inline-chat/inline

Inline – A Thread‑First Chat App for Teams and AI Agents

What it is

• Inline is a chat platform built around threads rather than flat message streams. It aims to replace tools like Slack, Discord, or Telegram for collaborative work.
• The product is positioned as a “multiplayer work” space where humans and AI agents (e.g., Claude, Codex, OpenAI models) can converse side‑by‑side.

Key concepts

Feature	What it does
Threads	Each discussion lives in a numbered, optionally‑titled thread. Threads can be shared via links or by inviting users, making them easy reference points for ideas, bug reports, specs, etc.
Sidebar	Shows the set of threads and direct‑message chats you currently care about. Items that need attention (mentions) appear at the bottom, and you can close/reopen chats like desktop windows.
Spaces	Tab‑like containers that group related communities (teams, friend groups, etc.) so you don’t have to see every community at once.
Home	A personal area for direct messages and ad‑hoc threads when you’re not part of a specific team.
Communities	First‑class groups; the initial focus is on team chat, with a default “Town Hall” community for early users.

AI / Agent integration

• The README lists several ways to bring LLMs into Inline:
  • Agents: Connect OpenClaw, Hermes, or any LLM (Claude, Codex, etc.) as a participant in a thread.
  • ChatGPT plugin: A ready‑made plugin lets ChatGPT post to Inline.
  • MCP & Plugins: “MCP” (presumably a messaging‑control‑protocol) and other plugins let external LLM services read/write messages, using threads for context.
• This makes Inline a potential UI for “agent‑augmented” collaboration, where a model can answer questions, draft code, or summarize discussions directly in the chat.

Developer tooling

• CLI – Installable via the docs, lets you create workflows and interact with Inline programmatically.
• SDKs – Open‑source SDKs (Apache‑2.0) for building bots, integrations, or embedding Inline into other products.
• API docs – Public documentation for developers to hook their services.

Platform status

Platform	Availability
macOS	Beta
iOS	Beta
Web	Planned
Android / Windows / Linux	Not started

Licensing

• Core application: AGPL‑3.0‑only (ensures any modifications remain open source).
• SDKs, CLI, plugins: Apache‑2.0 (permissive, allowing commercial use).

Who might find it useful?

• Small‑to‑medium teams that want a thread‑centric chat UI and want to embed AI assistants directly in their conversations.
• Developers building custom bots or integrations that need a chat surface with low‑latency, high‑frequency updates (the project mentions a goal of 120 fps and low CPU/RAM usage).
• Early adopters interested in experimenting with LLM‑powered collaboration without leaving their chat environment.

Bottom line Inline is a genuine software project focused on a next‑generation chat experience that treats threads as first‑class objects and provides built‑in hooks for AI agents. It is open‑source (AGPL/Apache) and offers a CLI and SDKs for developers to extend the platform.

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All information above is taken directly from the repository’s README.