--- title: "Mentioning roles in Talkspirit" description: "Type @ and the first letters of a role's name in any rich text field to insert a link to that role. From a comment, the mention also notifies everyone assigned to the role." category: structure-governance section: roles-and-assignments type: Tutorial lastUpdated: 2026-08-26 locale: en canonical: https://support.talkspirit.com/en/structure-governance/how-to-mention-roles --- # Mentioning roles in Talkspirit ## Mentioning roles in Talkspirit Type **@** followed by the first letters of a role's name in any rich text field, then pick the role from the list. Talkspirit inserts a chip that links to that role's page. From a comment, the same mention also notifies everyone currently assigned to the role. ## Mentioning a role 1. Click into a rich text field, for example a comment box or the description of a tension. 2. Type **@** and the first letters of the role's name. 3. Pick the role under the **Roles** heading. ![The mention list open in a Create tension dialog, showing a Roles group with the Product Manager role and its circle underneath, followed by Circles, Projects and Tasks groups](/images/structure-governance/how-to-mention-roles/01-mention-picker.png) The circle the role sits in is shown under its name, so two roles both called *Circle Lead* stay distinguishable. Press Escape to close the list without inserting anything. Alongside **Roles**, the list offers **Users**, **Circles**, and, where your organisation uses those apps, **Projects**, **Goals**, **Tasks**, **Metrics** and **Checklists**. If your organisation renames roles or circles, the headings follow your own wording. ## Where you can mention a role Roles appear in the picker on every surface below, provided you can see the Structure module: - **Governance fields** on a role or a circle: purpose, domains, accountabilities, and any long text or list custom field. Here the picker deliberately offers users, roles and circles only. - **Proposals**, including the domains and accountabilities you edit inside one. - **Comments**, on proposals, checklists, metrics, working agreements, tasks, goals and projects. - **Descriptions** of tensions, metrics and checklists. - **Working agreements**, in the body of the document. - **Meeting notes**: agenda items, and the check-in, closing and free sections. - **Task and project descriptions.** You cannot mention a role in a Newsfeed post or a chat message. Those two surfaces still run on the classic Talkspirit editor, which mentions people and groups only. ## What the mention does A mention always creates a link, and it notifies people in one case only. **It links.** The role's name becomes a chip. Anyone reading the field clicks it and lands on the role's page, with its purpose, domains, accountabilities and current holders. The link points at the role itself, not at its name, so it keeps working after the role is renamed. The text inside the chip is the name as it was on the day you typed it, so re-type the mention if you want the new wording to show. **It notifies, but only from a comment.** When you mention a role in a comment, everyone assigned to that role gets an in-app notification and an email reading *You were mentioned*. Mention a circle instead and every member of that circle is notified. You are never notified about your own comment. Mentions typed anywhere other than a comment notify nobody. Mentioning a role or a member in a purpose, a domain or an accountability is silent: it records a link, it tells no one. If you need the holders to react, leave a comment. ## Where the relationship shows up Mentions placed in **domains and accountabilities** also feed the **Relations** section, on a **circle's** General tab. It lists the roles and circles whose domains or accountabilities mention that circle, so you can see at a glance who has declared a dependency on it. The section is derived, not edited: a small padlock in its header says so, and the only way to change it is to change the mention that produced it. Two limits are worth knowing before you plan around it. A **role's** page has no Relations section, so mentioning a role in a domain creates a link but nothing accumulates on the role itself. And mentions placed in a purpose, a policy or a custom field are never counted: only domains and accountabilities feed Relations. For what to do with those connections once you have them, see [How do I build relationships between roles?](/structure-governance/building-relationships-between-roles) ## Mentioning a member Members work the same way: type **@**, then the person's name, then pick them under **Users**. The chip links to their member page. As with roles, they are notified only when you mention them in a comment. ## What's Next? - [How do I edit a role or a circle?](/structure-governance/how-to-edit-a-role-or-a-circle) - [How do I edit governance fields for roles and circles?](/structure-governance/how-to-edit-core-and-custom-governance-fields-for-roles-and-circles) - [How do I build relationships between roles?](/structure-governance/building-relationships-between-roles) - [Where are my tensions and how do I process them?](/structure-governance/tensions-overview)