---
url: https://talkjs.com/docs/Concepts/Participants
---

# Participants

Ask a question Copy for LLM [View as Markdown](/docs/Concepts/Participants.md)
A participant is a [User](/docs/Concepts/Users/) that is a member of a [Conversation](/docs/Concepts/Conversations/).

Participants can get [notifications](/docs/Features/Notifications/) of activity in a conversation and are listed in the conversation's member list.

All the conversations that a user is a participant of are shown in the conversation list of the [Inbox](/docs/Features/Chat_UIs/#inbox/), ordered by last activity.

To add or update a conversation's participants with JavaScript, use [`ParticipantRef.set`](/docs/JavaScript_Data_API/Participants/#ParticipantRef__set).
To remove a participant, use [`ParticipantRef.delete`](/docs/JavaScript_Data_API/Participants/#ParticipantRef__delete).
Managing participants is also possible [using the REST API](/docs/REST_API/Participation/).

### Participant Settings

You can control participant behaviour using the following fields:

#### access

Specifies the participant's access permission for a conversation.

| Option | Result |
| --- | --- |
| `"Read"` | The participant is allowed to read messages in the converstion
The participant is **not** allowed to post new messages
The participant is listed in the header |
| `"ReadWrite"` | The participant is allowed to read messages
The participant is allowed to post new messages
The participant is listed in the header |
| `"None"` | The participant is **not** allowed to read messages
The participant is **not** allowed to post new messages
The participant is **not** listed in the header |

Access rights are described in more detail in the section on group chat [access rights](/docs/Features/Conversations/Group_Chat/#access-permissions).

#### notify

If the participant meets the [condition](/docs/Features/Notifications/#when-are-notifications-sent) to get a notification, the `notify` setting will be used to determine if notifications will be send.
When [mentions](/docs/Features/Messages/Mentions/) are used, you can set it up, so that users will only receive a notification once they are mentioned.

| Option | Result |
| --- | --- |
| `true` | The participant will receive notifications |
| `false` | The participant will **not** receive notifications |
| `"MentionsOnly"` | The participant will only receive notifications once they are [mentioned](/docs/Features/Messages/Mentions/) in the conversation |