| name | chat-system |
| description | Chat system — MVP pattern, message bus decorators, commands, auto-translation, encrypted history, state machine. Use when adding chat commands, modifying message flow, or working with chat services. |
| user-invocable | false |
Chat System
Sources
docs/chat.md — Chat architecture (MVP, state machine, commands, services, event bus, auto-translation)
docs/chat-emojis.md — Emoji atlas creation with TextMesh Pro, noto-emoji font
docs/chat-history-local-storage.md — Local encrypted chat history persistence, feature flag control
Architecture Overview
The chat system uses MVP + State Machine + EventBus + Commands:
- View (MonoBehaviour): draw-only; forwards UI events
- Presenter (POCO): listens to View + EventBus, delegates to Commands/Services, updates View
- Model: embodied by Services and data stores (
IChatHistory)
- Commands: single-purpose business logic (e.g.,
SendMessageCommand)
- Services: long-lived shared state or I/O boundaries (history, member lists, input blocking)
- EventBus: decoupled comms via
ChatEvents (no tight coupling between Presenters)
- State Machine:
ChatStateMachine controls top-level UI mode; replaces boolean soup
- Composition root:
ChatPlugin wires Views, Presenters, Commands, Services, and State Machine
Component Map
| Layer | Key Classes |
|---|
| Composition | ChatPlugin, ChatMainSharedAreaController |
| Presenters | ChatPanelPresenter, ChatTitlebarPresenter, ChatInputPresenter, ChatMessageFeedPresenter, ChatChannelsPresenter, ChatMemberListPresenter |
| Commands | SendMessageCommand, SelectChannelCommand, InitializeChatSystemCommand, GetMessageHistoryCommand, ResolveInputStateCommand, ~20 more |
| Services | CurrentChannelService, ChatHistoryService, ChatMemberListService, ChatInputBlockingService, ChatContextMenuService, ChatWorldBubbleService |
| State Machine | ChatStateMachine with Init, Default, Focused, Members, Minimized, Hidden states |
Message Send Flow
ChatInputView raises onSubmit("Hello")
ChatInputPresenter calls SendMessageCommand
- Command pulls active channel from
CurrentChannelService, calls IChatMessagesBus
- Bus echoes
MessageAdded locally (optimistic UI)
ChatHistoryService persists to IChatHistory
ChatMessageFeedPresenter maps via CreateMessageViewModelCommand and updates View
Message Bus Decorator Chain
IChatMessagesBus is wrapped in decorators, each adding a concern. The chain is composed in DynamicWorldContainer.
Decorator Responsibilities
| Decorator | Role |
|---|
MultiplayerChatMessagesBus | Core transport: sends via LiveKit pipes (Island/Scene/Chat), receives from subscribed pipes, deduplicates, rate-limits, buffers nearby messages |
SelfResendChatMessageBus | On Send(), also fires MessageAdded for the sender's own message (optimistic local echo) |
IgnoreWithSymbolsChatMessageBus | Filters messages containing forbidden control characters (\u2410, \u2406, \u2411) |
CommandsHandleChatMessageBus | Intercepts /-prefixed messages, parses command + args, dispatches to IChatCommand, sends system response |
Interface
public interface IChatMessagesBus : IDisposable
{
event Action<ChatChannel.ChannelId, ChatChannel.ChatChannelType, ChatMessage> MessageAdded;
void Send(ChatChannel channel, string message, ChatMessageOrigin origin, double timestamp);
}
Each decorator wraps origin.Send() and forwards origin.MessageAdded events, adding its own logic before or after.
Chat Command Pattern
Interface
public interface IChatCommand
{
string Command { get; }
string Description { get; }
bool DebugOnly => false;
bool ValidateParameters(string[] parameters) => parameters.Length == 0;
UniTask<string> ExecuteCommandAsync(string[] parameters, CancellationToken ct);
}
Existing Commands
| Command | Class | Debug? |
|---|
/goto <x,y|random|crowd|world> | GoToChatCommand | No |
/help | HelpChatCommand | No |
/version | VersionChatCommand | No |
/gotolocal <x,y> | GoToLocalChatCommand | Yes |
/reloadscene | ReloadSceneChatCommand | Yes |
/debugpanel | DebugPanelChatCommand | Yes |
/showentity <id> | ShowEntityChatCommand | Yes |
/logs (opens the logs folder) | LogsChatCommand | No |
/cache (opens the disk cache folder) | CacheChatCommand | No |
/logmatrix | LogMatrixChatCommand | No |
/rooms | RoomsChatCommand | Yes |
/loadpx <urn> | LoadPortableExperienceChatCommand | Yes |
/killpx <urn> | KillPortableExperienceChatCommand | Yes |
/appargs | AppArgsChatCommand | Yes |
Commands are registered in DynamicWorldContainer as IReadOnlyList<IChatCommand> and looked up by name in a dictionary.
Input State Machine
ChatStateMachine manages 6 UI states via MVCStateMachine<ChatState>. Each state class contains only logic relevant to that state.
State Transitions
Init --> Default (on view show)
Default --> Focused (click inside / focus requested)
Default --> Minimized (close requested)
Default --> Members (toggle members)
Focused --> Default (click outside)
Focused --> Minimized (close requested)
Focused --> Members (toggle members)
Members --> Default (click outside)
Members --> Focused (close/back/toggle)
Minimized --> Focused (focus requested / minimize toggle)
Hidden <-- (SharedSpaceManager hides chat when other panels open)
Hidden --> Default (SharedSpaceManager restores chat)
All states inherit ChatState which provides virtual no-op methods: OnClickOutside, OnClickInside, OnCloseRequested, OnFocusRequested, OnMinimizeRequested, OnToggleMembers, OnPointerEnter, OnPointerExit. States override only the transitions they handle.
Auto-Translation
Translation is orchestrated by TranslationService with modular components:
| Component | Role |
|---|
ITranslationService | Central orchestrator for auto and manual translation |
ITranslationProvider (DclTranslationProvider) | External API adapter |
IMessageProcessor (ChatMessageProcessor) | Tokenizes complex messages, protects non-translatable parts |
IConversationTranslationPolicy | Decides if auto-translate applies (global flag + per-conversation toggle) |
ITranslationCache (InMemoryTranslationCache) | Prevents redundant API calls; capacity configured via ChatConfig.TranslationCacheCapacity (default 200) |
ITranslationMemory (InMemoryTranslationMemory) | Tracks per-message translation state (Original, Pending, Success, Failed); capacity 200 |
Configuration (ChatConfig ScriptableObject)
[field: SerializeField] public int TranslationMaxRetries { get; set; } = 1;
[field: SerializeField] public float TranslationTimeoutSeconds { get; set; } = 10.0f;
public int TranslationMemoryCapacity = 200;
public int TranslationCacheCapacity = 200;
Flow
TranslationService.ProcessIncomingMessage() checks IConversationTranslationPolicy
- Creates
MessageTranslation with Pending state in ITranslationMemory
- Publishes
TranslationEvents.MessageTranslationRequested
- Checks
ITranslationCache for existing result
- Runs
RequiresProcessing() -- if text has TMP tags, emojis, dates, or slash commands, uses IMessageProcessor (tokenize, protect, batch-translate); otherwise calls ITranslationProvider directly
- Stores result in cache + memory, publishes
TranslationEvents.MessageTranslated
- On failure, sets
Failed state, publishes TranslationEvents.MessageTranslationFailed
Concurrency: per-sender serialization via leader/follower gates, global cap of 10 in-flight translations.
Encrypted History
Feature flag: explorer-alfa-chat-history-local-storage. Core classes in Explorer/Assets/DCL/Chat/History/.
Storage Layout
{persistentDataPath}/c/
{Base64(AES(walletAddress))}/ <-- per-account folder
{Base64(AES("UserConversationSettings"))} <-- encrypted JSON: open channels + order
{Base64(AES(channelId))} <-- encrypted CSV per conversation
Key Behaviors
- Per-account isolation: wallet address is the encryption key; folder name is
Base64(AES(address))
- Lazy file I/O: files stay open for 5 seconds after last write, then auto-close
- Background processing: message queue processed on a thread pool via
UniTask.RunOnThreadPool
- Rehydration: on first DM message, snapshots session messages, loads history from disk, replays session tail to avoid data loss
- Nearby excluded: only
ChatChannelType.USER conversations are persisted
Detailed Reference
For detailed code examples, see reference.md.
Cross-References
- mvc-and-ui-architecture -- MVC controller pattern,
SharedSpaceManager panel coordination
- web-requests --
IWebRequestController used by DclTranslationProvider and GoToChatCommand for API calls
- feature-flags-and-configuration --
FeatureFlagsStrings.CHAT_HISTORY_LOCAL_STORAGE gates history; FeaturesRegistry gates rate limiting and message buffering