> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.equa.cc/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Team Messaging

> How to use the integrated team messaging feature in your Equa organization

# Team Messaging

Equa includes built-in team messaging powered by a self-hosted Mattermost instance. Communicate with your organization members in real-time without leaving the platform. Authentication and member management are fully integrated -- when you navigate to the Messaging page, you are automatically signed in with no separate account required.

## Accessing Messaging

1. Log in to your Equa organization
2. Click **Messaging** in the organization navigation menu
3. On your first visit, your account is automatically provisioned and signed in

The messaging interface loads directly within Equa. Your first visit may take a few seconds while your account is set up. You will see your organization team with its default channels.

## Default Channels

Every organization starts with these channels:

| Channel            | Purpose                                                           |
| ------------------ | ----------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **#general**       | General team discussion and member join/leave notifications       |
| **#announcements** | Board updates and organization-wide announcements                 |
| **#cap-table**     | Automated notifications when shares are issued or transferred     |
| **#documents**     | Automated notifications when documents are uploaded               |
| **#agent**         | Interact with the Equa AI agent for organization-specific queries |

In addition, Mattermost provides **#town-square** and **#off-topic** channels by default.

## Using Channels

### Sending Messages

Type your message in the input box at the bottom of any channel and press Enter. You can:

* **Mention team members** with `@username`
* **Share files** by dragging and dropping or clicking the attachment icon
* **Format text** with Markdown (bold, italic, code blocks, links)

### Creating Channels

Organization admins can create additional channels for specific teams or topics. Click the **+** icon next to the channel list to create a new public or private channel.

## AI Agent Integration

The **#agent** channel connects to the Equa AI agent (Equabot). Send a message in this channel to ask questions about your organization:

* Cap table information (e.g., "What shares have been issued?")
* Document status and history
* Member and role information
* Organization details

The agent responds with data scoped to your organization -- it only has access to information within your workspace.

## Platform Notifications

Equa automatically posts notifications to relevant channels when platform events occur:

* **Share issuance** -- Posts to `#cap-table` with details of the issuance
* **Document uploads** -- Posts to `#documents` with the document name
* **Member invitations** -- Posts to `#general` when a new member is invited
* **Member joins** -- Posts to `#general` when a member joins the organization
* **Admin announcements** can be posted to `#announcements`

## Member Sync

Team membership is automatically synchronized:

* When a member is **added** to your Equa organization, they are automatically added to the messaging team
* When a member is **removed** from your organization, they are removed from the messaging team

Organization admins see a **Sync Members** button on the messaging page to manually trigger a full sync. This is useful if:

* A member was added before messaging was set up
* You suspect membership is out of sync
* You want to verify all members have access

## Session Management

Your messaging session is managed automatically:

* A personal access token is created for each session
* Tokens are periodically validated (every 5 minutes)
* If your token becomes invalid, the page automatically refreshes your session
* You can manually retry by clicking the retry button if an error occurs

## Tips

* Messages persist across sessions -- your conversation history is always available
* You can use keyboard shortcuts within the messaging interface (press Ctrl/Cmd + / to see all shortcuts)
* The messaging interface supports threads -- click on any message to reply in a thread
* Use `@channel` to notify all members of a channel, or `@all` to notify the entire team

## Design References

Design-system source for this guide: [Messaging screenshot gallery](/architecture/design-system/screenshots/messaging) and [EquaChatBubble](/architecture/design-system/components/equa-chat-bubble), [EquaChatCompose](/architecture/design-system/components/equa-chat-compose), [EquaToast](/architecture/design-system/components/equa-toast), [EquaBadge](/architecture/design-system/components/equa-badge).