--- title: "Rocket Chat Discussions for Secure Messaging" slug: "discussions" description: "Use discussions in Rocket Chat to enable secure messaging, streamline conversations, and improve team collaboration." status: "update" updated: 2026-09-22T10:35:38Z published: 2026-09-22T22:28:00Z canonical: "docs.rocket.chat/discussions" --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.rocket.chat/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Discussions Discussions let you create focused conversations within a [**team**](https://docs.rocket.chat/v1/docs/teams) or [**channel**](https://docs.rocket.chat/v1/docs/channels) in Rocket.Chat. They are useful for breaking down larger topics into smaller, organized threads. Discussions appear in the sidebar under **Discussions** and are marked with the ![](https://cdn.us.document360.io/6ae79a05-7252-45d0-96e8-8f375e07b1b2/Images/Documentation/chat.png)icon. > [!WARNING] > Every discussion must belong to a parent team or channel. A discussion cannot outlive its parent: if the parent room is deleted, all of its discussions are deleted with it, regardless of who is a member of those discussions. This includes the case where the parent room is removed automatically because its only owner and member was deactivated. See [Deactivating a room's last owner](https://docs.rocket.chat/docs/manage-workspace-users#deactivate) for more details. **Example**: If you have a team called **Engineering-Team** and a channel named **Website-Development-Channel**, you could create a discussion called **Website-Landing-Page** to keep all conversations about the landing page in one place. --- ## Discussion details To access the details of a discussion: 1. Open the desired **Discussion** from the sidebar. 2. Click the **Room Information** ![](https://cdn.us.document360.io/6ae79a05-7252-45d0-96e8-8f375e07b1b2/Images/Documentation/image(236).png) icon from the menu bar to access some details of the discussion. 3. Click **Edit** to access and update all the following discussion details: 1. **Name**: The discussion title, shown in the sidebar and used in search. 2. **Topic**: A short label displayed next to the header. 3. **Announcement**: A message shown at the top of the discussion for important reminders. 4. **Description**: A longer explanation of the discussion’s purpose. 5. **Private**: Restricts access to invited members only. This option is not available when you create a discussion. The discussion's type is set automatically based on its parent room and you can change it here afterwards. 6. **Read-only**: Allows only users with permission to post. Others can read messages but not reply. 7. **Archived** : Closes the discussion to new messages. 8. **Password to access**: Protects the discussion with a password. Members must enter the password before joining. ### Advanced settings In the **Advanced settings** section, you can further control behavior and permissions: - **Hide system messages**: Choose which automated system notifications (e.g., join/leave messages) are hidden. - **Automatically prune old messages**: Set the discussion to remove older messages automatically. - **Override global retention policy**: Apply custom retention rules for this discussion. Refer to [Room Retention Policy](/v1/docs/retention-policy#perroom-retention-policies) to learn how to prune messages in a room. --- ## Create a new discussion You can create a discussion in Rocket.Chat to organize conversations around a specific topic within a **team** or **channel**. Web browser/DesktopMobile To create a discussion on web or desktop: 1. In the menu bar, click **Create New** icon ![](https://cdn.us.document360.io/6ae79a05-7252-45d0-96e8-8f375e07b1b2/Images/Documentation/Screenshot 2025-12-22 194724.png) ➝ **Discussion** ![](https://cdn.us.document360.io/6ae79a05-7252-45d0-96e8-8f375e07b1b2/Images/Documentation/image(285).png) 2. Select the parent **team** or **channel**. 3. Enter a **name** for the discussion. 4. (Optional) Add a **topic** and a **message** to describe the discussion. 5. Add **members** to include in the discussion. 6. (Optional) Enable **encryption** if available for your workspace. If your workspace requires encryption for private rooms, a discussion under a private parent room is created encrypted automatically, and encryption cannot be turned off. 7. Click **Create**. To create a discussion in the mobile app: 1. Tap the **Create New** plus icon ![image.png](https://cdn.us.document360.io/6ae79a05-7252-45d0-96e8-8f375e07b1b2/Images/Documentation/image(306).png) and select **Discussion**. 2. Select the users you want to invite. 3. Click **Next** and select the parent **channel** or **group**. 4. Enter a **discussion name**. 5. Tap **Create discussion**. > [!TIP] > Once created, any member of the selected team or channel can join the discussion. A discussion is announced in its parent room by a message showing how many messages it holds and when it was last active. > [!NOTE] > Adding a member raises the count but leaves the time unchanged. The time follows the last message a member sent. Hidden system messages are not counted. That covers types hidden for the whole workspace with **Hide system messages** (`Hide_System_Messages`) under **Workspace** → **Settings** → **Message**, and types hidden on a single discussion through **Hide system messages** in the room's edit panel, which carries the hint *Hidden system messages are excluded from a room's message count.* To count the join and leave notices again, stop hiding them. A discussion's figures update as new messages arrive in it. One that has gone quiet keeps its current count and timestamp until someone posts again, and no admin action recalculates every discussion at once. --- ## Discussion privacy and visibility The **Create discussion** dialog does not include a privacy option. A discussion's privacy setting is assigned automatically at creation, based on the parent room, and can be changed afterwards from the discussion's settings. ### How the privacy setting is assigned A discussion inherits its privacy setting from its parent room as follows: - If the parent channel is public, the discussion is created as public. - If the parent channel is private, the discussion is created as private. - If the parent channel belongs to a team, the discussion inherits the team's privacy setting rather than the channel's. For example, a discussion created in a public channel within a private team is created as private. > [!WARNING] > If your workspace enforces end-to-end encryption on private rooms, a discussion that inherits a private setting is also created encrypted, and encryption cannot be disabled for it. The privacy setting is assigned only once, when the discussion is created. Changing the privacy setting of the parent channel or team later does not affect existing discussions. This differs from the behavior of channels within a team. A public channel within a private team is accessible only to team members, and membership is verified on each access. A discussion does not perform this check; access is governed solely by the discussion's own privacy setting. To change a discussion's privacy setting after it has been created, open the discussion, go to **Room Information** → **Edit**, enable or disable **Private**, and click **Save**. ### Visibility of public discussions A public discussion is not visible in the same way as a public channel: - Public discussions are not listed in workspace search or in the Directory. - Any user with the discussion's link or room ID can open it, regardless of whether they are a member of the parent channel or team. The public setting allows a discussion to be shared with users outside its parent room. It does not make the discussion discoverable within the workspace. For a conversation that all workspace members can find and join, create a channel instead. --- ## Manage Discussions Depending on your [role](/v1/docs/roles-in-rocketchat) and [permissions](/v1/docs/permissions), you can view, edit, hide, or delete a discussion. ### View or edit discussion information To view or edit a discussion’s information: 1. Open the discussion and click the **Room Information** ![](https://cdn.us.document360.io/6ae79a05-7252-45d0-96e8-8f375e07b1b2/Images/Documentation/image(244).png)icon in the header. 2. In the **Discussion info** panel, you can: - Click **Hide** to remove the discussion from your sidebar. It will reappear when someone sends a new message or if you search for it in the **Directory**. - Click **Edit** to update the discussion’s name, topic, announcement, description, or privacy. - Expand **Advanced settings** to set **Read-only**, **Archived**, **Password to access**, and **Hide system messages**. The [message pruning](/v1/docs/room-options) options appear here only when the retention policy is enabled for the workspace. 3. Click **Save** to apply changes. To remove messages from a discussion by hand, open the **Options** (kebab) menu in the discussion header and select **Prune Messages**. ### Mark discussion as favorite Marking a discussion as a favorite keeps it pinned at the top of your sidebar for quick access. You can favorite a discussion in two ways: - **From the sidebar:** Hover over the discussion, click the **three-dot menu (⋯)**, then select **Favorite**. - **Inside the discussion:** At the top of the discussion screen, click the **star** icon next to the discussion name to mark that discussion as **Favorite**. To remove a discussion from your favorites, repeat the same steps and select **Unfavorite**. ### Leave or delete a discussion From the **More** (⋮) menu in the **Discussion info** panel, you can perform several actions related to discussion management: - **Leave**: Exit the discussion. Note that a discussion owner cannot leave until they assign another member as the new owner. - **Delete**: Permanently remove the discussion and all its content. This action requires the appropriate [delete permissions](https://docs.rocket.chat/docs/permissions) or use the `/part` or `/leave` command in the message box. - On mobile, tap the discussion name, then select **Leave** or **Delete**. ### Other discussion options In addition to editing a discussion, you can manage and interact with it using several options: - **Room options**: To perform actions like muting, hiding, or leaving a discussion, see the [Room Options](https://docs.rocket.chat/docs/room-options) guide. - **Manage members**: To add, remove, ban/unban, or update discussion members, see the [Manage Room Members](https://docs.rocket.chat/docs/manage-room-members) guide. - **Assign roles**: To give members specific roles to control communication and collaboration, see the [Room Roles](https://docs.rocket.chat/docs/room-roles) guide. - **Manage rooms**: For administrators, configure additional room settings, see the [Manage Rooms](https://docs.rocket.chat/docs/manage-rooms) guide.