Mentions

Mentions let you tag team members in comments and descriptions to draw their attention and send them a notification.

How to Mention Someone

Type @ in a comment or item description. A dropdown appears showing matching team members as you type:

1. Type @ followed by the person's name (e.g., @Jane).
2. The dropdown filters in real time as you type additional characters.
3. Select the person from the dropdown by clicking their name or pressing Enter.
4. Their name appears as a highlighted link in the text.

If no matches are found for your text, the dropdown shows an empty state. Only members of your current organization appear in the suggestions.

Where Mentions Work

You can mention people in:

• Item comments — the most common use case. Tag someone to ask a question or request a review.
• Item descriptions — tag responsible people in the description field, which uses the same Tiptap rich text editor as comments.
• Board descriptions — mention stakeholders in board-level documentation.

Use mentions to assign ownership

Even when you cannot formally assign someone to an item, you can @mention them in the description to create a soft ownership signal. They will receive a notification and the item appears in their notification center.

What Happens When You Are Mentioned

When someone mentions you:

1. You receive an in-app notification in the notification center (bell icon in the sidebar).
2. You receive an email notification (if enabled in your notification preferences).
3. The item is added to your My Work view under the "Mentioned" section.
4. The mention appears as a clickable link — clicking it navigates the mentioned person to the specific comment or description.

Notification Delivery

Mention notifications are created server-side when the comment or description is saved. The notification includes:

• The name of the person who mentioned you.
• A link to the specific item.
• A preview of the comment or description text.

If webhooks or external integrations (Slack, Microsoft Teams) are configured, mention events are also dispatched to those services.

Mentioning Groups

In addition to individual people, you can mention:

• @channel — notifies all members of the current workspace.
• @board-members — notifies all members who have access to the current board.

Group mentions should be used sparingly to avoid notification fatigue.

Group mention impact

A @channel mention in a workspace with 50 members generates 50 individual notifications. Consider whether a targeted @mention to specific people would be more appropriate.

Mention Rendering

Mentions are stored as structured data within the Tiptap JSON content. When rendered:

• The mentioned person's name appears as a colored, highlighted inline element.
• Clicking the mention navigates to the person's profile or shows their contact card.
• In plain-text contexts (email notifications, exports), mentions are rendered as @FirstName LastName.

Notification Preferences

You can control how mention notifications are delivered in your profile settings:

• In-app only — receive mentions only in the notification center.
• In-app and email — receive both in-app and email notifications.
• Off — disable mention notifications entirely (not recommended).

See Notifications for the full notification settings.

Troubleshooting

Problem	Solution
Mention dropdown does not appear	Ensure you typed @ followed by at least one character. The dropdown only shows for members of your current organization.
Person not found in suggestions	They may not be a member of your organization. Ask your admin to invite them first.
No notification received after being mentioned	Check your notification preferences in Settings > Notifications. Mentions may be set to "Off".
Mention link does not navigate	The mentioned item may have been deleted or archived. Check the item's status.

Mentions in Exported Content

When items are exported (CSV, PDF reports), mentions are rendered as plain text in the format @FirstName LastName. The interactive link behavior is only available within the ProBeya web interface.

Mention Accessibility

Mentions are fully keyboard-accessible:

1. Type @ to trigger the dropdown.
2. Use arrow keys to navigate through the list of suggested people.
3. Press Enter to select and insert the mention.
4. Press Escape to dismiss the dropdown without selecting anyone.

Screen readers announce the mention dropdown as a combobox with the list of matching names.

How Mentions Are Stored

Mentions are stored as structured nodes within the Tiptap JSON content of comments and descriptions. Each mention node contains the mentioned user's ID and display name. When the content is rendered, the mention node is converted to a highlighted interactive element. This structured approach means mentions survive content edits and formatting changes without breaking.

Mentions and Integrations

When a mention is created, the notification system dispatches events to connected external services:

• Slack — a message is posted to the configured channel with the mention context.
• Microsoft Teams — a notification card is sent to the relevant team.
• Webhooks — a comment.created event fires, and the payload includes the list of mentioned user IDs.

Best Practices

• Be specific — mention the exact person who needs to take action rather than using group mentions.
• Provide context — include enough information in your comment so the mentioned person can act without needing to ask follow-up questions.
• Avoid mention chains — if a conversation involves many people, consider creating a dedicated item or using a group mention instead of individually tagging everyone.
• Check your preferences — make sure your notification settings are configured to receive mention alerts through your preferred channel.
• Use mentions sparingly in descriptions — descriptions are static and the mentioned person will only be notified once, not on future edits.

Next Steps

• Comments — add rich text comments with formatting and file attachments.
• Notifications — configure all notification types and delivery channels.
• Activity Feed — track all changes including mentions.