Page: Course Chat

Code: CHAT Route: /courses/[slug]/discuss Access: Authenticated Priority: P2 Status: In Scope (Goodwill Points Feature)

Purpose

Course-specific community chat room where enrolled students can ask questions, get help from STs, and award goodwill points for helpful answers.

Connections

Incoming (users arrive from)

Source Trigger Notes
CCNT "Course Chat" link From course content
CDET "Join Discussion" From course detail
NOTF Chat notification New message/mention
SDSH Course chat icon Quick access

Outgoing (users navigate to)

Target Trigger Notes
CCNT "Back to Course" Return to content
STPR ST name click View helper's profile
PROF User name click View user's profile
HELP "Need 1-on-1 Help?" Escalate to Summon

Data Requirements

Entity Fields Used Purpose
posts id, author_id, course_id, content, created_at Chat messages
users id, name, avatar, is_student_teacher Participant info
student_teachers course_id, user_id ST badge display
user_goodwill balance Points available to award
goodwill_transactions from_user_id, to_user_id, points, reason Awards
courses id, title Course context

Sections

Header

  • • Course title + "Chat"
  • • Participants count: "X online"
  • • "Back to Course" → CCNT
  • • Room settings (mute, etc.)

Chat Messages (Main Area)

  • • Real-time message stream
  • • Each message shows:
  • • Question messages highlighted differently
  • • Answers to questions indented/grouped

Help Queue Panel (Sidebar or Tab)

  • • **Pending Questions:**
  • • **Available Helpers:**

Message Composer

  • • Text input
  • • "Ask Question" toggle (marks as question)
  • • Send button
  • • Character limit indicator

"This Helped!" Interaction

  • • On clicking "This Helped!":

Goodwill Points Indicator

  • • User's available balance shown
  • • "X points to give"
  • • Link to earn more

User Stories Fulfilled

  • • US-S065: Participate in course chat
  • • US-S066: Ask questions in chat
  • • US-T028: ST answers questions in chat
  • • US-S069: Award points for helpful answers (from CD-023)

States & Variations

State Description
Active Messages flowing, users online
Quiet No recent messages, "Start the conversation" prompt
Question Pending User's question awaiting answer
Helping ST actively answering questions
Low Balance User has few points to award, subtle prompt to help others

Mobile Considerations

  • • Full-screen chat
  • • Help queue accessed via tab or swipe
  • • Composer sticky at bottom
  • • Quick point award via long-press

Error Handling

Error Display
Not authorized "You must be enrolled to access this chat."
Send fails "Message not sent. [Retry]"
Award fails "Unable to award points. Try again."
Connection lost "Reconnecting..." with retry

Analytics Events

Event Trigger Data
`page_view` Page load course_id, user_role
`message_sent` Message sent course_id, is_question
`question_asked` Question marked course_id
`points_awarded` "This Helped" completed points, recipient_id
`helper_online` ST came online st_id, course_id

Notes

  • • **Feature Flag:** `course_chat` - check with `canAccess('course_chat')`
  • • **Block 2+ feature:** Part of Goodwill Points system (CD-023)
  • • Custom WebSocket via Cloudflare Durable Objects (not Stream Chat)
  • • Consider anti-spam: rate limits (1 msg/sec), moderation
  • • ST incentive: Earning points for helping
  • • Integration with MODQ for flagged content
  • • Message history persisted in chat_messages table