates; they get a notification if opted in.
Unread counts roll up to the Inbox badge alongside DMs.
The ✓ Mark all read button in the sidebar clears all channel and DM unread state in one click.

Composing messages

The message composer supports rich text formatting. You will not see raw asterisks or underscores while typing — formatting is applied immediately.

Bold: toolbar button or ⌘B / Ctrl+B
Italic: toolbar button or ⌘I / Ctrl+I
~~Strikethrough~~: toolbar button or ⌘⇧S / Ctrl+Shift+S
Inline code: toolbar button or ⌘` / Ctrl+`
Block quote: toolbar button

Press Enter to send, Shift+Enter for a new line.

Slash commands

Type / in any composer to open the command menu:

/gif <search> — search for a GIF and click to insert it inline.
/call — opens the Schedule Call modal with your saved Zoom or Meet link pre-filled.
/task <title> — creates a task in the org-wide pool without leaving the conversation.

File and image uploads

Attach files directly in channel messages:

Click the paperclip icon in the composer toolbar to pick files.
Drag and drop one or more files onto the composer area.
Images appear as thumbnails in the composer before you send; other files show a file card with name and size.
After sending, images render inline in the message bubble. Non-image files appear as downloadable cards.
Up to 5 files per message, max 10 MB per file. Supported formats: PNG, JPEG, GIF, WebP, PDF, Word, Excel, plain text, CSV, Markdown, and ZIP.
Files are stored securely in Cloudflare R2; download links are time-limited signed URLs.

Hover toolbar

Hover over any message to reveal a toolbar at the top edge of the bubble:

Quick reactions (👍 ❤️ 😂 🎉) — click to toggle; click again to remove.
💬 Reply — expand the inline thread and add a reply.
☑ Create task — turn the message into a task (opens a modal).
✏️ Edit — edit your own messages (sender only). Edited messages show an (edited) label.
🗑️ Delete — permanently delete your own messages (sender only).
📌 Pin — managers can pin messages; pinned messages get a gold left border.

Reactions

React to any message with emoji. The quick reaction bar shows 4 shortcuts; click the emoji picker button for the full set. Clicking a reaction you already added removes it. Reaction counts are shown below the message bubble.

Pinned messages

Managers can pin important messages in a channel. Pinned messages get a gold left border. The pin count in the channel header opens a Pinned messages panel showing all pinned items with a jump link to each.

In-channel search

Click the 🔍 icon in the channel header to search messages in the current channel. Results appear in a dropdown as you type (debounced). Click a result to close the search panel; full jump-to-message navigation is coming in a future update.

Threads

Click the reply count badge under any message to expand replies inline. The thread appears indented below the parent message. A composer at the bottom of the expanded thread lets you add a reply. Click the badge again to collapse.

Cmd+K navigation

Press ⌘K / Ctrl+K anywhere in the app to open the command palette. From there you can jump directly to a channel or DM thread — channels and DM threads load on first open and are searchable by name.

Read state

Channel read state and DM read receipts sync across devices for your account. Use ✓ Mark all read in the sidebar to clear all unread state at once.

AI suggest-reply

In DMs and task comments, use Suggest reply to draft a response from context. You always edit before sending — Teamtastic never auto-posts AI text. See AI features for limits and privacy.

How Inbox relates to notifications

The feed is separate from the notification bell. Configure which events trigger in-app, email, or push alerts under Notifications. Quiet hours suppress pings but do not delete feed history or message content.

Best practices

Use tasks and comments for work tracking; use DMs for quick coordination.
Use channels for project rooms and topics that would clutter DMs.
Pin the key messages in a project channel so new members catch up fast.
Use /task <title> in chat to capture action items without switching to the Tasks tab.
Keep approvals (PTO, task changes) in the feed — do not rely on DMs as the system of record.

Troubleshooting

If messages stop updating live, see Troubleshooting — corporate proxies sometimes buffer Server-Sent Events. File upload errors usually mean R2 storage is not configured on a self-hosted instance or your plan's storage limit has been reached.