Slack

Status: production-ready for DMs + channels via Slack app integrations. Default mode is Socket Mode; HTTP Events API mode is also supported.

Quick setup

{
  channels: {
    slack: {
      enabled: true,
      mode: "socket",
      appToken: "xapp-...",
      botToken: "xoxb-...",
    },
  },
}

Token model

• botToken + appToken are required for Socket Mode.
• HTTP mode requires botToken + signingSecret.
• Config tokens override env fallback.
• SLACK_BOT_TOKEN / SLACK_APP_TOKEN env fallback applies only to the default account.
• userToken (xoxp-...) is config-only (no env fallback) and defaults to read-only behavior (userTokenReadOnly: true).
• Optional: add chat:write.customize if you want outgoing messages to use the active agent identity (custom username and icon). icon_emoji uses :emoji_name: syntax.

💡 For actions/directory reads, user token can be preferred when configured. For writes, bot token remains preferred; user-token writes are only allowed when userTokenReadOnly: false and bot token is unavailable.

Access control and routing

Commands and slash behavior

• Native command auto-mode is off for Slack (commands.native: "auto" does not enable Slack native commands).
• Enable native Slack command handlers with channels.slack.commands.native: true (or global commands.native: true).
• When native commands are enabled, register matching slash commands in Slack (/<command> names), with one exception:
  • register /agentstatus for the status command (Slack reserves /status)
• If native commands are not enabled, you can run a single configured slash command via channels.slack.slashCommand.
• Native arg menus now adapt their rendering strategy:
  • up to 5 options: button blocks
  • 6-100 options: static select menu
  • more than 100 options: external select with async option filtering when interactivity options handlers are available
  • if encoded option values exceed Slack limits, the flow falls back to buttons
• For long option payloads, Slash command argument menus use a confirm dialog before dispatching a selected value.

Default slash command settings:

• enabled: false
• name: "openclaw"
• sessionPrefix: "slack:slash"
• ephemeral: true

Slash sessions use isolated keys:

• agent:<agentId>:slack:slash:<userId>

and still route command execution against the target conversation session (CommandTargetSessionKey).

Threading, sessions, and reply tags

• DMs route as direct; channels as channel; MPIMs as group.
• With default session.dmScope=main, Slack DMs collapse to agent main session.
• Channel sessions: agent:<agentId>:slack:channel:<channelId>.
• Thread replies can create thread session suffixes (:thread:<threadTs>) when applicable.
• channels.slack.thread.historyScope default is thread; thread.inheritParent default is false.
• channels.slack.thread.initialHistoryLimit controls how many existing thread messages are fetched when a new thread session starts (default 20; set 0 to disable).

Reply threading controls:

• channels.slack.replyToMode: off|first|all (default off)
• channels.slack.replyToModeByChatType: per direct|group|channel
• legacy fallback for direct chats: channels.slack.dm.replyToMode

Manual reply tags are supported:

• [[reply_to_current]]
• [[reply_to:<id>]]

Note: replyToMode="off" disables all reply threading in Slack, including explicit [[reply_to_*]] tags. This differs from Telegram, where explicit tags are still honored in "off" mode. The difference reflects the platform threading models: Slack threads hide messages from the channel, while Telegram replies remain visible in the main chat flow.

Media, chunking, and delivery

Actions and gates

Slack actions are controlled by channels.slack.actions.*. Available action groups in current Slack tooling:

Events and operational behavior

• Message edits/deletes/thread broadcasts are mapped into system events.
• Reaction add/remove events are mapped into system events.
• Member join/leave, channel created/renamed, and pin add/remove events are mapped into system events.
• Assistant thread status updates (for “is typing…” indicators in threads) use assistant.threads.setStatus and require bot scope assistant:write.
• channel_id_changed can migrate channel config keys when configWrites is enabled.
• Channel topic/purpose metadata is treated as untrusted context and can be injected into routing context.
• Block actions and modal interactions emit structured Slack interaction: ... system events with rich payload fields:
  • block actions: selected values, labels, picker values, and workflow_* metadata
  • modal view_submission and view_closed events with routed channel metadata and form inputs

Ack reactions

ackReaction sends an acknowledgement emoji while OpenClaw is processing an inbound message. Resolution order:

• channels.slack.accounts.<accountId>.ackReaction
• channels.slack.ackReaction
• messages.ackReaction
• agent identity emoji fallback (agents.list[].identity.emoji, else ”👀”)

Notes:

• Slack expects shortcodes (for example "eyes").
• Use "" to disable the reaction for the Slack account or globally.

Typing reaction fallback

typingReaction adds a temporary reaction to the inbound Slack message while OpenClaw is processing a reply, then removes it when the run finishes. This is a useful fallback when Slack native assistant typing is unavailable, especially in DMs. Resolution order:

• channels.slack.accounts.<accountId>.typingReaction
• channels.slack.typingReaction

Notes:

• Slack expects shortcodes (for example "hourglass_flowing_sand").
• The reaction is best-effort and cleanup is attempted automatically after the reply or failure path completes.

Manifest and scope checklist

Troubleshooting

Text streaming

OpenClaw supports Slack native text streaming via the Agents and AI Apps API. channels.slack.streaming controls live preview behavior:

• off: disable live preview streaming.
• partial (default): replace preview text with the latest partial output.
• block: append chunked preview updates.
• progress: show progress status text while generating, then send final text.

channels.slack.nativeStreaming controls Slack’s native streaming API (chat.startStream / chat.appendStream / chat.stopStream) when streaming is partial (default: true). Disable native Slack streaming (keep draft preview behavior):

channels:
  slack:
    streaming: partial
    nativeStreaming: false

Legacy keys:

• channels.slack.streamMode (replace | status_final | append) is auto-migrated to channels.slack.streaming.
• boolean channels.slack.streaming is auto-migrated to channels.slack.nativeStreaming.

Requirements

1. Enable Agents and AI Apps in your Slack app settings.
2. Ensure the app has the assistant:write scope.
3. A reply thread must be available for that message. Thread selection still follows replyToMode.

Behavior

• First text chunk starts a stream (chat.startStream).
• Later text chunks append to the same stream (chat.appendStream).
• End of reply finalizes stream (chat.stopStream).
• Media and non-text payloads fall back to normal delivery.
• If streaming fails mid-reply, OpenClaw falls back to normal delivery for remaining payloads.

Configuration reference pointers

Primary reference:

• Configuration reference - Slack High-signal Slack fields:
  • mode/auth: mode, botToken, appToken, signingSecret, webhookPath, accounts.*
  • DM access: dm.enabled, dmPolicy, allowFrom (legacy: dm.policy, dm.allowFrom), dm.groupEnabled, dm.groupChannels
  • compatibility toggle: dangerouslyAllowNameMatching (break-glass; keep off unless needed)
  • channel access: groupPolicy, channels.*, channels.*.users, channels.*.requireMention
  • threading/history: replyToMode, replyToModeByChatType, thread.*, historyLimit, dmHistoryLimit, dms.*.historyLimit
  • delivery: textChunkLimit, chunkMode, mediaMaxMb, streaming, nativeStreaming
  • ops/features: configWrites, commands.native, slashCommand.*, actions.*, userToken, userTokenReadOnly

Related

• Pairing
• Channel routing
• Troubleshooting
• Configuration
• Slash commands

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