Glue is designed to adapt to how your team actually works. Whether you're having a quick one-on-one chat, coordinating with your department, or managing a complex project across multiple teams, Glue gives you the flexibility to communicate in the way that makes the most sense.

### Three ways to communicate

Glue offers three core message types, each optimized for different situations:

#### Threads

Threads are the core of Glue. These are organized discussions with specific participants that you can add or remove as the conversation evolves.

**Perfect for:**

- Project coordination across multiple people and groups
- Discussions that need focused participants
- Topics that require organized back-and-forth conversation

#### Direct Messages (DMs)

One-on-one private conversations between two people.

**Perfect for:**

- Quick questions that don't need a group audience
- Private or sensitive discussions
- Following up individually with someone

#### Group Chat

Shared conversations where all members of a group can participate.

**Perfect for:**

- Team announcements and updates
- Real-time casual discussion
- Information everyone in the group should see

### Choosing the right message type

Not sure which to use? Here's a quick guide:

| Your Situation                                    | Use This    |
|--------------------------------------------------|-------------|
| Coordinating specific people on a topic          | **Thread**  |
| Discussion involves people from different groups   | **Thread**  |
| Need to keep organized records of decisions       | **Thread**  |
| Need to chat privately with one person            | **Direct Message** |
| Want everyone in a group to see something        | **Group Chat** |
| Quick informal team conversation                  | **Group Chat** |

**Flexible by design:** Any message can become a thread! If a conversation in Group Chat or a DM grows beyond its original scope, you can create a thread from that message to bring in additional participants.

### What you can do with messages

All message types in Glue support rich features to help you communicate effectively:

#### Express yourself

- **Text formatting** - Bold, italics, headings, lists, and code blocks
- **Emojis and reactions** - Add personality and quick responses
- **Attachments** - Share files, images, and documents

#### Voice messages

- Record and send up to 5 minutes of audio, right in the message composer on desktop and mobile.
- Tap to start and end, and you can review before you send.
- Make sure to accept the prompts to give Glue access to your device's audio settings. You can grant access from your preferences menu.

#### Get attention and organize

- **@ Mentions** - Notify specific people or reference threads
- **Quote replies** - Respond to specific messages with context
- **Glue AI** - Get help, summaries, or information by mentioning @Glue AI

#### Manage your messages

- **Edit messages** - Fix typos or update information
- **Delete messages** - Remove messages you've sent
- **Search** - Find past conversations and information

#### Read Receipts

- Check who has seen your most recent sent messages. You can see a list of up to 5 people, and a count of the rest.
- This shows up in the lower right-hand corner of your most recent message as an avatar pile that you can hover over for more information.

Explore formatting and rich content →

Master mentions and notifications →

#### Ready to dive deeper? Explore:

- [Threads](https://docs.glue.ai/conversations/threads) - Master Glue's most powerful messaging feature
- [Using Glue AI](https://docs.glue.ai/glue-ai/using-glue-ai) - Enhance your workflow with AI assistance
- [Keyboard shortcuts](https://docs.glue.ai/get-started/keyboard-shortcuts) - Work faster with keyboard commands