Persistent Pinned Chat Drawer + Pin Conversation

[houssemexo26]

Problem Statement

Users frequently return to a small set of important conversations. In the current chat list, these conversations move down the sidebar as new chats are created, forcing users to scroll or search repeatedly.

Users need a persistent, always-visible area in the sidebar where important conversations remain fixed and easily accessible. Additionally, users need a simple way to pin and unpin conversations directly from the chat interface.

Feature

Proposed Solution

Introduce a Persistent Pinned Chat Drawer on the left sidebar.

Key behavior:

Pinned Chat Drawer

• A dedicated drawer/section at the top of the left sidebar.
• The drawer remains permanently visible and does not collapse when navigating chats.
• Contains all pinned conversations.
• Positioned above the regular chronological chat list.

Pin Conversation

• Users can pin a conversation using:
  • Chat context menu → Pin Conversation
  • Chat options menu (⋯) → Pin
• Once pinned:
  • The conversation moves to the Pinned Chat Drawer.
  • A pin icon appears beside the conversation title.

Unpin Conversation

• Each pinned conversation includes an Unpin action.
• Unpinning removes it from the drawer and returns it to the normal chat list.

Ordering

• Pinned chats remain fixed and separated from regular chats.
• Optional: allow drag-and-drop reordering inside the pinned drawer.

Persistence

• Pinned state is saved per user account.
• Pinned chats remain pinned across sessions and devices.

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Expected Benefits

• Improves navigation speed for users with many conversations.
• Keeps high-priority chats permanently accessible.
• Reduces scrolling and search friction in long chat histories.
• Aligns with familiar UX patterns from messaging platforms (e.g., Slack, Discord).
• Measurable outcome: reduced time-to-open frequently used conversations.

Additional Context

• UI example:
  • Sidebar
    • Pinned Chats
      • 📌 Project Planning
      • 📌 Research Notes
    • All Chats
      • Recent chats list
• Future enhancements could include:
  • Pin limit (e.g., max 5–10 chats)
  • Keyboard shortcut for pin/unpin
  • Collapsible pinned drawer
  • Drag-and-drop pinning