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, database, or task 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.
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.
# — spaces, canvases, boards, and tasks
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 |
| Board | #Roadmap | Opens the board for that group or space |
| Task | #Refactor onboarding or #DES-12 | Opens the task in a modal without leaving your current page |
| Thread | Thread in #design | Jumps to a thread (or to a specific reply inside it) |
How task search works
Tasks match in two ways:
- By display id (typeahead, prefix-only) — typing
#DESlists every task in theDESgroup; typing#DES-12narrows to tasks whose number starts with12(DES-12,DES-123). - By title (substring) — typing
#refactormatches any task whose title contains "refactor".
Archived tasks are hidden from the menu. You only see tasks that you have access to (member of the owner group, or member of any space hosting a board the task is cross-posted to).
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 board chip opens the board it points at — the same one a cross-posted task would land on.
- A task chip opens the task detail modal — your current view stays put, so you can pop a task open without losing your message draft.
- 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.