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Slack automation with agent-slack
agent-slack is a CLI binary on $PATH. Invoke directly (e.g. agent-slack user list).
Installation
If agent-slack is not found on $PATH, install it:
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/stablyai/agent-slack/main/install.sh | sh (recommended)
npm i -g agent-slack (requires Node >= 22.5)
nix run github:stablyai/agent-slack -- <args> (no install needed, prefix all commands)
CRITICAL: Bash command formatting rules
Claude Code's permission checker has security heuristics that force manual approval prompts. Avoid these patterns to keep commands auto-allowed. See: https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues/34379
No # anywhere in the command string. Treated as a comment delimiter even inside quotes. Use bare channel names (general not #general). No # comments in inline scripts — use the Bash tool's description parameter instead.
No '' (consecutive single quotes) or "" (consecutive double quotes). Triggers "potential obfuscation" check. Avoid Python empty string literals like d.get('key', '') — use d.get('key') instead.
Only | jq for filtering — no python3, no other commands. python3 -c is not in the allow list and triggers prompts. jq with single-quote-only expressions (no " inside) is safe:
WRONG: agent-slack search ... | python3 -c "..." (not allowed)
WRONG: agent-slack search ... | jq '.a + "x"' (mixed quotes)
RIGHT: agent-slack search ... | jq '.a'
RIGHT: agent-slack search ... | jq '.messages[] | .ts'
No || or && chains. Run multiple agent-slack commands as separate Bash tool calls.
No file redirects (>, >>). Process JSON output directly, don't write to files.
Quick start (auth)
Authentication is automatic on macOS and Windows (Slack Desktop first, then Chrome/Firefox fallbacks on macOS).
If credentials aren’t available, run one of:
Slack Desktop import (macOS/Windows):
agent-slack auth import-desktop
agent-slack auth test
Chrome fallback:
agent-slack auth import-chrome
agent-slack auth test
Firefox fallback:
agent-slack auth import-firefox
agent-slack auth test
Or set env vars (browser tokens; avoid pasting these into chat logs):
export SLACK_TOKEN="xoxc-..."
export SLACK_COOKIE_D="xoxd-..."
agent-slack auth test
Or set a standard token:
export SLACK_TOKEN="xoxb-..." # or xoxp-...
agent-slack auth test
Check configured workspaces:
agent-slack auth whoami
Canonical workflow (given a Slack message URL)
Fetch a single message (plus thread summary, if any):
agent-slack message get "https://workspace.slack.com/archives/C123/p1700000000000000"
If you need the full thread:
agent-slack message list "https://workspace.slack.com/archives/C123/p1700000000000000"
Browse recent channel messages
To see what's been posted recently in a channel (channel history):
agent-slack message list "general" --limit 20
agent-slack message list "C0123ABC" --limit 10
agent-slack message list "general" --with-reaction eyes --oldest "1770165109.000000" --limit 20
agent-slack message list "general" --without-reaction dart --oldest "1770165109.000000" --limit 20
agent-slack message list "general" --resolve-users
This returns the most recent messages in chronological order. Use --limit to control how many (default 25).
When using --with-reaction or --without-reaction, you must also pass --oldest to bound scanning.
Attachments (snippets/images/files)
message get/list and search auto-download attachments and include file metadata in JSON output (typically under message.files[] / files[]), including name when available and path for the local download. Failed message attachment downloads keep the attachment entry, preserve a local .download-error.txt path, and include message.files[].error for message get/list or messages[].files[].error for search messages|all; search files skips files whose download fails.
Draft a message (browser editor)
Opens a Slack-like rich-text editor in the browser for composing messages with formatting toolbar (bold, italic, strikethrough, links, lists, quotes, code, code blocks). After sending, shows a "View in Slack" link.
agent-slack message draft "general"
agent-slack message draft "general" "initial text"
agent-slack message draft "https://workspace.slack.com/archives/C123/p1700000000000000"
Send, edit, delete, or react
agent-slack message send "https://workspace.slack.com/archives/C123/p1700000000000000" "I can take this."
agent-slack message send "alerts-staging" "here's the report" --attach ./report.md
agent-slack message edit "https://workspace.slack.com/archives/C123/p1700000000000000" "I can take this today."
agent-slack message delete "https://workspace.slack.com/archives/C123/p1700000000000000"
agent-slack message send "general" "Here's the plan:
- Step 1: do the thing
- Step 2: verify it worked
- Sub-step: check logs"
agent-slack message react add "https://workspace.slack.com/archives/C123/p1700000000000000" "eyes"
agent-slack message react remove "https://workspace.slack.com/archives/C123/p1700000000000000" "eyes"
Channel mode for edit/delete requires --ts:
agent-slack message edit "general" "Updated text" --workspace "myteam" --ts "1770165109.628379"
agent-slack message delete "general" --workspace "myteam" --ts "1770165109.628379"
Attach options for message send:
--attach <path> upload a local file (repeatable; message text is optional when attaching files)
--blocks <path> send raw Block Kit blocks from a JSON file (or - for stdin). Enables headers, dividers, table blocks, and other structured layouts. Incompatible with --attach.
File upload example:
agent-slack message send "general" "Coverage report" --attach ./report.md
message send returns channel_id plus the posted ts and a permalink (for non-attachment sends). thread_ts appears only when replying in a thread.
Mentions: just write @U05BRPTKL6A, @here, @channel, or @everyone — the CLI converts them to real Slack mention tokens and escapes literal &/</> in your text. You don't need to wrap IDs yourself.
List channels + create/invite users
agent-slack channel list
agent-slack channel list --user "@alice" --limit 50
agent-slack channel list --all --limit 100
agent-slack channel new --name "incident-war-room"
agent-slack channel new --name "incident-leads" --private
agent-slack channel invite --channel "incident-war-room" --users "U01AAAA,@alice,bob@example.com"
agent-slack channel invite --channel "incident-war-room" --users "partner@vendor.com" --external
agent-slack channel invite --channel "incident-war-room" --users "partner@vendor.com" --external --allow-external-user-invites
For --external, invite targets must be emails. By default, invitees are external-limited; add
--allow-external-user-invites to allow them to invite other users.
Search (messages + files)
Prefer channel-scoped search for reliability:
agent-slack search all "smoke tests failed" --channel "alerts" --after 2026-01-01 --before 2026-02-01
agent-slack search messages "stably test" --user "@alice" --channel general
agent-slack search messages "stably test" --resolve-users
agent-slack search files "testing" --content-type snippet --limit 10
Multi-workspace guardrail (important)
If you have multiple workspaces configured and you use a channel name (e.g. general), pass --workspace (or set SLACK_WORKSPACE_URL) to avoid ambiguity:
agent-slack message get "general" --workspace "https://myteam.slack.com" --ts "1770165109.628379"
agent-slack message get "general" --workspace "myteam" --ts "1770165109.628379"
DM / group DM channels
Get the channel ID for a DM or group DM, useful for sending messages to a group of users:
agent-slack user dm-open @alice @bob
agent-slack user dm-open U01AAAA U02BBBB U03CCCC
Mark as read
Mark a channel, DM, or group DM as read up to a given message:
agent-slack channel mark "https://workspace.slack.com/archives/C123/p1700000000000000"
agent-slack channel mark "general" --workspace "myteam" --ts "1770165109.628379"
agent-slack channel mark "D0A04PB2QBW" --workspace "myteam" --ts "1770165109.628379"
To make a specific message appear unread, set --ts to just before it (subtract 0.000001). This moves the read cursor so that message and everything after it appear as new:
agent-slack channel mark "general" --workspace "myteam" --ts "1770165109.628378"
Workflows
Discover and run Slack workflows bookmarked in channels:
# List workflows in a channel
agent-slack workflow list "#ops"
# Preview trigger metadata (no side effects)
agent-slack workflow preview "Ft123ABC"
# Get workflow definition including form fields and steps
agent-slack workflow get "Ft123ABC"
agent-slack workflow get "Wf456DEF"
# Trip a workflow trigger
agent-slack workflow run "Ft123ABC" --channel "#ops"
Later (saved messages)
Manage your saved-for-later messages:
agent-slack later list
agent-slack later list --counts-only
agent-slack later list --state completed
agent-slack later complete "<message-url>"
agent-slack later archive "<message-url>"
agent-slack later reopen "<message-url>"
agent-slack later save "<message-url>"
agent-slack later remove "<message-url>"
agent-slack later remind "<message-url>" --in 1h
agent-slack later remind "<message-url>" --in tomorrow
Unreads (inbox view)
See all unread messages across channels, DMs, and threads:
agent-slack unreads
agent-slack unreads --counts-only
agent-slack unreads --max-messages 5
agent-slack unreads --include-system
Canvas + Users
agent-slack canvas get "https://workspace.slack.com/docs/T123/F456"
agent-slack user list --workspace "https://workspace.slack.com" --limit 100
agent-slack user get "@alice" --workspace "https://workspace.slack.com"
References
references/commands.md: full command map + all flags
references/targets.md: URL vs #channel targeting rules
references/output.md: JSON output shapes + download pathsdon't have the plugin yet? install it then click "run inline in claude" again.