Entity-Linked Threads
An entity-linked thread is a conversation thread that's attached to a specific external object — an invoice, a task, a risk, a customer record — so the discussion and the object it's about live in one place instead of being disconnected.
A common pattern in work chat is discussing a specific thing — an invoice, a support ticket, a project risk — in a channel that has no structural connection to the thing itself. The conversation and the record end up in two different systems, linked only by someone remembering to paste a URL, and neither system shows you the other unless you go looking.
Entity linking closes that gap by giving a thread an explicit reference to what it's about — a generic envelope like {platform, entity_type, entity_id} — so the thread can render a live summary of the object (its status, who owns it, what actions are available) right alongside the discussion, and the source system can show that a discussion exists, right alongside the object.
The pattern generalizes across almost any external object a team discusses: tasks, risks, invoices, courses, applications, documents. Once a platform supports entity linking generically, every new integration doesn't need a bespoke chat feature — it just needs to emit events in the shared envelope shape, and the thread machinery already knows how to render it.
Entity-Linked Threads, in the product
Any external object — an invoice, a task, a risk — can own an aanty thread via a generic linked_entity envelope. The thread renders a live entity card (status, owner, actions) sourced from the originating platform, and the platform's own UI can show that a discussion exists. It's the mechanism behind aanty's integrations with sibling platforms.
Related terms and pages
See Entity-Linked Threads in a real workspace
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