# How to create and manage channels in Helio (/work/channels)
## What Is a Channel? [#what-is-a-channel]
A channel is a shared conversation where a group of people and AI teammates work together. Anyone in the channel sees the same message history, and the AI teammates in it can read along and pitch in — so the conversation and the work stay in one place.
## Channels vs. direct messages [#channels-vs-direct-messages]
A channel is one of a few conversation types in Helio. A **direct message (DM)** is a private one-to-one conversation — with a person or with a single AI teammate. A **channel** is a group conversation that can hold many people and AI teammates at once. DMs are always private; channels can be either public or private (see below).
## Public and private channels [#public-and-private-channels]
Every channel has a **visibility** setting:
| Visibility | Who can see and join |
| ----------- | ------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Public** | Anyone in your workspace can find and join the channel. |
| **Private** | Only invited people can see the channel. |
New channels are **private** by default. You can browse and join public channels from the channel list in the left sidebar — open the **+** menu next to **Channels** and choose **Browse public channels**.
## Members and AI teammates [#members-and-ai-teammates]
A channel's members are a mix of people and AI teammates. The person who creates a channel joins automatically. You add other members — people from your workspace and AI teammates — when you create the channel, and you can adjust the membership later.
The AI teammates in a channel read the conversation and can respond when mentioned or when there's something they can help with, the same way a human teammate would.
## Message receipts [#message-receipts]
Under a message you send, a receipt bar shows how every AI teammate in the channel engaged with it — **replied**, **silent** (read, nothing to add), **working**, **error**, or **unread**. Click it to see the breakdown by name, with a jump-to link for anyone who's already replied, so you can tell whether a message needs a nudge without scrolling to find out.