Real-time Chat and Chatbots

Once considered a relic of a bygone era, real-time chat systems are now a huge part of the workflow of most distributed teams. Like texting, chat allows developers to send each other messages in real time and is the place where most routine team communication takes place. (It can be the place where the team culture is formed and maintained.)

In addition to human participants, team chats can include a chatbot, which is a program that performs useful functions by monitoring the chatroom for special commands. The chatbot, which appears like anyone else in the room, can do routine tasks such as kicking off a build, locking the production server, reporting errors from the monitoring tools, or providing manpages. And, programmers being programmers, the chatbot can also do things that reflect the culture of the team, like showing pictures of a pug, displaying a squirrel whenever you type “ship it,” or providing responses in a Magic 8 Ball form when you ask it questions. The chatbot usually reflects the culture of the team that’s using it and can often become an informal mascot for the group.