Mantle Chat Monthly Update: January 2026

January 2026 has been all about communication and connectivity. We shipped @mention notifications, introduced MCP server integrations so AI can talk to your tools, launched AI Agents (formerly AI Assistants), expanded the free tier to 10 AI models, and delivered a brand new rich text editor.

Let's dive into everything that's new!

@Mention Notifications: Never Miss a Message

One of the most important features of the month is here — a complete notification system for @mentions in channels. When someone mentions you, you'll know about it instantly.

How It Works

• 🔔 Bell icon in header: Shows your unread notification count
• 📨 Notification panel: Click to see all your @mentions in one place
• 🎯 Click to navigate: Click any notification to jump directly to that message

Smart Features

What makes our notification system special:

• ♾️ Infinite scroll: Smoothly load more notifications as you scroll
• ⌨️ Keyboard shortcut: Press Cmd+Shift+M (or Ctrl+Shift+M on Windows) to toggle the panel
• 🌐 Cross-workspace: Receive notifications from all your workspaces in one unified view

Real-Time Updates

The notification system updates without page refresh:

• 📡 Instant delivery: New mentions appear immediately
• 🧹 Smart cleanup: When someone deletes a channel or message, related notifications are automatically removed
• 📖 Auto mark as read: Scroll past a message and its notification is marked as read

Clean Notification Text

Notifications strip markdown formatting so you see clean, readable snippets — no more **bold** or _italic_ syntax cluttering your notifications.

MCP Server Integrations: AI Meets Your Tools

We've added support for MCP (Model Context Protocol) servers, allowing AI models in Mantle Chat to directly interact with external tools and services. This is a game-changer for productivity — your AI can now read, search, and take actions in the tools you already use.

Four Integrations at Launch

• 📋 Linear: Search issues, read project details, create and update tickets — all through natural conversation
• 📝 Notion: Query your Notion workspace, search pages, and access your team's knowledge base
• 🐙 GitHub: Browse repositories, read code, search issues and PRs, understand your codebase
• 💳 Stripe: Look up customers, subscriptions, invoices, and payment data

How It Works

1. Connect your account: Authenticate with each service in Settings → Integrations
2. Chat naturally: Ask questions like "What are my open Linear issues?" or "Show me recent Stripe payments"
3. AI does the rest: The AI model calls the appropriate MCP server and returns the information

Why This Matters

What you can do now:

• 🔍 Research without switching tabs: Ask AI about your GitHub PRs while staying in Mantle Chat
• 📊 Cross-reference data: "Compare the Stripe subscription data with what's in our Notion docs"
• ⚡ Faster workflows: Let AI gather context from multiple tools before giving you an answer
• 🤝 Team collaboration: Share AI-assisted insights that pull from your connected tools

MCP servers work with all AI models in Mantle Chat, giving you flexibility in how you interact with your tools.

Direct Integrations: Real-Time Updates in Channels

Beyond MCP servers, we've also added direct integrations that push updates directly into your channels — no AI interaction required.

Linear Integration

Connect your Linear workspace to receive issue updates right in Mantle Chat:

• 🎫 Issue created: See new issues as they're filed
• ✅ Status changes: Track when issues move through your workflow
• 💬 Comments: Stay updated on discussions without leaving Mantle Chat
• 🏷️ Assignments: Know when work is assigned to team members

Stripe Integration

Connect your Stripe account to monitor business-critical events:

• 💰 Payment received: Instant notification when customers pay
• 📈 New subscriptions: Know when someone subscribes
• ⚠️ Payment failures: React quickly to failed charges
• 🔄 Subscription changes: Track upgrades, downgrades, and cancellations

Setting Up Direct Integrations

1. Go to Settings → Integrations
2. Click Connect next to Linear or Stripe
3. Authorize the connection via OAuth
4. Choose which channel should receive updates
5. Configure which event types you want to see

These integrations turn your channels into a real-time command center for your business operations.

AI Agents: Assistants Evolved

What we previously called "AI Assistants" have graduated to AI Agents — and they're now generally available to everyone!

Why "Agents"?

With MCP server integrations, your custom AI configurations can now do much more than answer questions. They can:

• 🔧 Use tools: Connect MCP servers to give your agent access to Linear, GitHub, Notion, Stripe
• 🧠 Take actions: Agents can search, read, and interact with external services
• 🎯 Specialize: Create agents tailored to specific workflows with their own tools and knowledge

What's New

• 🚪 Open to all: No more beta signup required — just click "Get started" and create your first agent
• 🔌 MCP integration: Add MCP servers to agents for powerful tool-calling capabilities
• 📚 Knowledge base: Upload files that agents can reference during conversations
• 💬 Channel mentions: Use @AgentName to bring agents into channel conversations

Example Use Cases

• DevOps Agent: Connected to GitHub + Linear, helps track issues and review PRs
• Finance Agent: Connected to Stripe + Notion, answers questions about revenue and documentation
• Research Agent: Connected to Notion + GitHub, cross-references docs with code

Create custom AI tools with their own instructions, knowledge bases, and connected services. Learn more →

Rebuilt Emoji Picker

We've completely rebuilt the emoji picker from scratch — it's now nice, shiny, and faster!

Where You'll Use It

• 🎨 Folder icons: Give your folders personality with custom emoji icons
• 🏢 Workspace icons: Brand your workspaces with distinctive emojis
• 🤖 Agent icons: Make your AI Agents instantly recognizable
• 💬 Message reactions: Let everyone know how you feel with emoji reactions

What's New

• ✨ Beautiful design: Clean, modern UI that feels native to Mantle Chat
• ⚡ Faster loading: Custom-built component with snappy performance
• 🔍 Quick search: Find any emoji by name instantly
• 🎯 Consistent everywhere: Same picker across the entire app

Expanded Free Tier: 10 AI Models

We've dramatically expanded the model lineup for free users. Free tier users now have access to 10 AI models across four providers!

Free Tier Models

OpenAI:

• GPT-4.1 Mini
• GPT-4.1 Nano
• GPT-4o Mini
• GPT-5 Mini
• GPT-5 Nano

Google:

• Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite
• Gemini 2.5 Flash
• Gemini 3 Flash

xAI:

• Grok 4 Fast
• Grok 4.1 Fast

Why This Matters

• 🆓 More choice: Pick the right model for your task without upgrading
• ⚡ Fast models included: Grok 4.1 Fast offers 2M context window for free
• 🧮 Reasoning available: GPT-5 Mini and Nano include built-in reasoning capabilities
• 💪 No limitations: Same quality responses as Pro users on these models

Model Preferences Sync

New this month: Your model list is now saved to your user preferences. This means:

• 🔄 Cross-device sync: Your preferred models list stays consistent across all devices
• 🌐 Cross-browser: Switch browsers and your settings follow you
• ⭐ Custom ordering: Arrange models in your preferred order and it persists everywhere

New Rich Text Editor

We've completely redesigned the rich text editor. The old input has been replaced with a powerful Tiptap-based editor that makes composing messages feel natural and expressive.

Formatting at Your Fingertips

• 📝 Bubble menu: Select text to reveal formatting options — bold, italic, code, links, and more
• 🎯 Keyboard shortcuts: Use familiar shortcuts like Cmd+B for bold and Cmd+I for italic
• 📋 Smart paste: Paste markdown and it converts automatically to rich text

Rich Content Support

What you can now include in your messages:

• 📊 Tables: Paste tables from spreadsheets or markdown and they render beautifully
• ➖ Horizontal rules: Add visual separators with ---
• 💻 Code blocks: Syntax-highlighted code with language detection
• 😊 Emoji dropdown: Type : to quickly find and insert emojis

Improved Mentions

We've also revamped how mentions work:

• 🎨 Visual mention pills: Mentions appear as styled badges in both the editor and messages
• ⌨️ Better keyboard navigation: Full arrow key and Enter/Tab support
• 🔄 Consistent rendering: Mentions look the same in drafts, sent messages, and edited messages

The new editor preserves your draft formatting even when you navigate away and come back — your work is always safe.

Stability & Infrastructure

January was also a month of significant behind-the-scenes improvements that make Mantle Chat more reliable and performant.

Server-Side Rendering Fixes

We resolved several SSR and hydration issues:

• 🔄 Fixed hydration mismatches: Eliminated console warnings and UI flicker
• 📦 Dynamic chunk loading: Resolved errors when lazily loading components
• 🚦 Graceful shutdown: Better handling of competing shutdown events

Redis & Database Improvements

• 🔌 Reconnection settings: Redis now properly reconnects after temporary disconnections
• ✅ Workspace validation: Added validators for workspace ID parameters
• 📊 Thread group queries: Optimized how we fetch and display thread groups

UX Improvements

• 📁 Folder assignments: Fixed issues with thread folder organization
• 💬 Chat starting flow: Improved reliability when starting new conversations
• 🔐 Workspace migration: Better encryption handling when moving content between workspaces

Developer Experience

For our internal development workflow, we've added comprehensive Claude Code agent skills:

• 🅰️ Angular skills: Component, routing, signals, forms, testing, and more
• 🪺 NestJS best practices: Backend development patterns
• 💳 Stripe integration: Payment implementation guidance
• ☁️ Cloudflare & Redis: Cloud service integration support

These skills help us ship features faster while maintaining code quality.

Thank You!

January was a transformative month, and we couldn't have done it without you. Every notification you receive, every message you format, every agent you create — that's why we build.

Special thanks to:

• Everyone who tested the new rich text editor and provided feedback
• Users who reported notification edge cases
• Early adopters of our MCP and direct integrations
• The community across all platforms for your ongoing support

Connect With Us

Have questions or feedback? We'd love to hear from you:

• 🔗 LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/mantlechat
• 🌟 Peerlist: peerlist.io/katja/project/mantle-chat
• 🚀 Product Hunt: producthunt.com/products/mantle
• 🐦 X/Twitter: x.com/mantlechat
• 📸 Instagram: instagram.com/mantle.chat
• 📺 YouTube: youtube.com/@mantlechat
• 💬 Discord: discord.gg/STzq94kdDC

What's Next?

February is shaping up to be exciting:

• 🔗 More MCP Integrations: Expanding our catalog of AI-accessible tools
• 📊 Enhanced Integration Dashboards: Better visibility into your connected services
• 🤖 Agent Workflows: More powerful agent + MCP combinations for specialized tasks
• ⚡ Performance Optimizations: Faster message rendering and reduced latency

Stay tuned for more updates!

Let's build the future of AI collaboration together. 🚀

— The Mantle Chat Team