With the release of Nextcloud Hub 8, Nextcloud Talk enables federated chats, extending the range of cross-instance features available in Nextcloud Hub. In this article, learn how to connect users across different Nextcloud instances to organize collaboration between distant teams.
Nextcloud Talk is a chat and videoconferencing platform that enhances the flexibility of your daily work. With app integrations available through Smart Picker, supported interactive widgets from multiple Nextcloud Hub apps, AI-powered features, and more, Nextcloud Talk enables rich communication while prioritizing your privacy. Federated chatting adds even more flexibility, providing an additional bridge between Nextcloud instances for faster and safer communication.
What is federated chat
The federated chat feature is ased on the Open Cloud Mesh (OCM) open standard developed at CERN with the help of Nextcloud and other open source projects. Similar to federated sharing, it uses federated user IDs to enable cross-instance data exchange. To understand how federation works in Nextcloud, you can watch our recent webinar.
The federated chat feature lets you create group chats between the users from federated Nextcloud Talk instances to enable written chat communication among the teams. Although video calls are not supported at the moment, plenty of features are available in federated chats, including user mentions, markdown commands to format message texts, chat polls, and more.
Federated chats can bring customers, partners or colleagues from their instance to your own for easier communication, ensuring that you maintain maximum privacy and keep the data within your perimeter. It is ideal for temporary projects and shared tasks, complimenting other federated features in Nextcloud like file sharing and federated user groups created via Nextcloud Teams.
Note:
Federated chats have several limitations. For instance, you cannot appoint federated users as moderators, send attachments, or make video calls.
How to create a federated chat
To create a group chat with federated users, you need to obtain their Federated Cloud IDs. The Federated Cloud ID consists of a user name and an instance address and looks like person@cloud.example.com. You can retrieve it in Settings > Sharing > Federated Cloud.
To add a federated user to a chat, simply put their Federated Cloud ID in the search field of the Participants tab of your chat. Click add, and user will receive an invitation to the chat via notification.
Other updates in Nextcloud Talk
Other updates in Nextcloud Talk released with Nextcloud Hub 8 include:
Message editing
Draggable speaker video
Improved call UI
Flavored markdown support
Unified Search in individual Talk room
Accepting individual users when the lobby is enabled
Caching unsent messages in the browser
Improved highlight for “Stop screenshare”
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