RejectedTechnical Screen

Messaging at 100 Million DAU and Gaps in My Design

AnthropicSoftware Engineer · Technical Screen · Sep 2026

The question was to design a simple text-messaging app, with a fairly clear scope: Only conversations between two people, no group chats. Text only, no images or videos. Web clients only, with no mobile push notifications to consider. 100 million DAU. Keep messages when the recipient is offline so they can be read after the recipient comes back online. The interviewer asked me to share my entire…

Shared by a candidate · reported Sep 2026. Interview formats change; use it as a guide, not a script.