---
title: "Use order chat"
description: "Recognize an order conversation, its visible participants, and send a message to the customer, the business, or an admin."
canonical: https://docs.ordering.co/docs/products/driver-app/communication/order-chat/
---

# Use order chat

Order chat brings messages and order events into a conversation associated with one order. The conversation is a group chat with the customer, the business, the driver, and an administrator. From Driver App, the driver can send a message to the customer, to the business, or to an administrator. There is no chat between drivers.

:::warning Opening chat is not a passive receipt

Opening an order conversation can start a request to record messages as read. Leaving the conversation can start that request again. A visible thread, changed unread count, or returned screen does not prove that a read receipt was authorized, accepted, or visible to another participant.

:::

## Availability

Signed-in drivers can reach an order conversation from a supported order or from the **Messages** area when the current order is available to the Driver account. The header identifies the current business or customer context and shows a masked order number.

Use chat only for an order you are authorized to handle. A listed order, header, avatar, or loaded conversation is not independent proof of assignment, participant identity, or message authorization.

## Open this capability

From an available order or conversation entry, open the order chat once and wait for the loading state to settle. Review the header before reading the thread:

| Header item                           | Safe interpretation                                                                        |
| ------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| Business or customer name             | The current UI associated that participant data with the loaded order context              |
| **Business** or **Customer** subtitle | The conversation view selected that participant mode                                       |
| Masked **Order No.**                  | The page is rendering the corresponding order context without exposing the full identifier |
| Back arrow                            | Returns to the previous Driver App screen; it is not a read-confirmation control           |

The thread can contain participant messages, order-event entries, timestamps, sender names and roles, and recipient avatars. A message bubble is presentation of returned/local state, not proof that every intended participant received or read it.

## Send a message

From an open order conversation, write a message in the composer and send it. The driver can message the customer, the business, or an administrator; the header shown above already identifies whether the loaded conversation is in **Business** or **Customer** mode.

## States and variations

| Visible state                          | What it means                                                                                 | Important boundary                                                   |
| -------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Loading skeleton or activity indicator | Order or message data is unresolved                                                           | Do not conclude that the conversation is empty                       |
| Order placed entry                     | The UI generated an initial order-context entry                                               | It is not a participant message or order-status receipt              |
| Left or right message bubble           | The UI grouped a returned message relative to the current user                                | Side, color, or avatar does not prove delivery or read state         |
| Sender name and role                   | Returned author data is presented for that bubble                                             | It does not independently verify the person's identity               |
| **Sent to** avatars                    | The message carries a returned audience list used for display                                 | Visibility is not authorization or delivery proof                    |
| Order-event entry                      | Returned change data was formatted as an order event                                          | It does not prove the underlying order change is current or complete |
| Past-order message                     | History can remain visible after the order reaches an ended status                            | The composer can be unavailable while history remains viewable       |
| Removed-driver alert                   | The loaded order no longer has a Driver in the current App state                              | Follow the alert and leave; do not use chat to test assignment state |
| Empty-looking thread                   | No message bubble passed the current loading, order, audience, type, or configuration filters | It does not prove that no message records exist                      |
| New bubble while open                  | Local socket handling appended a message not already present                                  | Arrival in this screen is not durable delivery or read proof         |

Order-log entries can be hidden for a Driver when the current project disables the logbook display. Returned message audience values are also filtered before the UI presents a bubble. These are display decisions, not security guarantees.

## Viewing boundaries

- Do not use a real conversation to test whether unread counts or receipts change. Opening and leaving can initiate read-related effects.
- To write and send a message, use the **Send a message** section above.
- Do not open attachment, signature, document, call, text-message, or copy actions as part of this guide. Those controls have separate device, privacy, contact, and media ownership.
- Do not infer participant access from avatars, bubble position, audience labels, or a lack of errors.

## Troubleshooting

### The conversation stays in a loading state

Wait for the current read to settle. Check connectivity without reopening the conversation repeatedly. If the state does not change, return once and contact the operator that supports your Driver account; do not send a test message.

### The thread looks empty

Confirm the masked order number and participant mode in the header. Loading, order status, project configuration, message type, and audience filtering can all affect what is shown. An empty screen is not evidence that no conversation exists.

### An expected message is missing

Do not send another message to test delivery. Confirm that you opened the correct authorized order, then ask the project operator to review the order conversation. Driver App does not provide a completion receipt from bubble visibility alone.

### Chat says the order has ended

The conversation can remain available for viewing while message composition is disabled for ended order states. Use the order's current status and support process; do not attempt to bypass the disabled composer.

### Driver App says you were removed from the order

Accept the alert and leave the conversation. Assignment ownership belongs to the current order workflow and operator. Do not use chat visibility as evidence that you are still assigned.

**Related guides:** [Driver App overview](https://docs.ordering.co/docs/products/driver-app/) · [Understand startup and loading](https://docs.ordering.co/docs/products/driver-app/get-started/startup/) · [Accept a delivery request](https://docs.ordering.co/docs/products/driver-app/orders/accept-a-delivery/)