Messages Interface
Test and manage your messaging platform through the Flux Relay dashboard interface.
Overview
The Messages interface provides a complete testing and management environment for your messaging platform. You can view conversations, send messages, test different user perspectives, and manage your messaging infrastructure all from a single, intuitive interface.
Getting Started
To access the Messages interface:
- Navigate to the Messages section in the dashboard sidebar
- Select a project from the dropdown
- Select a server from the dropdown
- Select a database (optional, for multi-database setups)
- Select a conversation table (optional, for custom table names)
- Start viewing and managing conversations
Key Features
Conversation List
The left sidebar displays all your conversations:
- Search: Quickly find conversations using the search bar
- Unread Indicators: See unread message counts for each conversation
- Last Message Preview: View the most recent message in each conversation
- Read Receipts: Visual indicators showing message read status
- Conversation Actions: Archive, mute, or delete conversations via the menu
Chat Area
The main chat interface provides:
- Message Display: Chronological view of all messages in the conversation
- Message Bubbles: Your messages appear on the right, contact messages on the left
- Timestamps: See when each message was sent
- Message Actions: Delete individual messages (hover over messages to see delete button)
- Emoji Picker: Add emojis to your messages
- File Attachments: Support for attaching files (coming soon)
Perspective Toggle
Test your messaging platform from different user perspectives:
- Developer View: Default view where you send messages as the developer account
- End User View: Switch to view and send messages as a contact/end user
- Authentication: When switching to end user view, you'll be prompted to authenticate
- Real-time Switching: Messages automatically re-align based on the selected perspective
Tip: Use the perspective toggle to test how messages appear to different users in your application.
Create Test Users
Create test users directly from the interface:
- Access via the dropdown menu in the conversation list
- Create multiple users at once with custom usernames and passwords
- Auto-generated external user IDs and emails if not provided
- Users are immediately available for testing conversations
Delete Conversations
Manage conversations with deletion capabilities:
- Delete Conversation: Remove entire conversations via the trash icon in the chat header
- Delete Messages: Remove individual messages by hovering and clicking the delete button
- Confirmation Dialogs: Custom confirmation dialogs prevent accidental deletions
- Real-time Updates: Deletions are reflected immediately across all connected clients
Table and Database Selection
Support for custom table and database configurations:
- Database Selection: Choose which database to use for conversations
- Table Selection: Select specific conversation tables (e.g., conversations_db)
- Dynamic Updates: Socket connection updates automatically when tables change
- Session Persistence: Your selections are saved across page refreshes
Real-time Features
The Messages interface uses Socket.IO for real-time communication:
- Instant Messaging: Messages appear immediately without page refresh
- Connection Status: Visual indicators show socket connection state
- Auto-reconnection: Automatic reconnection if the connection is lost
- Multi-perspective Support: Switch between developer and end-user tokens seamlessly
UI Components
The interface features custom-designed components:
- Custom Dialogs: Beautiful, consistent dialog components for all interactions
- Confirmation Dialogs: Custom-styled confirmation dialogs with warning icons
- Responsive Design: Works seamlessly on desktop and mobile devices
- Dark Mode Support: Full support for light and dark themes
Best Practices
- Use the perspective toggle to test your application from different user viewpoints
- Create test users with passwords to fully test the authentication flow
- Use search to quickly find specific conversations in large lists
- Test message deletion to ensure proper cleanup in your application
- Monitor the connection status indicator to ensure real-time features are working
- Use custom table names to test multi-tenant scenarios