Q&A System

Track questions and answers within your community. Features clarifications, accept/reject workflows, and Discourse forum integration.

Looking for !ask? The !ask command is now a Unified Search that queries all community knowledge sources. To submit a question to the Q&A database, use !qa instead.

!qa / !q / !question

Submit a question that gets tracked in the database for community answers.

!qa <your question>
!q <your question>
!question <your question>
!qa --broadcast             # Share to other groups
!q                           # Reply to a message to use it as the question

Examples:

!qa How do I set up two-factor authentication?
!qa --broadcast What's the best VPN for privacy?

Reply Mode: You can reply to any message with just !q or !qa to use the quoted message as your question.

Response:

Question #ABC123 recorded!

Question: How do I set up two-factor authentication?

Others can answer with: !answer ABC123 <answer>
Or reply to this message with: !a <answer>

Features:

• Questions use hash IDs (e.g., ABC123) for cross-group reference
• Can broadcast questions to other groups with --broadcast
• Links to breakout rooms if asked inside one
• Stored in PostgreSQL for persistence
• Q&A history is also searchable via !ask (unified search)

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!question / !q (Expanded View)

View full context for a specific question including all clarifications and answers.

!question <hash>
!q <hash>

Example:

!question ABC123

Response:

Question #ABC123
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Asked by: Alice | Dec 19, 2025 at 3:30 PM
Group: IrregularChat: Security

How do I set up two-factor authentication?

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CLARIFICATIONS (1):
  [C1] by Bob (Dec 19, 3:45 PM):
    "Are you asking about app-based or hardware 2FA?"

ANSWERS (2):
  [A1] ACCEPTED by Carol (Dec 19, 4:00 PM):
    "Go to Settings > Security > Enable 2FA"

  [A2] PENDING by Dave (Dec 19, 4:30 PM):
    "You can also use a hardware key like YubiKey"

RESOURCES:
  Breakout: "2FA Discussion" (3 participants)
  Forum: https://forum.example.com/t/123

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Commands:
  !clarify ABC123 <text>     Add clarification
  !answer ABC123 <text>      Add answer
  !accept ABC123 A1          Accept answer
  !reject ABC123 A2 <reason> Reject answer
  !breakout -q ABC123        Start discussion room

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!questions

List recent open (unsolved) questions.

!questions
!questions -a               # Show questions from all groups

Response: Shows recent unanswered questions with their hash IDs.

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!clarify

Add a clarification or follow-up to a question.

!clarify <hash> <clarification text>

Example:

!clarify ABC123 Are you asking about app-based or hardware 2FA?

Use Cases:

• Ask for more details about the question
• Add context to your own question
• Provide additional information

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!answer / !a

Answer a tracked question.

!answer <hash> <your answer>
!answer <your answer>                    # Answers most recent question
!a <your answer>                         # Reply to a question message
!a                                       # Reply to any message to use it as your answer
!answer <hash> --breakout <answer>       # Create breakout room for discussion

Examples:

!answer ABC123 Go to Settings > Security > Enable 2FA
!a You can find that in the privacy settings
!answer ABC123 --breakout Let's discuss the options in detail

Reply Mode: You can reply to any useful message with just !a to capture it as an answer to the most recent question.

Features:

• Multiple answers per question are supported
• Can reply directly to a question message
• If no hash specified, answers the most recent unanswered question
• Use --breakout to start a focused discussion room for complex answers

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!accept

Accept an answer as the solution to your question.

!accept <question_hash> <answer_id>
!solved <question_hash> <answer_id>      # Alias for !accept

Examples:

!accept ABC123 A1
!solved ABC123 A1

Features:

• Only the original question asker can accept answers
• Marks the answer with status “accepted”
• Optionally notifies the answerer via DM
• Can accept multiple answers for comprehensive solutions

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!reject

Reject an answer with a reason.

!reject <question_hash> <answer_id> <reason>

Example:

!reject ABC123 A2 That information is outdated for the current version

Features:

• Provides feedback to the answerer
• Sends DM to answerer with the rejection reason
• Keeps the answer visible but marked as rejected
• Helps maintain answer quality

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Workflow Example

1. User A asks:

   !ask What's the best VPN for privacy?

2. User B asks for clarification:

   !clarify ABC123 Are you looking for free or paid options?

3. User A clarifies:

   !clarify ABC123 Paid is fine, looking for best privacy features

4. User B answers:

   !answer ABC123 I recommend Mullvad or ProtonVPN for privacy-focused options

5. User C also answers:

   !a ABC123 IVPN is another solid choice with a good track record

6. User A accepts the best answer:

   !accept ABC123 A1

7. User A rejects with feedback:

   !reject ABC123 A2 I tried IVPN before, had connection issues

8. View full context anytime:

   !question ABC123

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Integration with Breakout Rooms

Creating Breakout from Question

Use !breakout -q <hash> to start a focused discussion about a question:

!breakout -q ABC123                    # Create or join existing breakout
!breakout -q ABC123 @expert1 @expert2  # Add experts to existing breakout
!breakout -q ABC123 --new              # Force create NEW breakout room
!breakout -q ABC123 --new 2h           # New room with custom duration

Smart Duplicate Prevention

Default behavior: When a question already has an active breakout, !breakout -q will add mentioned users to the existing room instead of creating a duplicate.

Response when joining existing:

✅ Added to existing breakout for Q#ABC123

👥 Added: Expert One, Expert Two
⏱ Time remaining: 1h 45m

The discussion for this question is already in progress.

To force a new room: Add --new flag when you need a fresh discussion.

Breakout → Question Link

When a breakout room for a question ends:

1. The forum summary link is added to the question record
2. Breakout context (summary, decisions) is linked to the question
3. View with !question <hash> to see the forum link

Questions Inside Breakouts

Questions asked with !ask inside a breakout room are automatically:

• Linked to the breakout session
• Included in the breakout summary
• Tracked with answer status

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Answer Status States

Status	Description
pending	Default state, awaiting review
accepted	Marked as solution by question asker
rejected	Explicitly rejected with reason

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Discourse Forum Integration

Questions can be posted to Discourse when answered or discussed in breakouts.

How It Works

1. Breakout Summaries: When a question breakout ends, the AI-generated summary is posted to Discourse
2. Forum Link: The forum URL is automatically linked back to the question record
3. View Link: Use !question <hash> to see the forum discussion link

Category Configuration

Questions posted via breakout summaries use the configured category:

• DISCOURSE_QA_CATEGORY - Category ID for Q&A posts
• Falls back to DISCOURSE_BREAKOUT_CATEGORY if not set

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Environment Variables

For Discourse integration:

• DISCOURSE_URL - Your Discourse forum URL
• DISCOURSE_API_KEY - API key for posting
• DISCOURSE_USERNAME - Username for API authentication
• DISCOURSE_QA_CATEGORY - Category ID for Q&A forum posts