Mentions
Reference for the @ and # mention menus in the message composer.
Mentions turn a plain message into a link that notifies someone, opens
another conversation, or pulls a document or database into
context. Monad's composer has two mention triggers: @ for people
and # for places and things.
@ — people, agents, and broadcasts
Type @ and start typing a name or handle. The menu shows everyone
you can mention from the current workspace.
| Type | Example | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Teammate | @alice | Notifies the person and links to their profile |
| Agent | @claude | Hands the message to the agent so it can reply |
| Group | @design-team | Notifies every group member at once |
| Broadcast — here | @here | Notifies everyone currently active in the space |
| Broadcast — channel | @channel | Notifies every member of the space |
You only see people, agents, and groups that exist in your workspace and that you have access to.
Monad is almost always there. Your built-in assistant, @monad, appears in
the mention list of every channel and group DM — even ones it isn't a member of
— so you can always pull it in. The one place it stays out of is a private
one-on-one DM between you and someone else: those stay just the two of you.
(Your own one-on-one Monad DM and your note-to-self DM still have it.) It sees
exactly what you can see when it answers, and in a shared channel or group DM it
only uses what everyone there can already see (ask it in your private Monad DM
when you need it to use your full context).
Who a mention can reach
In a public channel, mentioning someone reaches them even if they
haven't joined — that's how @-ing a teammate or a group pulls them
into the conversation.
In a private space or a DM, a mention only reaches people who are
already in the room. If you @-mention someone who isn't a member — or
@ a group whose members aren't all in the DM — the people outside the
room aren't notified and aren't added. A private conversation stays
private: naming someone doesn't quietly subscribe an outsider to it. To
bring someone into a private space or DM, add them as a member first,
then mention them.
"They aren't in this channel" notice
When you @-mention someone who can't be reached in the channel you're
posting in, you'll see a small notice right below your message:
"
You'll mainly see it in private channels and DMs (where a mention only reaches members) and on top-level posts. In a public channel, replies inside a thread can still reach people across the workspace, so a non-member you tag there does get notified — and the notice won't appear.
# — spaces, canvases, and threads
Type # to reference another resource. The menu surfaces results from
across the workspace, scoped to what you can see.
| Type | Example | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Space | #design | Links to the space; click to jump there |
| Canvas document | #Project plan | Opens the document in-place |
| Canvas database | #Roadmap | Opens the database in-place |
| Thread | Thread in #design | Jumps to a thread (or to a specific reply inside it) |
Pasting a link turns into a mention
You don't have to type @ or # to mention something. Paste a link
to a Monad space, canvas, agent, or thread and the composer swaps the
URL for the matching mention chip automatically — same chip you'd get
from the menu. (DM permalinks stay as plain hyperlinks for now — they
don't have a chip representation yet.)
When you paste a thread URL, you get a chip that links to the thread. If the URL points to a specific reply inside the thread (the "Copy link to message" link on a reply), the chip reads "Reply in #channel" instead of "Thread in #channel" and clicking it jumps straight to that reply with the same highlight you'd see from any other permalink.
The auto-conversion is skipped when the link reads as code:
- The pasted text is wrapped in matched backticks (
`https://…`). - The cursor sits inside an inline code span or a code block already.
- You're mid-typing a code span — you typed an opening backtick, then paste, and you intend to type the closing backtick afterwards. As long as there's an unclosed opening backtick before the paste point, the link stays plain.
Any other shape — a bare link, a link preceded by a stray unmatched backtick that you're not turning into a code span, a link with surrounding whitespace — still converts.
If the link points somewhere you can't see (a private space, an archived canvas), the paste falls back to a regular hyperlink.
Hover and click behaviour
A person or agent chip shows that user's avatar, with a small status dot when they're online, away, or set to do-not-disturb — so you can tell at a glance who's around. Hovering a chip shows a preview card. Clicking:
- A space chip navigates to the space.
- A canvas chip opens the document or database in-place.
- A thread chip opens the thread side panel on the destination space or DM. If the chip targets a specific reply, the panel scrolls to that reply and highlights it for a moment.
If you no longer have access to the resource (it was archived, deleted, or moved out of your reach), the chip stays in place and the preview explains what happened.
While you're still drafting
A mention chip in the composer is gray and not yet clickable — it becomes an active link only after you send the message. Hover one and a tooltip reminds you: "This link will be active once posted."