# Team Chat

iKanban includes built-in real-time chat for each team, so you can communicate alongside your work without switching to a separate app.

## Accessing Team Chat

Click the **chat bubble** icon in the left sidebar to open the chat panel. The panel slides in from the right side of the screen.

Each team has its own chat. If you're in a team view, the chat is scoped to that team.

## Sending Messages

1. Open the chat panel
2. Type your message in the input field at the bottom
3. Press `Enter` to send

### Message Formatting

Chat messages support basic Markdown formatting:

| Syntax          | Result      |
| --------------- | ----------- |
| `**text**`      | **bold**    |
| `*text*`        | _italic_    |
| `` `code` ``    | inline code |
| ` ```block``` ` | code block  |

### Person mentions

The current team chat composer does not expose a person-mention picker. Typing `@name` is plain chat text; notification behavior for that text is not documented as a person mention. To notify a person from a task discussion, open the task comment box, type `$`, and select the person from Team member suggestions. See [Creating Tasks](/docs/tasks/creating-tasks).

### Linking Tasks

Paste a task identifier like `ENG-42` directly in chat. It auto-links to the task detail view. Team members can click it to open the task without leaving chat.

## Message History

Chat messages are stored and visible to all current team members. Scroll up to see older messages.

There's no message limit — the full history is always available.

## Conversations

Within team chat, messages are displayed chronologically. For longer discussions, use task comments instead of chat so the context stays attached to the relevant task.

## Chat vs Task Comments

Use **chat** for:

- Quick questions and answers
- Team announcements
- Informal discussion
- Status check-ins

Use **task comments** for:

- Discussion tied to a specific piece of work
- Decisions that should be recorded with the task
- AI agent output and execution logs
- Acceptance criteria discussions

## Keyboard Shortcuts in Chat

| Shortcut      | Action                  |
| ------------- | ----------------------- |
| `Enter`       | Send message            |
| `Shift+Enter` | New line within message |
| `↑`           | Edit last sent message  |
| `Escape`      | Cancel editing          |

## Chat Panel Controls

The chat panel has controls in the top bar:

- **Minimize** — Collapse the panel without closing it
- **Expand** — Open chat in a larger view
- **Close** — Close the chat panel (press the chat icon to reopen)

## Online Status in Chat

In the chat panel, you can see which team members are currently online (green dot) vs. away or offline. See [Online Status](/docs/chat/online-status) for more details on the presence system.

## Mobile

On mobile devices, the chat panel is accessible through the bottom navigation bar. It opens as a full-screen overlay for better readability on small screens.