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# Group chats

Route `/group-chat`

Find it Left rail → Group chats

Who can open it Admins and team members

Group chats work like [Messages](/messages) but with several participants in one thread. They are listed and read the same way; creating them is where the rules differ.

![Group chats screen with an empty conversation list, a New conversation button, and a Select a group chat placeholder](https://fdr-prod-docs-files-public.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/message-blue.docs.buildwithfern.com/a746d577e584791e70b50f64f01529ab121234d9848cd025b581e88aae32409b/docs/assets/frontend/group-chats.jpg?X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Content-Sha256=UNSIGNED-PAYLOAD&X-Amz-Credential=AKIA6KXJSKKNFOCF7G4B%2F20260916%2Fus-east-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20260916T212102Z&X-Amz-Expires=604800&X-Amz-Signature=59331f85b4a269bb761cec50be3f5b74bf941ff24d7327628bcfd6bdb262940e&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&x-amz-checksum-mode=ENABLED&x-id=GetObject)

The layout is shared with Messages, so a few labels are reused verbatim — the list is still headed **Messages** and the create button still reads **New conversation**. You are in the right place if the left rail's group icon is highlighted.

## Creating a group

**New group chat** collects participants and an opening message:

> Add 2–31 other participants (your assigned agent is included automatically). An intro message is sent when the group is created.

Phone numbers must be entered in **E.164 format** — a leading `+`, the country code, then the national number, with no spaces, dashes or brackets. For example `+15550109988`. The app rejects anything else before it reaches the gateway.

Numbers are added one at a time with **Add** and can be taken back out with **Remove**. The intro message is required — it is the message that actually creates the thread on Apple's side.

### The size rules

#### Minimum

**2 other numbers** — three people including your agent. Fewer shows *"Add at least 2 other numbers (3 people total including your agent)."*

#### Maximum

**31 other numbers** — 32 including your agent. More shows *"Maximum 31 other participants (32 including your agent)."*

### Everyone must be on iMessage

If any participant cannot receive iMessages the whole group is refused:

> Not all participants are iMessage-capable. Remove non-iMessage numbers and try again.

There is no partial creation and no SMS fallback for group creation — remove the offending numbers and try again.

## The waiting period after creation

This is the behaviour that surprises people most. Creating a group sends your intro message, but you cannot send a **second** message straight away:

> Intro message sent. You can view it here; send more after someone replies or when the group ID is ready.

Until Apple returns a stable group identifier — which happens when the first reply arrives — further sends are rejected with *"Wait for someone to reply in the group before you can send more messages."* A banner sits at the top of the thread while the group is in this state.

This is a constraint of how iMessage group identifiers are assigned, not a MessageBlue rate limit. Waiting for a reply is the only thing that resolves it — retrying does not help.

## When the New group button does nothing

Group creation is not available in every environment. Where it is switched off, pressing the button produces a notice rather than the dialog:

![Group chats screen with a toast reading No new group to create — New group chats can't be started from here right now](https://fdr-prod-docs-files-public.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/message-blue.docs.buildwithfern.com/8e6ac90276a837296b36554a2b1906b27f44215f5850f1f542638ad7a63b351b/docs/assets/frontend/group-chats-unavailable.jpg?X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Content-Sha256=UNSIGNED-PAYLOAD&X-Amz-Credential=AKIA6KXJSKKNFOCF7G4B%2F20260916%2Fus-east-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20260916T212102Z&X-Amz-Expires=604800&X-Amz-Signature=0406f26bdfa0f5bf126048cf900a62b42bba05f773bf27e45baa57bff23656f1&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&x-amz-checksum-mode=ENABLED&x-id=GetObject)

> **No new group to create** — New group chats can't be started from here right now.

Existing groups remain readable and repliable when this happens; only creation is blocked. As with one-to-one chats, an app with no assigned number cannot start a group at all — see [Phone numbers](/dashboard#phone-numbers).