Support Chat

What it is

In-app chat for Omniscio users to contact support directly from the toolbar.

Where to find it

The chat icon in the toolbar opens a floating panel at the bottom-right. Operator mode is a setting rather than a separate screen.

How it behaves

How It Works

• User mode (default): A chat icon in the toolbar opens a floating panel (bottom-right). Users enter a display name on first use, then send messages that reach the operator's inbox.
• Operator mode (supportChatOperator: true in settings): The operator sees all conversations as inbox items and can reply from the same floating panel or the inbox.

Scope and limits

• Reachable from the localhost CLI — mark-read is the one exception. The control server (127.0.0.1:19519) reaches Support Chat: GET /support-chat/install-id (this install's own conversation key), GET /support-chat/messages?conversationId= (a conversation's messages — a non-operator may read only its own and gets 403 otherwise; an operator reads any), GET /support-chat/conversations (operator only) and POST /support-chat/send (applies immediately; a non-operator send is pinned to its own conversation). The family is gated on supportChatEnabled and answers 403 when Support Chat is switched off. The one command that stays in-app is SUPPORT_CHAT_MARK_READ — it clears a conversation's unread cursor and is a deliberate feature-scoped-surface exemption in the CLI-parity manifest (it is Support-Chat-specific, not the generic inbox mark-read route).

Key Files

• src/shared/support-chat-types.ts — shared types
• src/main/services/support-chat-service.ts — user path (supportChat relay: send / mark-read / poll) + operator path (operatorConsole relay: list / getMessages / mark-read / send, plus a ~15s conversation poll); NO admin SDK; sendMessage / markRead / getMessages split by sender / reader
• src/main/services/support-chat/support-chat-relay-client.ts — USER relay client (relaySendMessage / relayMarkRead / relayPoll)
• src/main/services/operator-console/operator-console-client.ts — OPERATOR relay client (callOperatorConsoleFn, admin-authed)
• firebase/functions/src/support-chat-relay.ts — the supportChat relay Cloud Function (send / markRead / poll)
• firebase/functions/src/operator-console.ts — the operatorConsole Cloud Function (broadcast + support-chat operator actions); firebase/functions/src/operator-console-support-chat-validate.ts — support-chat action validators
• src/main/ipc/support-chat-handlers.ts — IPC handlers
• src/renderer/src/stores/support-chat-store.ts — Zustand store
• src/renderer/src/features/support-chat/SupportChatPanel.tsx — floating panel UI

For agents

Architecture

• Backend: Firebase Firestore (the shares project), support_conversations/{installId}/messages/{auto-id} layout.
• Keying: Each install gets a stable installId (auto-generated, persisted in config.json). No Firebase Auth required.
• User path — no shipped admin key: a user's send, mark-read, AND message reads all go through the supportChat relay Cloud Function (ship-in-app deterrent token; the Firestore admin credential lives server-side). A packaged build's firebase-admin onSnapshot fails 7 PERMISSION_DENIED (the share-mirror packaged-admin bug), so the user READ path polls the relay's poll op about every 15s (relayPoll) instead of a real-time listener; the panel also refreshes instantly on open. Delivery + notifications are unchanged (same SUPPORT_CHAT_MESSAGE_RECEIVED push, notify only on a genuinely new reply). Locked by the user-write-relay contract.
• Operator path — no shipped admin key: the operator's list / read / reply / mark-read run server-side through the admin-authed operatorConsole relay Cloud Function — gated by the operator's VERIFIED Firebase ID token + an admin role (authenticate + requireAdmin), strictly stronger than the old client-side check. The live console view POLLS the relay's supportChat.listConversations action about every 15s (replacing the old onSnapshot over the whole support_conversations collection). Delivery + notifications are unchanged (same SUPPORT_CHAT_CONVERSATIONS_CHANGED push; one notify per genuinely-new unread reply). Locked by the operator-console-relay contract.
• Inbox source: Operator-only. Unread conversations appear as support-chat inbox items.

Settings

Setting	Type	Default	Description
supportChatEnabled	boolean	true	Master toggle — hides toolbar icon and panel when off
supportChatOperator	boolean	false	Operator mode — see all conversations in inbox
supportChatUserName	string	''	Display name shown on messages (required before first send)

IPC Channels

Channel	Direction	Purpose
SUPPORT_CHAT_LIST_CONVERSATIONS	request-response	List all conversations (operator only)
SUPPORT_CHAT_GET_MESSAGES	request-response	Get messages for a conversation
SUPPORT_CHAT_SEND	request-response	Send a message
SUPPORT_CHAT_GET_INSTALL_ID	request-response	Get this install's unique ID
SUPPORT_CHAT_MARK_READ	request-response	Mark conversation as read
SUPPORT_CHAT_MESSAGE_RECEIVED	push (Main->Renderer)	New message notification
SUPPORT_CHAT_CONVERSATIONS_CHANGED	push (Main->Renderer)	Conversation list changed

Related

• inbox-overview.md — where operator mode routes conversations.
• report-conversations.md — filing a bug or a feature request, a different route into the same team.