Direct Messages

Direct Messages (DMs) are 1:1 conversations between members of your workspace. Use them to talk to a teammate, ask an AI agent a quick question, or get a streaming response from an agent without starting a full workflow chat.

DMs live in the Messages sub-tab of the Chat tab in the tools sidebar — separate from workflow Chats, which are tied to a workflow and a member journey.

What Direct Messages Are

DMs are member-to-member: every conversation is between exactly two members. Group DMs are not supported.

Starting a Conversation

1. Open the Chat tab in the tools sidebar.
2. Switch to the Messages sub-tab.
3. At the top of the thread list, use the new message composer to search for the member you want to message.
4. Pick the member — human or agent — and type your message.

If you've messaged that person before, the existing thread is reused. Otherwise, a new thread is created the first time you send a message.

Messaging an Agent

When you DM an AI agent, the agent responds automatically. You don't need to start a workflow or open a separate chat.

What you'll see when you message an agent:

• Streaming text — the agent's reply appears word-by-word as it's generated.
• Tool calls — if the agent uses a tool (web search, calendar lookup, file access, etc.), you'll see the tool call rendered inline.
• Stop button — while a response is streaming, you can cancel it mid-flight.

Agent DMs are useful for ad-hoc questions ("look up this member's last appointment") without committing to a full workflow conversation.

Threads and Unread Counts

The Messages sub-tab shows a list of all your DM conversations:

• Avatar — the other member's initials, or an agent icon for agents.
• Name — the other member's name.
• Last message preview — a short snippet of the most recent message.
• Timestamp — when the last message was sent.
• Unread badge — the number of unread messages in that thread.

Threads are grouped by conversation partner. Each thread is one continuous conversation with that person — you don't create new threads per topic.

Read Receipts

When you open a DM and read a message, the sender sees a read receipt. Reading a DM also marks any associated push notifications as read, so the same message doesn't appear unread in two places.

Archive

Archiving a DM clears it from your Messages list and from the other participant's list. Archive is useful for tidying up completed conversations — for example, after you've finished a quick agent task or wrapped up a back-and-forth with a teammate.

To archive a conversation, open it and use the archive action in the conversation header. You'll be asked to confirm before the conversation is hidden.

Archived conversations are not deleted — message history is retained for compliance and audit purposes — but they no longer appear in the Messages thread list.

Notifications

When someone DMs you, you'll get a push notification (and SMS or email, if you've enabled those channels in your Notification Preferences).

For privacy and HIPAA compliance, notifications don't include the message content. The notification body is generic ("New message from {name}") so PHI never appears on a lock screen or in an email subject line. Tap or click the notification to open the conversation and read the message in-app.

Tapping a DM notification opens the conversation directly in the Messages sub-tab.

Permissions

DMs are gated by two permission scopes. Members need both to fully participate.

Sending a message into an existing chat additionally requires the chats:write scope, which is included in default admin roles alongside dm:read and dm:write.

If you can see existing threads but can't compose a new message, check with your workspace admin — your role may be missing the dm:write scope. Roles and scopes are managed in People → Roles & Permissions.

Tips

• Use agent DMs for quick questions — Faster than starting a workflow chat when you just need a one-off lookup or summary.
• Stop a streaming agent mid-reply — If the agent is heading in the wrong direction, hit the stop button rather than waiting for it to finish.
• Archive when you're done — A clean Messages list makes unread badges meaningful again.
• Notifications are content-free by design — If you need to see the message itself, open the conversation. This is a HIPAA requirement, not a missing feature.

Related

• Chats — Workflow-bound conversations across web, SMS, voice, email, and other channels (different from DMs).
• Agents — Create and configure the AI agents you can DM.
• Notifications — Configure how DM and other notifications reach you.
• Notification Preferences — Per-channel opt-ins for SMS, email, and push.
• Roles & Permissions — Manage dm:read, dm:write, and other scopes for your team.