UBIQUITOUS_LANGUAGE.md

Ubiquitous Language

Rooms & Conversations

Term	Definition	Aliases to avoid
Room	A server-side conversation container with shared state (name, type, settings)	Chat, conversation
Subscription	A user's personal relationship to a Room, holding per-user state (unread count, favorite, muted, open)	Membership, room entry
Channel	A public Room (type 'c') visible to all server users	Public room
Group	A private Room (type 'p') visible only to invited members	Private room, private channel
Direct Message	A 1-on-1 private Room (type 'd') between two users	DM, PM, private message
Thread	A branched conversation spawned from a single Message, identified by tmid (thread message id)	Reply chain
Discussion	A separate Room spawned from a parent Room, identified by prid (parent room id) — unlike Threads, Discussions are full Rooms	Sub-room, sub-channel
Team	An organizational container that groups multiple Channels and users under a single entity	Workspace (ambiguous)

Messages

Term	Definition	Aliases to avoid
Message	A unit of communication within a Room, identified by _id with content in msg and parsed markdown in md	Chat message, text
Thread Message	A Message that belongs to a Thread, identified by presence of tmid	Reply, thread reply
System Message	A Message generated by the server to record events (user joined, room archived, role changed) — identified by t (type) field	Event, notification
Attachment	Rich media or structured data embedded in a Message (image, video, audio, file, or action buttons)	File, media
Reaction	An emoji response to a Message, tracking which usernames reacted	Emoji reaction
Mention	An @username reference within a Message that triggers notifications	Tag, ping
Draft Message	A user's unsent composition stored on a Subscription or Thread (draftMessage field)	Unsent message
Snippet	A saved excerpt from a Message	—

Message Status

Term	Definition	Aliases to avoid
Sent	Message successfully delivered to server (status 0)	Delivered
Temp	Message created locally but not yet confirmed by server (status 1)	Pending, sending
Error	Message that failed to send (status 2)	Failed
Pinned	Message flagged as important and pinned to the Room by a user	Bookmarked
Starred	Message bookmarked by the current user for personal reference	Saved

Message Loading

Term	Definition	Aliases to avoid
Message Window	The contiguous range of Messages the Room view currently observes and renders (distinct from what is synced to the database)	Page, feed
Live Tail	The newest end of a Room's Messages; a Message Window at the Live Tail receives new Messages automatically	Bottom, latest
Live Window	A Message Window whose newest edge is the Live Tail — grows older as you scroll up and follows new Messages at the bottom	—
Anchored Window	A Message Window pinned around a Jump to Message target instead of the Live Tail; deliberately does not follow new Messages	—
Chunk	A contiguous run of Messages synced from the server into the local database, bracketed by Loader Rows where more exists	Batch, page
Gap	A region between two Chunks where Messages exist on the server but not yet locally; represented by a Loader Row	Hole
Loader Row	A placeholder Message record marking a Gap; becoming visible triggers a server fetch	Load-more, spinner row
Older Loader	A Loader Row marking older Messages (types MORE, PREVIOUS_CHUNK) — resolving it fetches Messages before it	Load previous
Newer Loader	A Loader Row marking newer Messages (type NEXT_CHUNK) — resolving it fetches Messages after it	Load next
Room History	Older Messages of a Room fetched on demand from the server (distinct from Server History)	Message history
Jump to Message	Re-position the Room view onto a target Message that may be far from the Live Tail or not yet synced — fetches a surrounding Chunk	Scroll to message

Users & Roles

Term	Definition	Aliases to avoid
User	An authenticated identity on the server with username, status, and roles	Account, profile
Logged User	The currently authenticated User session, holding auth token and preferences	Current user, session
Role	A named permission group assigned to Users (e.g., owner, moderator, leader, guest)	Permission group
Permission	A named capability mapped to one or more Roles	Privilege, access right
Active User	A User currently tracked as online/away/busy via real-time presence	Online user
Member	A User viewed in the context of a specific Room's membership list	Participant

User Status

Term	Definition	Aliases to avoid
Online	User is actively connected	Active
Away	User idle past timeout threshold	Idle
Busy	User has set do-not-disturb	DND
Offline	User is not connected	Disconnected

Omnichannel / Livechat

Term	Definition	Aliases to avoid
Omnichannel Room	A customer-service Room (type 'l') connecting a Visitor to an Agent	Livechat room, support chat
Visitor	An external customer who initiates an Omnichannel conversation, identified by a unique token	Client, customer, end-user
Agent	A User designated to handle Omnichannel conversations, with statusLivechat (available/unavailable)	Support agent, operator, rep
Inquiry	A queued Omnichannel request waiting to be picked up or routed to an Agent	Queue item, ticket
Department	An organizational unit that groups Agents for Omnichannel routing	Team (ambiguous), group
Omnichannel Source	How an Omnichannel conversation was initiated (widget, email, sms, app, api)	Channel origin
Served By	The Agent currently assigned to handle an Omnichannel Room	Assigned agent, handler
On Hold	An Omnichannel Room temporarily paused by the Agent	Paused, suspended
Transfer	Moving an Omnichannel Room to a different Agent or Department	Forward, reassign, handoff

Encryption

Term	Definition	Aliases to avoid
E2E Encryption	End-to-end encryption for Room content using AES-SHA2, with two protocol versions (rc.v1.aes-sha2, rc.v2.aes-sha2)	Encryption, E2EE
E2E Key	A user's asymmetric key pair (public + private) for E2E Encryption	Crypto key
OTR	Off-The-Record messaging — ephemeral encrypted conversation mode between two users	—

Video & Voice

Term	Definition	Aliases to avoid
Video Conference	A video/voice call session with status lifecycle (calling, started, expired, ended, declined)	Video call, meeting
Direct Video Conference	A 1-on-1 Video Conference	—
Group Video Conference	A multi-participant Video Conference with title and anonymous user support	—
VOIP	Voice-over-IP phone-style call, separate from Video Conference — uses ICE servers and media streams	Phone call, voice call
Native Accept	An incoming VOIP call answered by native code (CallKit on iOS, Telecom on Android) before the JS runtime is available; native issues the REST accept and JS reconciles state on launch via initial events	JS accept, app accept
Per-call DDP	A short-lived DDP client opened by native code per incoming VOIP call so accept and signaling land before JS boots; separate from the main app DDP session	Native socket, side socket
Media Signal	A typed event on the @rocket.chat/media-signaling wire protocol (offer, answer, ICE candidate, state update) carried over DDP stream-notify-user and replayable via REST media-calls.stateSignals	Signal, RTC event
Pending Hangup	A VOIP call id recorded in-memory when the user taps End while the WebSocket is unhealthy, so the hangup Media Signal can be replayed through the lib's transporter on the next post-login reconnect	Hangup intent, deferred hangup

Server & Connection

Term	Definition	Aliases to avoid
Server	A Rocket.Chat server instance the app connects to, with version, settings, and enterprise modules	Workspace (used by web but not consistently in mobile), instance
Server History	List of previously connected Servers for quick reconnection	Recent servers
Meteor Connect	The WebSocket connection to the Server's DDP (Distributed Data Protocol) endpoint	Socket, connection

Navigation & Layout

Term	Definition	Aliases to avoid
Outside Stack	Navigation screens shown when unauthenticated (server selection, login, register)	Auth stack, login flow
Inside Stack	Navigation screens shown when authenticated (rooms, settings, profile)	Main stack, app stack
Master-Detail	Tablet layout with room list (master pane) and room content (detail pane) side by side	Split view, two-pane
Chats Stack	The primary messaging navigation within Inside Stack (room list, room view, room actions)	—
Drawer Navigator	Side navigation containing tabs: Chats, Profile, Settings, Admin, Accessibility	Sidebar, menu

Unread & Notification Indicators

Term	Definition	Aliases to avoid
Unread	Count of unread regular Messages in a Subscription	Badge count
User Mentions	Count of Messages that @mentioned the current user in a Subscription	Personal mentions
Group Mentions	Count of @all or @here mentions in a Subscription	Channel mentions
Tunread	Array of Thread IDs with unread replies	Thread unread
Alert	Boolean flag on a Subscription indicating it has unread mentions or special activity requiring attention	Notification flag

Relationships

• A Room can be of type Channel, Group, Direct Message, or Omnichannel Room
• A Subscription belongs to exactly one Room and one User
• A Message belongs to exactly one Room (via rid)
• A Thread is spawned from exactly one Message and contains one or more Thread Messages
• A Discussion creates a new Room linked to a parent Room (via prid)
• A Team has exactly one main Room and can contain multiple Channels
• An Omnichannel Room connects exactly one Visitor with zero or one Agents (via Served By)
• An Agent belongs to one or more Departments
• An Inquiry becomes an Omnichannel Room when picked up by an Agent
• A Room view shows a Live Window by default; a Jump to Message replaces it with an Anchored Window
• A Gap is bracketed by Loader Rows; resolving a Loader Row fetches a Chunk and may shrink or close the Gap
• Jump to Message fetches a Chunk centered on the target (loadSurroundingMessages), bracketed by an Older Loader and a Newer Loader when more Messages exist on either side

Example dialogue

Dev: "When a user opens the app, do they see their Subscriptions or their Rooms?" Domain expert: "Subscriptions. The sidebar shows the user's Subscriptions — each one points to a Room, but carries user-specific state like Unread count and Alert flag. A Room exists independently; a Subscription is the user's window into it." Dev: "So if someone starts a Thread in a Channel, does that create a new Subscription?" Domain expert: "No. A Thread lives inside the parent Room's Subscription. Thread unreads are tracked via Tunread on the Subscription. A Discussion, on the other hand, creates an entirely new Room with its own Subscription." Dev: "And for Omnichannel — when a Visitor sends a message from the widget, what happens?" Domain expert: "An Inquiry is created and queued. Once an Agent picks it up or routing assigns it, the Inquiry becomes an Omnichannel Room with the Agent recorded in Served By. If the Agent needs to escalate, they do a Transfer to another Agent or Department."

Flagged ambiguities

• "Workspace" is used by Rocket.Chat web to mean a server instance, but the mobile codebase uses Server. Use Server in mobile context to avoid confusion with the web admin concept.
• "Room type 'e2e'" and "Room type 'thread'" appear in SubscriptionType enum but are marked with FIXME in code — these are not true room types but flags. Do not treat them as room types in new code.
• "Account" is sometimes used loosely to mean either User (the identity) or Server (the connected instance). These are distinct: a User authenticates on a Server.
• "Channel" in everyday speech can mean any Room, but in domain terms it strictly means a public Room (type 'c'). A private Room is a Group (type 'p').
• "Forward" in omnichannel context means Transfer (reassigning a room to another agent/department). The codebase uses both forwardRoom and "transfer" — prefer Transfer as the domain term.
• "History" is overloaded: Server History is the recent-Servers reconnection list; Room History is older Messages fetched on demand. The action roomHistoryRequest and saga ROOM.HISTORY_REQUEST refer to Room History.
• "Window" is used metaphorically in the Subscriptions dialogue ("a Subscription is the user's window into it"); a Message Window is the concrete observed Message range in the Room view. Disambiguate when both could be meant.
• "Load more" is directional: older Messages are an Older Loader (MORE/PREVIOUS_CHUNK), newer Messages are a Newer Loader (NEXT_CHUNK). Avoid bare "load more".