'Action: Breakout'

actionsbreakoutzonesgroupscollaboration

The Breakout action controls breakout zones — spatial areas within your Ripple where participants can form smaller groups with isolated audio and video. When breakout mode is active, participants who enter a zone can only hear and see others in the same zone.

Operations

Enable

Activates breakout mode. All breakout zones in the Ripple become active. Participants can now enter zones and will be isolated into their respective groups.

Disable

Deactivates breakout mode. All zones become inactive and participants return to the shared main audio/video space.

Toggle

Switches breakout mode on or off. If currently active, it deactivates. If currently inactive, it activates.

Targeting

By default, the action affects the global breakout state — all zones activate or deactivate together. You can optionally target a specific zone by its ID for zone-specific control.

Scope

Breakout actions are always global — they affect all participants. When breakout mode activates, everyone sees the zones and can enter them. This inherently requires moderator or higher permissions.

Common Patterns

Host-Controlled Breakouts

  1. Create a button visible only to moderators (set showTo to "Moderators")
  2. Add a Breakout action with Toggle operation on click
  3. The host clicks the button to start breakout sessions, clicks again to bring everyone back

Timed Breakout Session

  1. On the breakout toggle button click: Enable breakouts
  2. Chain a Set Variable action to start a countdown timer
  3. Use a timer trigger on an element to count down
  4. When the timer reaches 0: Disable breakouts and switch to a results scene

Visual Feedback

Use breakout triggers on other elements to show status:

  • On Breakouts Activated: Show a "Breakouts Active" layer, change zone shapes to their active state
  • On Breakouts Deactivated: Hide the active layer, reset zone shapes to inactive state

Tips

  • Pair with visual states: Breakout zones support dedicated states (breakout-inactive, breakout-active, breakout-hover). Configure these to give participants clear visual feedback about which zones are active and which zone they're hovering over.
  • Zone enter/leave triggers: Attach these to elements to play sounds or show messages when a participant moves between zones.
  • Global scope is required: Since breakouts affect everyone's audio and video, there's no local option.

What's Next?

  • States System — breakout zone states for visual feedback
  • Triggers — breakout-related triggers (zone enter, zone leave, activated, deactivated)