[2022] Help | Not able to type in chat box; possibly related error (?) "chat is not available without a commander"

As the title says, it seems I cannot type in the text box. It's blue and highlighted, and I can select and deselect it. However when I try to type, it's still locked to ship controls. For instance, WSAD still controls the ship instead of typing, with the chat box highlighted.

I don't know if it's related to this "chat is not available without a commander" error, but I've not been able to find anything about this particular issue. Is it because I'm in tutorial mode?

Edit: it was because my character setup was not yet complete.

Thank you!