# How do you notify the recipient of a chat message in Adalo?

Trigger a push notification to the intended recipient from available screen data, or create an in-app notification record related to that user.

- Canonical URL: https://adalocado.com/answers/notify-chat-message-recipient
- Verification: Documented from current sources
- Topic: Actions and Logic
- Skill level: Intermediate
- Last reviewed: 2026-08-14
- Index status: index-now

## Short answer

Add a Trigger Notification action to the chat Send button and select the intended recipient from Available Screen Data or a user filter—not the Logged-in User who is sending the message. For an in-app inbox, create a Notification record related to that recipient and filter the recipient’s list accordingly.

Use the conversation’s other participant as the notification recipient. Push notifications use Adalo’s Trigger Notification action; an in-app inbox stores recipient-related Notification records and filters them for the logged-in user.

## Intended outcome

A chat send action targets the other participant with a push notification or creates a recipient-scoped in-app alert.

## Requirements

- A chat screen with the intended recipient available as screen data
- Notification permission configured for push alerts
- A Notifications collection for an in-app inbox

## Step by step

1. **Keep the recipient in screen context**

   Make the other chat participant available to the chat screen through the conversation or message relationship before configuring the action.

2. **Add the push action**

   Add Trigger Notification to the Send button and choose the intended recipient from Available Screen Data or a user filter. Do not target the Logged-in User who triggers the action.

3. **Configure the notification**

   Set the title and body, and choose a destination screen for native builds. PWA notifications always return to the app’s Home Navigation screen.

4. **Create an in-app record**

   For an in-app inbox, create a Notifications collection with title, message, read state, and a many-to-one Recipient relationship to Users.

5. **Filter and test both states**

   Filter the notification list to the logged-in recipient, then test sender, recipient, permission-denied, and inactive-user cases.

## Why it works

- Push notifications target users selected from available data or a filter; the user who triggers the notification cannot receive that same notification.
- In-app notifications are ordinary records whose Recipient relationship controls which user’s filtered list can display them.

## Data model

| Collection | Properties | Relationships |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Notifications | Title, message, read state, created date | Belongs to one recipient User and optionally one Conversation or Message |

## Common failures

### The sender is selected as recipient

Choose the other chat participant from Available Screen Data or a user filter rather than the Logged-in User.

### No push notification arrives

Confirm the recipient is logged in, recently active, has the app installed, and granted notification permission.

### Every user sees the in-app alert

Relate the record to one Recipient and filter the list where Recipient equals Logged-in User.

## Testing checklist

- [ ] Send a message between two active test users and confirm only the other participant receives the notification.
- [ ] Deny notification permission or use an inactive recipient and confirm the app still preserves the message without claiming delivery.
- [ ] The other participant is available on the chat screen
- [ ] The push action excludes the sender
- [ ] Notification permission is configured
- [ ] In-app records have one recipient
- [ ] Recipient and negative-control accounts are tested

## Limitations

- Adalocado has not reproduced this complete chat workflow in a current builder project.
- Push delivery requires installation, login, recent activity, and notification permission; PWA target-screen behavior differs from native builds.

## Community evidence

### [Chat message notification](https://forum.adalo.com/t/chat-message-notification/66101/2)

The accepted answer proposes push and in-app notification paths for chat messages. Boundary: Its 'Current User' wording is ambiguous, so the published guidance follows current official recipient-selection rules instead.

## Sources

- [Adalo forum accepted solution](https://forum.adalo.com/t/chat-message-notification/66101/2)
- [Adalo Help: Trigger Push Notifications](https://help.adalo.com/actions/notifications/trigger-push-notifications)

Markdown version: https://adalocado.com/answers/notify-chat-message-recipient.md