Friends and direct messages
Friends and direct messages (DMs) live on Home. Monky has no central server: each person keeps their own copy of the conversations, and the servers you both are on only carry the messages.
Add a friend
- Join a server the other person is also on.
- Right-click their name (member list, chat or voice channel).
- Choose Add friend.
The request shows up under Friends → Pending for both of you. The recipient sees Accept and Decline; the sender can Cancel until the request is accepted. Declining is silent: the request only disappears for the person who declined.
If the other person is offline, the request stays on your computer and is delivered when you meet on a common server.
Friends page tabs
| Tab | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Available | Friends online on some server you are also connected to |
| All | Your whole friend list |
| Pending | Sent and received requests |
| Blocked | Blocked people (shown when there is any) |
Click a friend to open the conversation. The ⋮ button and right-click offer Send message, Remove friend and Block.
Chat
The conversation opens in the middle of Home, and the Direct messages list on the left shows the last message, the unread counter and whether the person is online. A conversation's X only removes it from the list; it comes back when a new message arrives.
DMs support formatting, emojis, replies, editing, deleting, reactions and attachments. The message box is the same as in text channels, with the Formatting options bar, a right-click menu with Cut, Copy, Paste, Paste as plain text and Select all, and the character counter. A DM takes up to 4,000 characters; pasting longer text shows that limit instead of doing nothing. Right-clicking a message offers Emoji, Reply and Copy message (with formatting, as Markdown or as plain text) and, on your own messages, Edit message and Delete message. See Chat for the details; polls and stickers remain server-only.
Whatever you started writing in a conversation stays with it, as in channels: the text, the files you picked, the message you are replying to and an edit you have not saved yet. Opening another conversation or a server and coming back does not wipe anything; the draft only goes away when you send the message or close Monky. Clicking a reply's preview jumps to the original message and highlights it.
Monky shows when the other person is typing. Consecutive messages from the same person on the same day are grouped under a single name and picture; hover one to see its time. A message that has not been delivered yet appears semi-transparent and turns solid once it reaches your friend. Server channels work the same way: a message is semi-transparent while it is being sent.
Delivery when you meet
A message is only transmitted while you are both online on at least one common server. Until then it stays on your computer, semi-transparent, and is sent automatically later. Appear offline still receives DMs without revealing your presence.
New messages play a sound, show a notice and add to a counter on the rail's Home button, together with received friend requests.
Privacy
- Messages and files are end-to-end encrypted: only you and your friend can read them.
- The server only relays the encrypted data and stores nothing. It also does not tell third parties who you talk to.
- History is saved, encrypted, only on your two computers.
- A server owner can turn off DM relaying in Server Settings.
Files
Files and images travel directly between you, through the common server, while you are both online. Each person picks the largest size they accept in Settings → My Profile → Direct messages (50 MB by default). If a file is over your friend's limit, Monky warns you before sending.
Remove friend and block
- Remove friend ends the friendship for both of you. The history stays on your computer, read-only.
- Block also removes the friendship and stops new requests and messages from that person. They are not notified. Unblock under Friends → Blocked.
Other devices and backup
When exporting the identity under Settings → My Profile → Identity, choose whether the export brings your Friends and, optionally, the Conversation history. History can make the code too large for the QR code; in that case, save the file.
When the same identity is on more than one computer, Monky syncs between them the friend list, the conversation history (including edits, deletions, reactions and what has been read), plus your nickname and picture. The most recent nickname and picture apply on every computer and are also what your friends see in DMs. The picture travels as a reduced copy.
Both computers need to meet
Like messages, syncing goes through servers and is not stored on them. It happens while both computers are open at the same time, connected to at least one common server. Whatever one of them did while the other was off reaches the other the next time both are online together.