Recovery-Focused Social Features

Build privacy-first social features for addiction recovery apps. These patterns prioritize anonymity, safety, and the unique relationship structures in recovery communities.

When to Use

✅ USE this skill for:

• Sponsor/sponsee relationship systems
• Recovery-focused group features (meeting groups, accountability circles)
• Privacy-first friend connections with mutual consent
• Safe messaging between recovery peers
• Anonymity-preserving profile systems

❌ DO NOT use for:

• General social media patterns → use standard social feature docs
• Dating or romantic connection features → not appropriate for recovery context
• Public-facing profiles → recovery apps should default to privacy
• Content recommendation algorithms → use recovery-community-moderator for content safety

Core Principles

Privacy by Default

Recovery apps handle sensitive data. Default to maximum privacy, let users opt into visibility.

interface PrivacySettings {
  profileVisibility: 'private' | 'friends' | 'community';
  showSobrietyDate: boolean;
  showProgram: boolean;        // AA, NA, CMA, etc.
  showLocation: 'none' | 'city' | 'region';
  allowMessages: 'none' | 'friends' | 'sponsors' | 'all';
  anonymousInGroups: boolean;  // Use display name only
}

// Default to most private
const DEFAULT_PRIVACY: PrivacySettings = {
  profileVisibility: 'friends',
  showSobrietyDate: false,
  showProgram: false,
  showLocation: 'none',
  allowMessages: 'friends',
  anonymousInGroups: true,
};

Anonymity Support

Many users need complete anonymity. Support display names separate from real identity.

interface Profile {
  id: string;
  // Private - never exposed publicly
  email: string;
  realName?: string;

  // Public-facing identity
  displayName: string;        // "JohnD" or "GratefulMember"
  avatarType: 'initials' | 'icon' | 'custom';
  avatarIcon?: string;        // Predefined icon set

  // Recovery-specific
  sobrietyDate?: Date;
  programs: ('aa' | 'na' | 'cma' | 'smart' | 'refuge' | 'other')[];
  homeGroup?: string;         // Primary meeting
}

Feature Overview

Sponsor/Sponsee Relationships

The sponsor relationship is hierarchical and private. Only the two parties should know about it.

Key concepts:

• Invite-based connection (sponsor generates code, sponsee accepts)
• Time-limited invite codes (24h expiration)
• Private by design - no public visibility
• One sponsor per program, unlimited sponsees

Hooks provided:

• useSponsorInvite() - Generate and accept invite codes
• useSponsorRelationships() - List sponsors and sponsees

Components:

• GenerateSponsorInvite - Sponsor creates shareable code
• AcceptSponsorInvite - Sponsee enters code to connect
• SponsorDashboard - View all sponsor/sponsee relationships

See: references/sponsor-sponsee.md for full implementation

---

Meeting-Based Groups

Groups that form organically around meetings. Ephemeral by default but can be made permanent.

Key concepts:

• Tied to specific meetings or standalone
• Ephemeral groups auto-delete after 24 hours
• Visibility options: public, private, invite-only
• Member limits prevent overcrowding

Group Settings:

interface GroupSettings {
  name: string;
  meetingId?: string;           // Link to meeting
  visibility: 'public' | 'private' | 'invite';
  ephemeral: boolean;           // Auto-delete after 24h
  maxMembers: number;           // Member limit
}

Visibility	Who Can See	Who Can Join
public	Anyone	Anyone
private	Members only	Invite only
invite	Members only	Has invite code

Hooks provided:

• useMeetingGroup() - Create, join, leave groups

Components:

• QuickMeetingGroup - One-tap group creation at meetings

See: references/groups.md for full implementation

---

Friend Connections

Peer-to-peer connections without hierarchy. Mutual consent required.

Key concepts:

• Request/accept flow (no auto-follows)
• Real-time updates via Supabase subscriptions
• Blocking supported (one-way, discreet)
• Status: pending, accepted, blocked

Hooks provided:

• useFriendships() - Full friendship management with real-time sync

Components:

• FriendRequestButton - Context-aware add/pending/friends states
• PendingFriendRequests - Accept/decline UI

See: references/friendships.md for full implementation

---

Safe Messaging

Recovery-appropriate messaging with crisis detection and safety features.

Key concepts:

• Real-time message delivery via Supabase
• Crisis keyword detection (non-blocking, shows resources)
• Soft-delete (messages hidden, not destroyed)
• Privacy-first (no read receipts by default)

Crisis Keywords (trigger resource prompt):

const CRISIS_KEYWORDS = [
  // Suicidal ideation
  'suicide', 'kill myself', 'want to die', 'end it all',
  // Relapse indicators
  'relapse', 'using again', 'fell off the wagon',
  // Self-harm
  'hurt myself', 'cutting', 'self-harm',
];

Best Practices:

1. Non-blocking - Crisis prompts suggest resources, don't block messages
2. Privacy-first - Don't log or report crisis keywords automatically
3. Helpful tone - Gentle, non-judgmental language
4. Direct resources - Link to crisis page, not external sites
5. Offline capable - Cache crisis resources for offline access

Hooks provided:

• useMessages() - Real-time message thread with Supabase subscriptions

Components:

• MessageInput - Input with crisis detection overlay

See: references/messaging.md for full implementation

---

Accountability Features

Sharing recovery progress with trusted connections.

Check-In Sharing:

• Share daily check-ins with selected sponsors
• HALT tracking (Hungry, Angry, Lonely, Tired)
• Mood and gratitude logging

Sobriety Visibility Settings:

Level	Who Can See	Use Case
private	Only self	Maximum privacy
sponsors	Self + sponsors	Accountability focus
friends	Self + sponsors + friends	Peer support
community	All app users	Public milestone celebrations

HALT Check-In Data:

interface DailyCheckIn {
  date: string;
  mood: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5;  // 1=worst, 5=best
  halt: {
    hungry: boolean;
    angry: boolean;
    lonely: boolean;
    tired: boolean;
  };
  gratitude?: string;
  notes?: string;
}

Components:

• ShareCheckIn - Select sponsors to share with
• SobrietyVisibility - Privacy level picker

See: references/accountability.md for full implementation

---

Safety & Moderation

Content moderation and user blocking for safe communities.

Moderation Categories:

Category	Description	Action
crisis	Suicidal ideation, self-harm	Show resources, don't block
sourcing	Drug seeking, dealing	Block + flag for review
harassment	Personal attacks, threats	Block + flag for review
spam	Promotional content	Block
explicit	Sexual/graphic content	Block

Blocking Behavior:

• Blocked user cannot send messages
• Blocked user cannot see blocker's profile
• Blocked user cannot see blocker in groups
• Existing messages are hidden (not deleted)
• Blocking is one-way (blocked user doesn't know)

RLS Policy Pattern:

-- Hide content from blocked users
CREATE POLICY "Hide messages from blocked users" ON messages
  FOR SELECT USING (
    NOT EXISTS (
      SELECT 1 FROM friendships
      WHERE status = 'blocked'
      AND (
        (requester_id = auth.uid() AND addressee_id = sender_id)
        OR (addressee_id = auth.uid() AND requester_id = sender_id)
      )
    )
  );

Hooks provided:

• useContentModeration() - Check content against moderation API
• useBlocking() - Block/unblock users, check block status

See: references/moderation.md for full implementation

---

Quick Reference

Feature	Privacy Default	Who Can See
Profile	Friends only	Configurable
Sobriety date	Hidden	Configurable
Sponsor relationship	Private	Only the two parties
Group membership	Group members	Configurable per group
Messages	Participants only	Never public
Check-ins	Private	Opt-in sharing

Database Schema

See supabase-admin/references/social-schema.md for complete Supabase schema including:

• Friendships table with RLS
• Sponsorships with invite codes
• Groups and group members
• Conversations and messages
• Real-time subscription patterns

References

Detailed implementations in /references/:

File	Contents
sponsor-sponsee.md	useSponsorInvite hook, invite UI components, SponsorDashboard
groups.md	useMeetingGroup hook, QuickMeetingGroup component
friendships.md	useFriendships hook with real-time, friend request UI
messaging.md	useMessages hook, MessageInput with crisis detection
accountability.md	ShareCheckIn, SobrietyVisibility components
moderation.md	useContentModeration, useBlocking hooks, RLS policies