Getting Started with the Shared Inbox

The Shared Inbox is the central hub for managing customer conversations. It provides real-time updates, agent collaboration tools, and multi-channel WhatsApp messaging from a single interface.

Inbox Overview

The inbox is divided into three main areas:

• Conversation List — Left panel showing all active conversations with sender name, last message preview, and timestamp
• Message Area — Center panel displaying the full message thread
• Contact Panel — Right panel showing contact details, tags, attributes, and notes

Conversation Statuses

• Active — Conversations with recent messages that need attention
• Resolved — Completed conversations that have been marked as done
• Reopened — Previously resolved conversations where the customer wrote back

Real-Time Updates

The inbox uses Supabase WebSockets for real-time updates. New messages, status changes, and agent assignments appear instantly without refreshing the page. A notification badge in the sidebar shows your unread conversation count.

High-Performance Message Virtualization

For high-volume customer accounts and long message threads (exceeding 40 messages up to 5,000+ messages), Chatofy uses DOM virtualization powered by TanStack Virtual. Only messages visible within the viewport are mounted into the browser DOM, ensuring smooth 60fps scrolling, minimal memory consumption, and rapid rendering on both desktop and mobile devices.

Unattended Response SLA Tracking

To prevent customer inquiries from going unanswered, Chatofy tracks live response times against your organization's configured SLA threshold (default: 15 minutes). When an open conversation remains unattended past the threshold:

• A warning pill (⏱️ SLA [X]m in amber) appears on the conversation card.
• Chats waiting more than 30 minutes pulse in crimson to alert available agents immediately.
• Agents can click the SLA Breached filter button at the top of the queue to view all urgent unattended conversations in one click.

Historical Message Archive Search

Locate past customer messages across your entire workspace using Message Archive Search. Switch the search mode toggle in the conversation header from Chats to Messages Archive to search all message texts, image/document captions, rendered templates, and interactive replies with instant contextual snippet highlights. Clicking any message search result immediately navigates to that conversation.

Inline Deal Stage & Value Management

Agents can update pipeline deal stages directly from the contact sidebar without leaving the chat thread. Under the Deals section in the right sidebar, each linked deal displays an inline stage selector dropdown allowing instant stage transitions that synchronize across CRM Kanban boards in real time.

Media, Files & Links Gallery

Locate photos, contracts, and audio voice memos exchanged with a contact using the Media, Files & Links gallery in the right sidebar. Instead of scrolling through extensive conversation threads, agents can browse categorized tabs for Media (photos & videos), Docs (invoices, PDFs, spreadsheets), and Audio (voice notes) with one-click full-screen preview lightbox and direct downloads.

Custom Attributes & Conversation Metadata

Capture session-specific details such as order numbers (order_id), shipping tracking codes (tracking_code), ticket categories, or customer VIP levels directly from the Custom Attributes section in the right sidebar. Attributes sync instantly across team consoles and can be accessed or updated programmatically via the /api/v1/inbox/conversations/[id]/metadata endpoints.

Filtering Conversations

Use the filter options at the top of the conversation list to view:

• All conversations
• Conversations assigned to you
• Unassigned conversations
• Resolved conversations