Messages & Unread

Guild has lightweight in-platform messaging so you can connect with a co-counsel before moving to your own channels. It is deliberately simple — a thread per…

Guild has lightweight in-platform messaging so you can connect with a co-counsel before moving to your own channels. It is deliberately simple — a thread per match, nothing more.

Where messages live

Messages live inside a match. Open Matches and click a match to see its thread (/matches/[id]). The thread shows every message with the sender's name and timestamp, and a reply box at the bottom.

Messaging opens as soon as a match is accepted. You can't message someone on a proposal that hasn't been accepted yet, and you can't message outside a match.

Sending

Type in the reply box and send. The other practitioner is notified by email (a short preview of your message) and sees the message when they next sign in. If you're the sender, the recipient's reply will be waiting in the same thread.

Messages are meant for the initial connection — introductions, logistics, and deciding whether to work together. Once you're working together, Guild assumes you'll move client and case communications to your own channels (email, phone, your firm's tools). Nothing sensitive about the client should be discussed in-platform.

Unread messages

You'll know there's something new without opening every thread:

• Dashboard — the Recent Messages section and the unread count in the stats bar call out messages you haven't seen yet.
• Match threads — the system tracks your last_read_at per match: opening a match thread marks its messages as read, and the counts update.

A message counts as unread until you open the thread it's in. There's no read-receipt ping — just the counts.

Email notifications

Every message sends an email to the other participant (sender gets nothing — they already know). Emails come from notifications@mail.greenbook.legal.

Notification preferences (Settings → Notifications) are currently a stub — they render but aren't persisted yet, so emails are always sent for now. Persisting preferences is planned for a future pass; the in-app unread counts keep working regardless.

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Next: Fee Splits — recording the professional arrangement.