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

# Chat and contacts

> Coordinate internal service work in KayanOS Chat, understand conversation visibility and message actions, and return authoritative outcomes to the right record.

Chat is for timely internal coordination. It helps a team clarify a field visit, ask for missing evidence, or agree on the next task. It is not the permanent home for a citizen-service decision, restricted record field, or evidence that must later be filtered and audited. After the team agrees on an outcome, record it on the related request, inspection, task, or approved file location.

The **Contacts** route is the conversation-list experience used in the small-screen flow; it is not a separate promise of a broad public address-book system. This guide uses “Chat” for the collaboration capability and notes responsive behavior where it changes the path.

## Goal

Create and use the right internal conversation, understand which message actions are available, search only work you are entitled to see, and convert agreed discussion into accountable record-based work.

## Start the right conversation

Use a direct conversation for a one-to-one handoff and a group conversation for a service team that must coordinate on the same work. If a direct conversation already exists between the two members, KayanOS reuses it rather than creating a duplicate.

### Direct request handoff

1. Open **Chat**. On a small screen, use the conversation/contact list path provided by the mobile layout.
2. Search for the internal colleague who needs to act.
3. Open the existing direct conversation or start a new one.
4. State the request reference, the operational question, and the needed next action. Do not paste more personal data than the recipient needs to perform the work.
5. When the answer affects the service, update the related task or record.

### Service-team group

1. Start a group conversation only when the same recurring team needs a shared operational context.
2. Give the group an understandable name, such as **North Center inspection coordination**.
3. Select internal members who genuinely need to participate.
4. Agree on what belongs in the group and what must stay on the request/inspection record.
5. Review membership when responsibilities change; a conversation should not become a long-lived channel for people who no longer need access.

**Expected result:** the conversation contains concise coordination, while the request `CSR-2026-00042` still carries the authoritative service state, owner, findings, evidence links, and final outcome.

## Use message actions precisely

KayanOS exposes message actions according to the message type, persistence state, and sender. The following table is a practical guide for internal conversations.

| Action       | When it is appropriate                                             | Important boundary                                                                                                      |
| ------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Reply        | Clarify a specific instruction or finding                          | Keep the final operational result on the record/task                                                                    |
| React        | Acknowledge receipt or a low-risk confirmation                     | A reaction is not a service decision or signature                                                                       |
| Edit         | Correct a persisted text message sent by you                       | Only the sender can edit their own eligible text message                                                                |
| Delete       | Remove a persisted message sent by you when policy permits         | Only the sender can delete their own eligible message; do not rely on deletion as record retention policy               |
| Forward      | Share an eligible message with another conversation you can access | Forwarding respects visible source and target conversations; check whether the data should instead be recorded formally |
| Create task  | Turn a nonempty text instruction into accountable work             | Add owner, assignee, due date, priority, and the correct request/inspection relation                                    |
| Read details | Review available read information for an eligible message you sent | It is not a proof that the operational task was completed                                                               |

Attachments, images, files, voice features, and rich text can support collaboration where enabled. Use them according to the organization’s data-handling policy. Store evidence in the request’s approved file field or Library location when it must be retained, shared, or reviewed as part of the service record.

## Convert coordination into accountable work

For `CSR-2026-00042`, the Field Inspector writes: “The location document is missing; please obtain a corrected copy before tomorrow’s visit.” Turn that exchange into a controlled task:

1. Use the message action to create a task, or create one directly in Tasks.
2. Verify the title and context, then relate it to the Citizen Service Request or inspection.
3. Assign the Registry Officer, set a due date, and add the Service Manager as owner if the policy uses a separate owner role.
4. Save the task and verify it appears in the assignee’s task/Home view.
5. When the document arrives, save the durable evidence on the request or inspection and update the authoritative status.

This sequence prevents a critical instruction from disappearing inside a chat history.

## Search safely and accurately

Internal chat search is designed to respect conversation visibility. It searches messages only in conversations the current member is allowed to see through their membership/role selectors. Knowing a conversation ID or another member’s name does not grant access to that conversation.

Use search as follows:

1. Enter at least two meaningful characters; the product normalizes the query and accepts up to 100 characters.
2. Search for a serial reference, short service phrase, or a distinctive operational term rather than a citizen’s full sensitive profile.
3. Open the result, then confirm that the current request/inspection record still matches the conversation context.
4. Create or update accountable work rather than relying on a search result as the final audit record.

Search results are paged and the service permits a bounded number of results per request. A lack of results can mean no matching accessible conversation, not necessarily that the discussion never occurred.

## Availability and privacy

Conversation visibility follows organization membership and the conversation’s participants/derived role selectors. Message actions also require the appropriate message state and ownership. A member should not be asked to forward restricted information into a broader group simply because another team needs a summary; create a permitted task or record update with only the necessary data instead.

Before sharing a message, attachment, or search result, ask:

1. Does every target participant need this information to perform their job?
2. Is the underlying request/inspection record a safer source than an attached copy?
3. Should the information be a task, formal record note, or approved Library item instead?
4. Will the recipient retain the right access after an assignment or service-center change?

## Safe testing

Use a synthetic request and three internal test members. Create a direct chat and a small group, send a non-sensitive text message, react/reply, create a task from it, and confirm that only the sender can edit/delete that message. Search for the synthetic serial reference as a participant and as a nonparticipant. Verify that the nonparticipant does not see the conversation through search or a shared link.

## Troubleshooting

| Symptom                                 | What to check                                                                | Safe response                                                                 |
| --------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| A conversation is missing               | Current organization, participant membership, and small-screen route         | Do not recreate a duplicate before checking existing direct conversations     |
| Edit/Delete is unavailable              | Message is persisted text, not deleted, and was sent by the current member   | Correct the authoritative record if the message cannot be changed             |
| Task creation action is unavailable     | The source must be a nonempty eligible text message                          | Create a task directly and add the message context carefully                  |
| Search returns no result                | Query length, normalized wording, participant visibility, and message access | Search a safe term; do not request a broader role solely for history browsing |
| Forwarding fails                        | Target conversation visibility or source message changed                     | Re-open the target context and create an authorized summary/task instead      |
| Attachment should be long-term evidence | Chat is not the approved evidence location                                   | Upload/link it through the request, inspection, or Library workflow           |

## Related guides

* Turn confirmed work into [Tasks and approvals](/work/tasks-and-approvals).
* Store controlled evidence in [Library](/work/library).
* Follow the complete request handoff in [Explore an example workspace](/start/example-workspace).
* Review roles and service boundaries in [Roles and access](/start/roles-and-access).

![KayanOS internal coordination for a representative service inspection.](https://kayanos.app/docs-images/en/work/chat-and-contacts.png)