Staging testing needed: moving to a new API

I've been stuck on modernizing GP for a long time, mainly because it's a BIG task. With some helpful feedback, I'm working on a strategy to move features to the new API that will feed it, as well as giving me a chance to fix some bugs. This last weekend, I took the first step on that path, updating staging with new code and a new server.

I'd appreciate if those who can will log onto staging and made sure the following works:
- Logging in
- The main PM page works
- Switching between inbox and outbox
- Seeing an individual PM
- Sending a PM
- A PM being marked as read when it's viewed in the inbox or outbox (if you coordinate with someone to make sure them viewing in the appropriate box doesn't mark it as viewed in their box, that'd be nice)

Nothing else has been updated at this time, and the functionality should be the same as before. It's just the current code copied to a new API, but that code has also been updated to hopefully be more robust and should make ongoing updates easier.

It seems to work for me.
I could log in, look at my PMs, see outbox and inbox. I sent a message to Chalry and it is now in my outbox. (not sure if it was received)

One issue I noticed: When I reply to an existing message, the "to" field is not populated.

I can confirm it was received, looked good. And the reply worked as expected on my end.

Gen's message was initially unread and was successfully marked as read after I visited it.

One issue that I noticed was that the notification in the top right corner (envelope) didn't go away until I exited Gen's message.You can still see an envelope in the top corner. Makes it seem like there's more unread messages, but it resolved once I exited the message.

Now that I explain it, I have a vague memory it might be a bug from before, so not a new bug from the current changes, but I don't remember.

Noticed another thing. All my old sent messages in the outbox are marked as unread. In contrast, old received messages in my inbox are marked as read as expected.

Reply from Chalry received. Same comments as he had.

Noticed another thing:
On the PM page (where you read the message) in the history of previous messages for that title, the "to" always shows my own name. Even on the messages that I previously sent to the other person.

Just checked my messages on staging and I'm seeing this bug too.

I’ve been through a couple of heavy transitions like this, and what helped was testing small chunks with real users before wiring everything together. For messaging flows, I once tied in whatsapp business api to stress-test webhook behavior, and it gave me a clearer picture of edge cases before deployment. A similar approach on GP’s staging server might make community feedback way more actionable.