Agent SlackBot

A TypeScript CLI tool that enables AI agents and humans to interact with Slack workspaces using bot tokens (xoxb-). Unlike agent-slack which extracts user tokens from the desktop app, agent-slackbot uses standard Slack Bot tokens for server-side and CI/CD integrations.

Quick Start

# Set your bot token
agent-slackbot auth set xoxb-your-bot-token

# Or set with a custom bot identifier for multi-bot setups
agent-slackbot auth set xoxb-your-bot-token --bot deploy --name "Deploy Bot"

# Verify authentication
agent-slackbot auth status

# Send a message
agent-slackbot message send C0ACZKTDDC0 "Hello from bot!"

# List channels
agent-slackbot channel list

Authentication

Bot Token Setup

agent-slackbot uses Slack Bot tokens (xoxb-) which you get from the Slack App configuration:

# Set bot token (validates against Slack API before saving)
agent-slackbot auth set xoxb-your-bot-token

# Set with a custom bot identifier
agent-slackbot auth set xoxb-your-bot-token --bot deploy --name "Deploy Bot"

# Check auth status
agent-slackbot auth status

# Clear stored credentials
agent-slackbot auth clear

Multi-Bot Management

Store multiple bot tokens and switch between them:

# Add multiple bots
agent-slackbot auth set xoxb-deploy-token --bot deploy --name "Deploy Bot"
agent-slackbot auth set xoxb-alert-token --bot alert --name "Alert Bot"

# List all stored bots
agent-slackbot auth list

# Switch active bot
agent-slackbot auth use deploy

# Use a specific bot for one command (without switching)
agent-slackbot message send C0ACZKTDDC0 "Alert!" --bot alert

# Remove a stored bot
agent-slackbot auth remove deploy

# Disambiguate bots with same ID across workspaces
agent-slackbot auth use T123456/deploy

The --bot <id> flag is available on all commands to override the active bot for a single invocation.

Getting a Bot Token

1. Go to api.slack.com/apps
2. Create New App (or select existing)
3. Go to OAuth & Permissions
4. Add required bot token scopes (see below)
5. Install app to workspace
6. Copy the Bot User OAuth Token (starts with xoxb-)

Required Bot Token Scopes

Environment Variables (CI/CD)

For CI/CD pipelines, set these environment variables instead of using auth set:

export E2E_SLACKBOT_TOKEN=xoxb-your-bot-token
export E2E_SLACKBOT_WORKSPACE_ID=T123456
export E2E_SLACKBOT_WORKSPACE_NAME="My Workspace"

Commands

Message Commands

# Send a message
agent-slackbot message send <channel> <text>
agent-slackbot message send C0ACZKTDDC0 "Hello world"

# Send a threaded reply
agent-slackbot message send C0ACZKTDDC0 "Reply" --thread <ts>

# List messages
agent-slackbot message list <channel>
agent-slackbot message list C0ACZKTDDC0 --limit 50

# Get a single message by timestamp
agent-slackbot message get <channel> <ts>

# Get thread replies (includes parent message)
agent-slackbot message replies <channel> <thread_ts>
agent-slackbot message replies C0ACZKTDDC0 1234567890.123456 --limit 50

# Update a message (bot's own messages only)
agent-slackbot message update <channel> <ts> <new-text>

# Delete a message (bot's own messages only)
agent-slackbot message delete <channel> <ts> --force

Channel Commands

# List channels the bot can see
agent-slackbot channel list
agent-slackbot channel list --limit 50

# Get channel info
agent-slackbot channel info <channel>
agent-slackbot channel info C0ACZKTDDC0

User Commands

# List users
agent-slackbot user list
agent-slackbot user list --limit 50

# Get user info
agent-slackbot user info <user-id>

Reaction Commands

# Add reaction
agent-slackbot reaction add <channel> <ts> <emoji>
agent-slackbot reaction add C0ACZKTDDC0 1234567890.123456 thumbsup

# Remove reaction
agent-slackbot reaction remove <channel> <ts> <emoji>

Output Format

JSON (Default)

All commands output JSON by default for AI consumption:

{
  "ts": "1234567890.123456",
  "channel": "C0ACZKTDDC0",
  "text": "Hello world"
}

Pretty (Human-Readable)

Use --pretty flag for formatted output:

agent-slackbot channel list --pretty

Common Patterns

See references/common-patterns.md for typical AI agent workflows.

Templates

See templates/ directory for runnable examples:

• post-message.sh – Send messages with error handling
• monitor-channel.sh – Monitor channel for new messages
• workspace-summary.sh – Generate workspace summary

Error Handling

All commands return consistent error format:

{
  "error": "No credentials. Run \"auth set\" first."
}

Common errors:

• missing_token: No credentials configured
• invalid_token_type: Token is not a bot token (must start with xoxb-)
• not_in_channel: Bot needs to join the channel first
• slack_webapi_rate_limited_error: Hit rate limit (auto-retries with backoff)

Configuration

Credentials stored in: ~/.config/agent-messenger/slackbot-credentials.json

Format:

{
  "current": {
    "workspace_id": "T123456",
    "bot_id": "deploy"
  },
  "workspaces": {
    "T123456": {
      "workspace_id": "T123456",
      "workspace_name": "My Workspace",
      "bots": {
        "deploy": {
          "bot_id": "deploy",
          "bot_name": "Deploy Bot",
          "token": "xoxb-..."
        },
        "alert": {
          "bot_id": "alert",
          "bot_name": "Alert Bot",
          "token": "xoxb-..."
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Security: File permissions set to 0600 (owner read/write only)

Key Differences from agent-slack

Limitations

• No real-time events / Socket Mode
• No message search (requires user token scope)
• No file upload/download
• No workspace snapshot
• Bot can only edit/delete its own messages
• Bot must be invited to private channels
• No scheduled messages
• Plain text messages only (no blocks/formatting)

References

• Authentication Guide
• Common Patterns