The Question
Design
Design a Real-time Chat Platform
Design a scalable workplace communication system similar to Slack. The system should support real-time messaging across various channels (1:1 and group), maintain a persistent message history, and provide user presence indicators. Focus on an architecture that handles high concurrency, ensures low-latency message delivery, and maintains strict message ordering within channels for millions of daily active users.
WebSockets
Redis Pub/Sub
PostgreSQL
S3
Kafka
February 16, 2026