Chat in your game: channels and private messages

What the player sees

• Channels as tabs plus "Private": one-on-one chats, with friends when the title says so.
• The feed with history and earlier messages; the server's copy of what was sent (moderation may mask a word).
• Slow mode countdown and the reason when the player may not write to a channel.
• Message actions: write privately, report with a reason, ignore the player; joining and leaving opt-in channels.

How it works

• One poll covers every room at the interval the server sets, and runs only while the screen is open.
• Rooms are marked read when the player leaves them; the badge is the unread count, read once per session.
• "Message" on a friend card opens a private chat.

For developers

The chat works through client.chat in @idosgames/core.

// Send to a channel and open a private chat with a friend
const res = await client.chat.sendMessage('world', 'Who is up for the raid?')
if (!res.ok) return showError(res.error) // e.g. slow mode or no right to write
const dm = await client.chat.openDirectChannel(friendUserID)
// One poll covers every room; run it only while the chat screen is open
const updates = await client.chat.poll()

• Show what the server returned, not what was typed: moderation may change the text.
• Do not poll while the chat is closed: the badge needs one read per session.

Every field is described in the chat-system skill, served by the SDK MCP server.