Collaboration

Invite collaborators, chat in real time, use @mentions, and manage notifications.

Nitesong is built for writing songs together. Whether you are co-writing with a bandmate across town or getting feedback from a producer in another time zone, the collaboration features keep everyone connected inside the song editor — no need to jump between apps.

This guide covers how to invite people, what each role can do, and how to use chat, mentions, the activity feed, and notifications.

Inviting Collaborators

Every song starts with one owner — the person who created it. To bring someone else in:

1. Open the song in the editor.
2. Click the three-dot menu (song actions menu) in the header.
3. Select "Manage Collaborators".
4. In the dialog that opens, enter the collaborator's email address and choose a role.
5. Click Invite.

The invitee must already have a Nitesong account. If no account matches the email you entered, you will see an error.

When you send an invite, two things happen:

• A collaboration link is created, linking the user to the song with the role you chose.
• The invitee receives an inbox notification so they know they have been added. They will see it the next time they check the bell icon in the nav bar.

You can also remove collaborators or change their roles from this same dialog at any time.

Role Permissions

Each collaborator on a song has one of two roles. Every action in the app respects these role permissions.

Owner

The person who created the song. Full control over everything:

• Edit all song content (sections, elements, notation)
• Manage collaborators (invite, remove, change roles)
• Delete the song
• Edit song metadata (title, key, BPM, status, tags)

There is exactly one owner per song.

Editor

A trusted collaborator who can work on the music but cannot manage the song itself:

• Edit all song content — add and remove sections, create and modify elements, write notation (lyrics, chords, tabs, drum patterns, piano rolls)
• Edit song metadata (key, BPM, status)
• Cannot delete the song
• Cannot invite, remove, or change roles of other collaborators

Song Chat

The chat lives in the bottom half of the sidebar flyout inside the song editor. It is always visible when the sidebar is open, no matter which tool you have active. You can also open it directly by clicking the ChatDots icon in the activity bar.

How it works

• Messages are delivered in real time. Each song has its own private chat channel.
• When you send a message, every collaborator who has the song open will see it appear instantly — no need to refresh.

Message grouping

To keep the chat readable, consecutive messages from the same person within a 2-minute window are grouped together under one avatar and name. Once the gap exceeds two minutes, a new group starts. This keeps rapid-fire brainstorming compact while still making it clear when time has passed.

Scrolling and history

• The chat is bottom-anchored — new messages appear at the bottom of the list, and the view auto-scrolls down when a new message arrives.
• Older messages are loaded on demand with pagination. Scroll up to load earlier history.
• While the initial batch of messages loads, you will see a loading indicator so the layout does not jump around.

Tips for chat

• Use chat to discuss arrangement ideas, leave feedback on a section, or coordinate who is working on what.
• Combine chat with @mentions (covered next) to reference specific parts of the song without having to describe them.

@Mentions

While typing in the chat, press @ to open a suggestion popover. This lets you mention three kinds of things:

Users

Mention a collaborator by their display name. Start typing after @ to filter the list. When you select a user:

• Their name appears as a highlighted mention in the message.
• They receive an inbox notification with a preview of your message, so they will see it even if they are not currently looking at the song.

Sections

Mention a song section (for example, @Verse 1 or @Chorus). This is handy when you want to point someone to a specific part of the arrangement — "I think @Bridge needs a key change" is more useful than "the bridge needs a key change" because the mention links directly to context.

Elements

Mention a specific element within a section. Elements are shown in the popover with their section context, like "Verse 1 > Chord Prog" or "Chorus > Lyrics". This gives you pinpoint precision when discussing a particular chord progression, lyric block, or drum pattern.

The suggestion list gathers all collaborators, sections, and elements for the current song into one list for the popover.

Activity Feed

The activity feed is a timeline of everything that has happened in a song. It appears in the top section of the sidebar flyout when you open the Collaboration pane (the ChatDots icon in the activity bar).

What gets logged

The feed tracks structural changes to the song:

• Song created or edited
• Sections added
• Elements created
• Notation added — drum patterns, piano rolls, tab lines, lyric blocks

Each entry shows who did something, what they did, and when. For example: "Alex added a drum pattern to Verse 2 — 3 hours ago".

Activity logging happens automatically in the background and never slows down or interrupts your actual work.

Why it matters

The activity feed gives you a sense of momentum. When you open a song after a few days away, you can quickly scan the feed to see what your collaborators have been working on without having to diff every section yourself.

Inbox & Notifications

The inbox is your central hub for staying on top of what is happening across all your songs.

The bell icon

In the nav bar at the top of every page, you will see a bell icon. When you have unread notifications, a count badge appears on the icon showing how many are waiting.

• The unread count appears instantly when the page loads and updates automatically while you work.

Opening the inbox

Click the bell to open a popover with your notification list. Each notification shows:

• Who triggered it (the actor)
• What happened (mention, invite)
• A preview of the message or context (up to 200 characters)
• When it happened

Notification types

There are three types of notifications:

Interacting with notifications

• Click a notification to navigate directly to the relevant context (the song, the chat message, etc.). The notification is automatically marked as read when you click it.
• "Mark all read" — a bulk action at the top of the popover that clears all unread badges at once. Useful after catching up on a busy day.

Putting It All Together

Here is a typical collaboration workflow:

1. Create a song and rough out the structure — add some sections, drop in a chord progression.
2. Invite your collaborator from the song actions menu. They get a notification and can jump right in.
3. Work in parallel. One person writes lyrics in Verse 1 while the other programs a drum pattern in the Chorus. The activity feed keeps both of you informed.
4. Chat as you go. Drop a message like "Check out @Chorus > Drum Pattern, I added a fill before the last beat" so your collaborator knows exactly where to look.
5. Stay in the loop. Even when you are not in the song, inbox notifications surface @mentions and invites so nothing slips through the cracks.

Collaboration in Nitesong is designed to feel natural — like passing a notebook back and forth, except both of you can write at the same time.