Direct messages are one-to-one chats between team members in Pistonlog. They don't appear on any jobcard, don't go to customers, and aren't part of any audit trail visible to other users.
When to use them
- "Hey can you take a look at jobcard 0142 when you're free"
- "Customer just rang, says her car's making a weird noise"
- "I'm running late, can you cover the Smith booking"
- "Need a hand on this brake job after lunch"
The kind of fast back-and-forth that doesn't need to be on a customer record.
When NOT to use them
If the comment is about a specific job, put it on that jobcard's comments so it's visible to whoever picks the work up next. Direct messages are private to the two participants.
Permission
Direct messaging is gated by the messages.direct permission. Reception, Manager and Owner have it by default; Technician does not.
Real-time
DMs deliver instantly over the same Supabase Realtime channel that powers notifications. There's also a notification entry created — see the bell.
Mobile
Direct messages work on the mobile app too, with push notifications via Expo.