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

# Messenger

> Personal and group chats, the chat with the curator, course group chats: who can write to whom, attachments, limits, blocking and notifications

The messenger is the school's built-in chat. Students use it to talk to curators and the school team, discuss the course in group chats and submit practice for checking. Students open the messenger from the **Messenger** item in the menu, and on a phone from the tab at the bottom of the screen. School staff open it from the **Chats** item in the admin panel.

> [!NOTE]
>
> The messenger does not depend on the tariff: it works in any school.

## Types of chats

| Chat | How it appears | Who is in it | Who can write |
| - | - | - | - |
| Personal chat | A user sends the first message to another user | The two people talking | Both people |
| Chat group | A user creates it with the **Create a group** button | The creator and the users they chose | All participants |
| Chat with the curator | Created automatically for each “student — course” pair | The student and their curators | The student and the curators |
| Group chat | Turned on in the study group settings | The group's students and curators | All participants |
| Group channel | Turned on in the study group settings | The group's students and curators | Only the group's curators |

The chat list is split into tabs:

* **All** — all your chats, including group chats and group channels.
* **Personal** — personal chats.
* **Practice** — chats with the curator.

Chats in the list are sorted by latest activity. Above the list there is a search by chat name, the other person's name, course name and student name.

### Chat with the curator

Each student gets one chat with the curator for each course. The student sees the course name as the chat name. The curator sees the student's name and the course name.

The chat is created automatically when one of these things happens:

* the student clicks **Chat with the curator** in a lesson;
* the student submits practice — the chat receives the message “My practice for lesson …” with the work card;
* a curator is assigned to the student.

You set up the **Chat with the curator** button in lessons under **Settings → Main → Chat with the curator** inside the course. The **Show the chat button in lessons** toggle hides or shows the button. The **Inside the platform** mode opens the chat in the messenger. In the **External link** mode the button leads to the address you enter, for example to Telegram. Messages about submitted practice still go to the chat with the curator on the platform.

How to check the work that comes into the chat is described in [Practice checking](https://faq.exode.biz/en/general/lessons-modules/checking-practice.md).

### Group chat and channel

You turn on the chat and the channel in the study group settings, on the **Chat and channel** tab, in the **Inside the platform** block:

* **Group chat in messenger** — a shared chat for the group's students and curators.
* **Channel in messenger** — an announcement feed where only the group's curators can post.

Students join the chat and the channel automatically when they are added to the group. When a student is removed from the group, they also leave its chats. The group's curators become admins of the chat and the channel. Learn more in [Group settings](https://faq.exode.biz/en/general/groups/group-settings.md).

## Who can write to whom

> [!WARNING]
>
> By default, only school staff can create new chats. Students cannot start a personal conversation or create a group on their own. Students can always reply in chats they are already in.

You set the rules in **My school → Login and registration**, in the **School privacy → Advanced settings** block (in a corporate school — **Company → Login and registration**, the **Company privacy → Advanced settings** block):

| Toggle | Off (default) | On |
| - | - | - |
| **Users can create chats** | Only school staff create new chats | Any school user can start a personal chat or create a group |
| **Profiles are visible to all school users** (in a corporate school — **Profiles are visible to all company members**) | Only staff with the **Course curator** or **School user management** (in a corporate school — **Company user management**) permission can find other users in search | All school users can find each other in search |

A few more rules:

* You can only write to users of your own school. Users of other schools are not added to the chat, even if you select them.
* **Chat with the curator** is always available to a student, even if chat creation is turned off. The student only needs to be enrolled in the course. Otherwise they see the message “You need to enroll in the course”.
* The **Open chat** button for contacting the authors on the course page is shown only if the user is allowed to create chats.
* A staff member with the **Course curator** permission can open the chat with the curator, the group chat and the group channel for the school's courses, even if they are not a member. To write in the chat, they click **Join**. In the chat with the curator, a staff member who joins becomes an admin. Only curators assigned to the group can post in the group channel.

## How to start a conversation

**1. Open the messenger**

Open **Messenger** in the menu or **Chats** in the admin panel.

**2. Find the person**

Type a name in the search above the chat list. The results are split into **Users** and **Chats**. You can also open a chat from the user's profile.

**3. Send the first message**

Select the user and send a message. The personal chat is created when you send it. If you already have a chat with this person, that chat opens instead of a new one.

## How to create a chat group

**1. Click the pencil icon**

It is to the right of the search above the chat list. You see the icon only if you are allowed to create chats.

**2. Select participants**

Find users in the search and select them. You need at least one participant besides yourself.

**3. Click “Create a group”**

The button shows the number of selected participants.

**4. Name the group**

In the **Creating a chat group** window, enter a name of 1 to 100 characters and click **Create**.

The creator of the group becomes its admin. A system message about the creation appears in the chat.

## Messages and attachments

* **Text** — up to 5000 characters. The Enter key sends the message, Shift+Enter starts a new line.
* **Attachments** — up to 10 per message. The paperclip icon offers **Photo or video** and **File**. You can attach PDF, Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents, text files, and ZIP, RAR and 7z archives.
* **Voice messages** — hold the microphone icon to record a message. The browser needs access to the microphone.
* **Reply and forward** — select a message and choose **Reply** or **Forward**. You can forward up to 250 messages at a time to any chat where you can write. A forwarded message shows its author: “Forwarded from:”.
* **Drafts** — unsent text is saved on this device and shown in the chat list with the **Draft** label.
* **Read receipts and typing** — a mark next to a message shows that it has been read. The top of the chat shows who is typing right now.
* **Chat attachments** — in the chat menu, choose **Show attachments**. Attachments are split into the **Media**, **Files**, **Voice** and **Tasks** tabs.
* **Participants** — in group chats, the participant list opens from the chat header. In channels only admins see it, and personal chats have no list.

### Editing and deleting

* You can edit and delete only your own messages and only within 24 hours after sending.
* An edited message gets the **(ed.)** label.
* A deleted message disappears for all chat participants. Before deleting, you see the warning “This cannot be undone”.
* You can select up to 250 messages at a time.
* A message with a practice card cannot be deleted.

## Blocking, leaving and moderation

* **Blocking in a personal chat.** In the chat menu, click **Block** and confirm. Both people can no longer write in this chat. The blocked person sees “Messages are limited”, and you see “You have limited messages”. To remove the restriction, click **Unblock**.
* **Leaving a chat.** In group chats, the menu has the **Leave chat** item. A system message about leaving stays in the chat. The user cannot rejoin the chat group on their own.
* **Turning off a group chat.** If you turn off **Group chat in messenger** or **Channel in messenger** in the group settings, the chat disappears from the list for all participants. The history is kept: when you turn it on again, the chat comes back with the conversation.

> [!NOTE]
>
> Group chats have no moderation tools: you cannot delete someone else's message or block a participant. If you need an announcement-only feed, use the group channel — only curators can post there.

## Message notifications

* Chat participants get a push notification about each new message right away — in the browser and in the mobile app, on every device where they are signed in and have allowed notifications.
* The notification title is the chat name, and the text is the message text. If the message has only attachments, an icon is shown instead of text.
* The author of a message does not get a notification about their own message.
* Clicking the notification opens the right chat.
* If the website is open on another page, a new message appears in a pop-up card. If the browser tab with the website is inactive, its title flashes “💬 New message”.
* The number of unread messages is shown next to the **Messenger** item in the menu.
* To stop getting notifications for a chat, choose **Turn off sound** in its menu. In a channel, use the **Turn off notifications** button. Push notifications and pop-up cards for this chat stop, but the unread counter keeps working.
* Message notifications are not sent by email or to Telegram.

Learn more about notifications in [Notifications](https://faq.exode.biz/en/general/communication/notifications.md).

## Limits

| What is limited | Limit |
| - | - |
| Message length | 5000 characters |
| Attachments per message | 10 |
| Messages selected for forwarding or deleting | 250 |
| Time during which you can edit or delete your message | 24 hours |
| Chat group name | 1 to 100 characters |
| Sending rate | 10 messages per 10 seconds in one chat. If exceeded, sending to this chat is blocked for 5 minutes |
| Chat creation | 20 new chats per day per user. If exceeded, chat creation is blocked for 1 hour |

## Edge cases

* **A new participant sees the whole history.** A student added to the group later sees the whole group chat conversation from the moment the chat was created.
* **The channel has no curators.** If the group has no curators assigned, nobody can post in the channel. Assign curators in the group settings.
* **A student left the group chat.** They cannot rejoin on their own. Turn **Group chat in messenger** off and on again in the group settings — all students of the group will be added to the chat again.
* **No curator assigned.** If a student has no curator, at first only the student is in the chat with the curator. A staff member with the **Course curator** permission can open this chat and click **Join**.
* **Curator change.** The new curator is added to the existing chat with the curator as an admin. The previous curator is not removed from the chat.
* **A staff member without permission to view profiles.** A school staff member can create chats, but without the **Course curator** or **School user management** / **Company user management** permission they cannot find students in search while profiles are hidden.

## What the messenger does not have

If users ask about the following features, they are not in the interface yet:

* pinning messages and searching messages inside a chat;
* scheduled messages;
* renaming a chat group and adding participants to an existing group;
* a separate school support chat.

To give students a way to reach support, add a contact in **My school → Settings → Catalog and footer → School contacts** (in a corporate school — **Company → Settings → Catalog and footer → Company contacts**): click **Add contact**, choose the **Support** role and enter the **Messenger link**. Students will see the **Contact support** item in the menu.

## Frequently asked questions

> **Why can't a student write to me first?**
>
> By default, only school staff create new chats. Turn on **Users can create chats** in **My school → Login and registration → Advanced settings** (in a corporate school — **Company → Login and registration → Advanced settings**). If the student only needs to write about their studies, they can use the **Chat with the curator** button in a lesson — it works without this setting.

> **Why can't a student find other students in search?**
>
> User profiles are hidden by default. Turn on **Profiles are visible to all school users** (in a corporate school — **Profiles are visible to all company members**) in the same group of settings. Keep in mind that students will then be able to see each other's profiles.

> **Where does a student see the chat with the curator?**
>
> On the **Practice** tab in the messenger. The chat is named after the course. The student can also open it from a lesson with the **Chat with the curator** button.

> **Why is there no “Chat with the curator” button in a lesson?**
>
> Check the course settings: **Settings → Main → Chat with the curator**. The button is hidden if the **Show the chat button in lessons** toggle is off. In the **External link** mode, the button also disappears when no link is entered.

> **Can I delete someone else's message in a group chat?**
>
> No. You can delete only your own message and only within 24 hours after sending. For announcements without discussion, use the group channel.

> **Why can't I edit or delete a message?**
>
> You can edit and delete only your own messages within 24 hours after sending. A message with a practice card cannot be deleted.

> **A student says “Message sending is limited”. What does it mean?**
>
> The chat is turned off. This usually happens when the chat or the channel was turned off in the group settings. Turn it on again on the **Chat and channel** tab in the group settings.

> **Why did messages stop sending after I sent many in a row?**
>
> Spam protection is in place: you can send no more than 10 messages per 10 seconds in one chat. If you exceed this, sending to this chat is blocked for 5 minutes.

> **How do I turn off notifications for one chat?**
>
> Open the chat menu and choose **Turn off sound**. In a channel, click **Turn off notifications** at the bottom of the screen. Push notifications for this chat will stop.

> **Can I add a person to an existing chat group?**
>
> No, the interface does not offer this. Create a new group with the participants you need. For study groups, participants are added automatically when they are added to the group.

> **What does a new student see in the group chat?**
>
> The whole conversation history: messages are not hidden from people who joined the chat later.

> **Does the messenger require a specific tariff?**
>
> No. The messenger is available on any tariff. Learn more in [Subscription and tariffs](https://faq.exode.biz/en/online-schools/getting-started/subscription-plans.md) (commercial schools only).

***

*Updated: 2026-10-15 18:08 UTC*


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