Sysop Chat

ENiGMA½ provides a two-way split-screen chat system between the sysop and any connected user. It is composed of two modules that work together:

• page_sysop — user-facing page flow
• sysop_chat — split-screen chat screen used by both parties

The sysop can also break into chat with any node directly from the WFC without waiting for a page.

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User Flow (Paging the Sysop)

The pageSysop menu entry drives the user side:

1. Rate limited? — The user sees rate-limit art (PAGESYPLM) or fallback text and returns to the previous menu.
2. Sysop available?
   • No — The user sees the “not available” art (PAGESYPNA) with a Y/N prompt offering to send their message as private mail addressed to the sysop instead.
   • Yes — The user sees the main page art (PAGESYSP) with an optional text input for a reason/message, then submits.
3. On a successful page: a session is created, all online sysops are alerted (per pageAlert config), and the user sees the confirmation art (PAGESYSPOK).

Sysops at the WFC are not sent an interrupt — they see the page reflected immediately in the node list (pageIndicator) and in the pending page tokens. Sysops not at the WFC receive an interrupt notification with the user’s name, node, and message.

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Sysop Flow (WFC)

With a node selected in VM1, press B to break into chat:

• If that node has a pending page, the existing session is accepted.
• If there is no pending page, a new sysop-initiated session is created.

Both parties enter the sysopChat menu directly — no pre-chat confirmation is shown to the user.

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Chat Screen (sysopChat module)

Both parties use the same sysopChat menu entry. The role (sysop or user) is passed via extraArgs.role.

Art file: SYSOPCHAT

MCI	Role	Description
%MT1	Both	Sysop’s scrollback panel (top)
%ET2	Sysop	Sysop’s input line
%MT3	Both	User’s scrollback panel (bottom)
%ET4	User	User’s input line
%TL10+	Both	Custom status tokens (see chatInfoFormat10 etc.)

Messages from either party appear in the sender’s panel on both screens.

ESC ends the chat. The party that exits notifies the partner, who sees a brief “chat ended” message then exits automatically after a short delay.

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Art Files

Spec	Module	Description	Key MCI
PAGESYSP	page_sysop	Main page form — user types optional reason	%ET1 (message), %TL10+
PAGESYSPOK	page_sysop	“Your page has been sent” confirmation	none required
PAGESYPNA	page_sysop	Sysop not available — combined with “send as mail?” Y/N	%TM1 (Y/N confirm)
PAGESYPLM	page_sysop	Rate limit art (optional — fallback text used if missing)	none required
SYSOPCHAT	sysop_chat	Split-screen chat layout — drives panel geometry	%MT1, %ET2, %MT3, %ET4, %TL10+

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System Config (sysopChat block in config.hjson)

Key	Default	Description
pageCooldownMinutes	5	Minimum minutes a user must wait between pages.
pageAlert	bel	Alert mode on page arrival: bel (sends \x07 to sysop terminals), none (silent), or command (runs pageAlertCommand).
pageAlertCommand	''	Shell command run when pageAlert is command. Tokens: {userName}, {nodeId}, {message}. Example: 'notify-send "Page from {userName}" "{message}"'

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pageSysop Menu Config Keys

Key	Default	Description
notifyFormat	pipe-colored text	Interrupt text sent to non-WFC sysops. Tokens: {userName}, {nodeId}, {message}, {sessionId}
pageSentArt	PAGESYSPOK	Art shown after a successful page
notAvailableArt	PAGESYPNA	Art shown when sysop unavailable (must contain %TM1)
rateLimitArt	PAGESYPLM	Art shown when rate-limited (optional; fallback text used if missing)
rateLimitText	pipe-colored string	Fallback text if rateLimitArt is missing
mailSubject	Page from {userName}	Subject for the “send as mail” path. Token: {userName}
sysopUserName	Sysop	Display name used as the mail recipient
mailMenuName	privateMailMenuCreateMessage	Menu navigated to for the mail compose path

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sysopChat Menu Config Keys

Key	Default	Description
chatEndedText	|08[ Chat session ended ]|07	Message shown in the sysop panel when the partner ends the chat
messageFormat	|15{userName}|07: {message}	Format for each sent message line. Tokens: {userName}, {message}
chatInfoFormat10+	—	Custom-range status token format (standard ENiGMA pattern). Tokens: {partnerName}, {duration}, {userName}, {userNode}

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Theming

prefixFormat (per-view in theme.hjson)

Set prefixFormat on ET2 or ET4 in the sysopChat MCI theme block to display a role-specific label before the input line. Pipe codes are supported and render live as the user types.

sysopChat: {
    0: {
        ET2: {
            prefixFormat: "|11{userName} |14> "
        }
        ET4: {
            prefixFormat: "|11{userName} |14> "
        }
    }
}

Token available: {userName}.

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See Also

• Pre-Auth Feedback — allow unauthenticated visitors to send mail to the sysop directly from the login matrix.