Simple Chat

Collaborate in a conversation

Share a chat with other people, mention participants, and approve generated files before they become available.

What this does

Collaborative conversations let more than one person work in the same chat thread. Participants see the shared message history, can reply in context, and can use @ mentions to direct attention to another participant or an AI target.

Video planned

Collaborate in a conversation walkthrough

Recording planned. Show sharing a conversation, mentioning a participant, and approving a shared file.

To publish this video:

  1. Upload the recording to YouTube or Microsoft Stream.
  2. Save a poster frame as docs/images/video-posters/guide-collaborate-in-a-conversation.png.
  3. Add the watch URL to this slot in docs/_data/media.yml.

Why you would use this

Use a shared conversation when the discussion, prompts, AI responses, and generated deliverables should stay in one place for a team. It is useful for handoffs, shared review, and decisions that need a visible trail. Keep private analysis in a normal one-person chat when other users should not see the messages or files.

Before you start

  • An admin must enable enable_collaborative_conversations; see Workspaces settings.
  • You need an existing personal or group conversation to share, or you can start from a collaborative conversation you already manage.
  • The person you add must be discoverable through recent collaborators or local user settings records in SimpleChat.
  • In personal shared conversations, owners and admins can add or remove members. The owner can also change member roles and delete the shared conversation for everyone.
  • In shared group conversations, group access still follows the group workspace role and status rules.

Steps

  1. Open the conversation you want to share.
  2. Open the conversation menu and choose Add participants, or open Details and choose Add participant when the button is available.
  3. Search for a person by name or email, select the right result, and confirm with Add participant.

Screenshot needed

Add a participant

Capture the Add participant dialog with a realistic collaborator search result. Redact names and email addresses.

Save as docs/images/guides/collaborate-in-a-conversation-add-participant.png

Drop the file at that path and it replaces this card automatically. No other change needed.

  1. Ask the invited person to accept the invite before they post. Pending invitees can see invite controls, but they cannot participate until they accept.
  2. Type a shared message in the composer. To mention someone, type @, use the arrow keys if needed, then press Tab or Enter to accept the highlighted participant.

Screenshot needed

Mention a participant

Capture the mention menu in a shared conversation. Show the highlighted suggestion and redact personal details.

Save as docs/images/guides/collaborate-in-a-conversation-mention.png

Drop the file at that path and it replaces this card automatically. No other change needed.

  1. If the selected @ suggestion is a collaborator who is not already in the conversation, confirm the invite before sending the message.
  2. When you want the AI to answer in a shared conversation, use an explicit AI target from the @ menu instead of assuming every shared message calls the AI.
  3. When a non-owner participant generates a downloadable file, wait for the approval card. The conversation owner approves files in personal shared conversations; a group Owner, Admin, or Document Manager approves files in group shared conversations. The approval gate applies to downloadable deliverables such as CSV, XLSX, DOCX, PDF, JSON, and XML; generated images and charts are not held for approval.

Screenshot needed

Approve a shared generated file

Capture the inline file approval card in a shared conversation. Show Approve and Deny, and redact file names if needed.

Save as docs/images/guides/collaborate-in-a-conversation-file-approval.png

Drop the file at that path and it replaces this card automatically. No other change needed.

  1. Approve the file to make it downloadable, or deny it if it should not be released. Requesters cannot approve their own generated files.

Verify it worked

The conversation appears with a shared or collaborative indicator, the participant list shows accepted or pending members, and new shared messages appear for each accepted participant. A completed @ mention appears in the message text. A participant-generated file stays unavailable while approval is pending and becomes downloadable only after an authorized approver approves it.

Troubleshooting

Symptom Likely cause Fix
Add participants is missing Collaborative conversations are disabled, the conversation type is not supported, or your role cannot manage members Ask an admin to confirm enable_collaborative_conversations, then check your role from conversation Details.
The invited person cannot post Their invite is still pending Have them accept the invite before replying.
Tab does not complete the @ text No suggestion is highlighted, the menu says no matches, or Shift+Tab was pressed Keep typing until a match appears, use the arrow keys to highlight it, then press Tab or Enter.
A generated file cannot be downloaded The file is waiting for approval, was denied, or expired before approval Ask the conversation owner or eligible group approver to review the inline approval card or notification.