A channel is where a team talks, with the AIs in the room. Posts make a feed, grouped by day; each post has a thread under it, and an AI replies inside the thread instead of the room agreeing on one answer.
Turning it on
Channel Mode is off until you use it. Every new discussion offers Channel beside In Turns and Side-by-side; choosing it turns Channel Mode on for your account on every app, and a short Channel Mode turned on line offers Undo. Your new discussions still start In Turns unless you set New Discussions Start In to Channel in Settings. An In-turns discussion can become a channel with Switch to Channel above its transcript; what was said stays above the feed, read only. Turning the mode off hides the channel sections; channels already made still open.
The feed
The header shows where the channel lives, # channel-name, and how many AIs it can call on (its own page, linked below). On the right: the bell, the thread panel's switch, and ••• with Search This Channel and Channel Settings. Messages, Files and Tickets are below.
A new post shows New messages above it until you have read it. Under a post: its reactions, then one row, 1 reply · ChatGPT ›, which opens the thread. Posts in a row from one person within a few minutes read as one.
Who answers
The composer's AI menu sets this channel's policy, for replies from now on:
| Policy | What happens |
|---|---|
| Auto · one per thread | A cheap model reads each new post and picks the one AI best suited to it, or none when people are talking to each other. The reply shows why, for example AI · hardware logs. |
| Mentions only | An AI answers only when @mentioned. |
| Off | No AI answers; Ask another AI under a thread still works. |
An @mention always brings that AI in (AI · mentioned); mentioning only a teammate brings none. @guest: a model invites a guest for one answer under any policy. Without credit or a key for the cheap model, the room's lead answers a new post.
Where replies go
Answers are read in their thread. Under a post the feed shows only its reply row: who replied, how many replies and when the last came; click it to open the thread. Where AIs Reply: When Needed (the default) adds a feed item only when you ask ("tell everyone") or for an announcement or decision, never for a question's answer: a one-sentence summary, quoted and labelled ChatGPT · Shared from Thread. In the Thread never adds one; In the Channel answers under the post. Also post to channel copies your reply to the feed.
Replies are chat-sized by default (Reply Length). That shapes conversation only: tools, code, reviews and files are done in full, in the thread.
Navigation
Navigation in Settings lists your organization and its channels, then Projects, where a channel is a session marked # (Project Conversations, the default), or every channel in a section of its own (Workspace Channels). The sidebar's search box narrows them as you type.
There are no direct messages between people here; talk with one teammate in a channel or in Slack. A direct message made before they were taken out is kept as an ordinary discussion, listed as Direct message with and the other person's name, which both of you can still open and reply in.
Notifications and formatting
The bell in a channel's header sets what reaches your Inbox from it: All New Posts, Mentions and Replies (the default in a channel) or Off. It is yours alone and the same on every app; unread posts still show in the sidebar when it is off. Aa beside @ shows a row of formatting marks (bold, italic, code, link, lists, quote, code block) for the box under it, and hides it again; what you send is ordinary Markdown either way.