Replaces the blind 60-second refresh with a smart polling system that only updates the UI when new messages actually arrive.
Key improvements:
- Lightweight update checks every 10 seconds (vs full refresh every 60s)
- Chat view refreshes only when new messages appear on active channel
- Notification bell with global unread count across all channels
- Per-channel unread badges in channel selector (e.g., "Malopolska (3)")
- Last-seen timestamp tracking per channel with localStorage persistence
- Bell ring animation when new messages arrive
Backend changes:
- New /api/messages/updates endpoint for efficient update polling
- Returns per-channel update status and unread counts
Frontend changes:
- Smart auto-refresh mechanism with conditional UI updates
- Unread message tracking system with localStorage
- Notification bell UI component with badge
- Channel selector badges for unread messages
- CSS animations for bell ring effect
This dramatically reduces network traffic and server load while providing better UX through instant notifications about activity on other channels.
🤖 Generated with [Claude Code](https://claude.com/claude-code)
Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
MarekWo