Chat FAQ
Answers to common setup and operating questions about Chat.
For what the app is and how to set it up from scratch, see the
Chat Overview.
Setup
Do I need to enable anything else before Ask AI’s grounded answers work in chat?
Yes. Ask AI grounded answers requires Semantic search to also be on. Grounded answers retrieve conversation history through embeddings, so if semantic search is off the assistant has nothing to search against and its replies will not reference the room’s history. Both settings default to on, but if either was turned off you need both enabled. When you first turn semantic search on (or back on), a background job backfills embeddings for all existing messages — the Settings page shows progress so you can tell when history is fully searchable.
Who can change Chat settings?
Business admins (admin role or above) and Chat app admins. The Analytics dashboard can also be opened by the people an admin names in Settings, and Recently Deleted also shows each person the conversations they deleted themselves.
Permissions and access
Who can delete a conversation for everyone?
Only the person who created the group or channel, or a Chat app admin. Direct messages cannot be deleted for everyone. “Delete for everyone” is a soft delete — the conversation enters a 30-day restore window at Chat → Recently Deleted, where the person who deleted it or a Chat admin can restore it. After 30 days it is permanently purged.
What are the per-room permission settings?
Group and channel rooms expose four settings under Edit Team → Settings:
- Who can add new members — any member, or admins only
- Who can see the member list — any member, or admins only
- Who can send messages — any member, admins only, or domain admins only
- Who can send important messages — any member, admins only, or domain admins only
All four default to fully open (any member). “Admins” here means a room admin or a business admin.
Day-to-day
How long can someone edit a message after sending it?
15 minutes. After that the edit option disappears. Only the sender can edit their own messages, and only text — media-only messages are not editable. Business admins can turn editing off entirely with the Edit messages toggle in Settings.
Who can delete individual messages?
A user can delete their own messages at any time (no time limit). A room admin can delete anyone’s messages in that room. Both capabilities are governed by the Delete messages toggle in Settings — when it is off, nobody can delete chat messages, room admins included.
What happens when a sender marks a message as Important or requests a Read Receipt?
Important messages require each recipient to acknowledge them explicitly. Read Receipt requests keep the message body hidden until each recipient confirms they have read it. Both are per-message choices available in the composer for direct and group rooms only — they are not available in channels. Each feature has its own business-level toggle (Important messages and Read receipt requests) in Settings. In a group, the sender sees “Read by X/Y” and who has and hasn’t read it; when the sender was a manager or a room admin at the time they sent it, they can also send a reminder to the people who haven’t, and other messages have no Remind button — making someone an admin later does not add one to what they already sent. In a 1:1 chat the sender sees when it was read.
What are the limits on file and video attachments?
Up to 10 files per message. Non-video files default to a 25 MB per-file cap (admins can set it anywhere from 1 to 500 MB). Video has a separate, larger cap that defaults to 500 MB (configurable from 1 to 2,000 MB). Executable file types (.exe, .bat, .sh, .msi, .dll, and others) are blocked, and browser-renderable formats (.html, .svg) are also refused. Allowed types cover documents, images, audio, video, archives, and fonts.
How does search work, and when should we enable semantic search?
Keyword search (full-text) is always on and covers most needs — you can filter by room, sender, and date range. Semantic search adds a meaning-based mode that finds messages even when the exact words differ. It is on by default. When you first enable it (or turn it back on after it was off), a background job backfills embeddings for your existing message history. After the backfill completes, new messages and edits keep their embeddings current automatically. If your organization does not need meaning-based search and wants to avoid the embedding cost, turn it off in Settings.
Can I customize the Ask AI assistant’s name and avatar?
Yes. Go to Chat → Settings → Ask AI identity. You can set a custom name, description, history tip text, and avatar. This identity applies to the assistant in chat rooms and the Ask AI sidebar — updating it in one place updates it everywhere.
How do Ask AI trigger phrases work?
When enabled (on by default), a message that starts with a trigger phrase invokes Ask AI without an @mention. The default phrase is /ai (case-insensitive); workspaces set up before September 2026 keep hey ai and /ai until an admin changes the list. Phrases are matched at word boundaries, so “Hey Aisha” does not accidentally trigger the assistant. You can customize the phrase list in Settings under Ask AI trigger phrases.
When something looks wrong
“I can’t see the Chat app in my navigation”
Chat is a licensed app that is off by default. An admin must enable it from Admin → Apps → All Apps → Chat → Enable. If the app is enabled but only some users can see it, check whether a contextual access policy has been configured — the access gate is enforced on every request, so a user outside the policy’s audience will not see the app.
“My employees say they can’t start a DM with someone”
Check two things: (1) the Private chat toggle in Settings must be on, and (2) if a contextual access policy is configured, both the sender and the recipient must be within the policy’s audience. Starting a DM with yourself is also not allowed — the app refuses it with an error.
“Someone deleted a group chat — can I get it back?”
Yes, if it was deleted within the last 30 days. Go to Chat → Recently Deleted — the person who deleted it sees it there, and a Chat admin sees every deleted conversation. You can search by room name or participant name, filter by type (direct, group, channel), and restore individual rooms or select multiple rooms to restore in bulk. After 30 days the conversation and its messages are permanently purged and cannot be recovered.
“Start Huddle isn’t showing up in chat rooms”
Start Huddle (Live Assist) is an item in each conversation’s … menu at the top right of the room, not a button in the room header. On a phone it is a full-width Start huddle button at the end of the conversation, below the last message. Either one appears when: (1) Live Assist huddles is on in Chat → Settings (off by default); (2) the Live Assist app is enabled and published to the person — while it is published to admins only, nobody else sees it; (3) Live Assist’s Who can start a Live Assist session? setting admits them; and (4) they are a member of the room who can send messages in it. The Live Assist section of Chat → Settings names whichever Live Assist prerequisite is missing.
Licensing and limits
Does Chat require a licence?
Yes. Chat is a licensed app — it requires a licence and is disabled until an admin enables it from Admin → Apps → All Apps. It comes with the Communications & Intranet suite.
What are the configurable ranges for attachment sizes?
| Setting | Default | Range |
|---|---|---|
| Max attachment size (non-video) | 25 MB per file | 1–500 MB |
| Max video attachment size | 500 MB per file | 1–2,000 MB |
| Max files per message | 10 | Not configurable |
Are there limits I should know about?
- Max files per message: 10
- Message edit window: 15 minutes after sending
- Reaction emoji set: 10 platform-default emojis
- Deleted conversation restore window: 30 days before permanent purge
- Room name length: 255 characters maximum
- Room topic length: 500 characters maximum
- Working hours (dashboard stat): configurable, defaults to 9:00–18:00; start accepts 0–23, end accepts 1–24
- Ask AI monthly token budget: 0 means unlimited; configurable up to 2,000,000,000
More help
- Chat Overview
- Ask AI — the assistant answers Chat questions from these articles.