managing-slack-recipe

Slack Management

Quick Reference

List → Read → Send → Reply → Search → Cache → Assistant → Inbox

node ~/.slack/slack.js channels
node ~/.slack/slack.js send C123ABC456 "Message text"
node ~/.slack/slack.js search "query text"
node ~/.slack/slack.js get-user nuno
node ~/.slack/slack.js assistant              # Start monitoring
inbox list                                    # View messages (inbox-recipe)
inbox done <id>                               # Mark done (inbox-recipe)

When to Use

mention: Slack | message | channel | DM | workspace → activate
request: "message X" | "check Y" | "find Z" → execute
query: "what slack messages" | "what's on slack" | "what should I check" → use inbox-recipe (inbox list)

Setup

[ ! -f ~/.slack/slack.js ] && {
  mkdir -p ~/.slack
  cp slack.js package.json config.json.example users-cache.json ~/.slack/
  cd ~/.slack && npm install
  echo "✓ Slack CLI installed to ~/.slack"
}

[ ! -f ~/.slack/config.json ] && {
  cp ~/.slack/config.json.example ~/.slack/config.json
  echo "⚠ Edit ~/.slack/config.json with your token"
}

setup.md → OAuth token generation

Token scopes:

channels:read, channels:history, chat:write, search:read, users:read, im:read, im:history, mpim:read, groups:read, team:read

Note: team:read is required for personal assistant mode to generate Slack links.

Core Operations

Operation	Command	Output
List channels	node ~/.slack/slack.js channels	ID + name/type
Read history	node ~/.slack/slack.js read <channel_id>	Last 20 messages
Send message	node ~/.slack/slack.js send <channel_id> <text>	Confirmation
Reply to thread	node ~/.slack/slack.js reply <channel_id> <timestamp> <text>	Confirmation
Search	node ~/.slack/slack.js search <query>	Matches with context
User info	node ~/.slack/slack.js me	Your username + ID
Get user ID	node ~/.slack/slack.js get-user <name>	User ID (cached or searched)
Cache user	node ~/.slack/slack.js cache-user <name> <user_id>	Confirmation
List cache	node ~/.slack/slack.js list-cache	All cached users
Clear cache	node ~/.slack/slack.js clear-cache	Confirmation
Start assistant	node ~/.slack/slack.js assistant	Continuous monitoring

Channel Operations

List:

node ~/.slack/slack.js channels

Output:

C123ABC456 - engineering
D234BCD567 - DM
G345CDE678 - private-channel

Read history:

node ~/.slack/slack.js read C123ABC456

Output:

[John Doe] Hey team!
[Jane Smith] Working on the PR
[Bot] Build succeeded

Find by name:

node ~/.slack/slack.js channels | grep "engineering"

Channel IDs

Type	Format	Example
Public	C+10chars	C123ABC456
Private	G+10chars	G123ABC456
DM	D+10chars	D123ABC456
User	U+10chars	U06SZL4S5BK

Find: node ~/.slack/slack.js channels | grep "name"

Messaging

Channel:

node ~/.slack/slack.js send C123ABC456 "Deployment complete"

DM:

node ~/.slack/slack.js send U06SZL4S5BK "Hey, quick question"

Thread reply:

SLACK_SHOW_TS=1 node ~/.slack/slack.js search "original message"
node ~/.slack/slack.js reply C123ABC456 1234567890.123456 "Reply text"

Search Operations

Messages:

node ~/.slack/slack.js search "deployment"

Output:

[engineering] john: deployment started
[devops] jane: deployment config updated

Users:

node ~/.slack/slack.js search "Nuno"

Output:

[engineering] mohsen: @U06SZL4S5BK mentioned
[ai-dev] gabriele: Nuno working on feature

In channel:

node ~/.slack/slack.js search "in:#engineering error"

User Info

node ~/.slack/slack.js me

Output:

User: mohsen.bostan (U04REN2QUKS)

User Cache Operations

Get user ID (checks cache first, then searches):

node ~/.slack/slack.js get-user nuno

Output:

✓ Found in cache: nuno → U06SZL4S5BK

If not cached:

Searching for "nuno"...
Found 1 user(s):
  U06SZL4S5BK - Nuno Filipe Vieira Marques
  ✓ Auto-cached as "nuno"

Manually cache a user:

node ~/.slack/slack.js cache-user gabriele U07119WRTMZ

Output:

✓ Cached gabriele → U07119WRTMZ

List all cached users:

node ~/.slack/slack.js list-cache

Output:

Cached users (3):
  nuno → U06SZL4S5BK
  issam → U07HCBZTR37
  gabriele → U07119WRTMZ

Clear the cache:

node ~/.slack/slack.js clear-cache

Output:

✓ Cache cleared

Cache location:

~/.slack/users-cache.json

Personal Assistant

Uses inbox-recipe for message management.

Start assistant (runs continuously):

node ~/.slack/slack.js assistant

Output:

🤖 Personal Assistant activated for mohsen.bostan
📋 Monitoring messages from 3 user(s)
✅ Ready! Waiting for messages...

📨 New message from Nuno Filipe Vieira Marques: Can you review my PR? It's urgent
🔍 Analyzing with Claude...
📊 Analysis:
URGENCY: URGENT
ACTION_NEEDED: YES
SUMMARY: Nuno is requesting a code review for an urgent PR
PRIORITY: High

💾 Cached message
🔔 Notification sent!

View messages:

inbox list

See inbox-recipe for full inbox commands (done, archive, clear).

Workflow:

DM → analyze (Claude) → add to inbox → notify → inbox list → inbox done

Requirements:

Component	Requirement	Install
APP_TOKEN	config.json	setup.md Socket Mode
OAuth scope	team:read	OAuth & Permissions
terminal-notifier	macOS notifications	brew install terminal-notifier
Claude CLI	Message analysis	https://claude.com/claude-code
inbox CLI	Note management	inbox-recipe

Common Patterns

Find + message user:

node ~/.slack/slack.js get-user nuno     # Cached/searches
node ~/.slack/slack.js send U06SZL4S5BK "Message text"

Monitor channel:

node ~/.slack/slack.js read C123ABC456
node ~/.slack/slack.js search "in:#channel-name keyword"

Check mentions:

node ~/.slack/slack.js search "mohsen"

Errors

invalid_auth → check ~/.slack/config.json token
channel_not_found → verify ID format (C|G|D|U+10chars)
not_in_channel → join channel | add bot
missing_scope → add OAuth scope | regenerate token
rate_limited → read Retry-After header → backoff
ENOENT config.json → run setup script

Workflow

~/.slack/slack.js missing → install | exists → parse_intent → identify_targets → execute_operation → parse_output → report

Operations:

send → node ~/.slack/slack.js send <id> <text>
read → node ~/.slack/slack.js read <id>
search → node ~/.slack/slack.js search <query>

Validation

Phase	Command	Expected
Install	Setup script	~/.slack/ created
Configure	Edit config.json	Token set
Auth	node ~/.slack/slack.js me	User ID returned
List	node ~/.slack/slack.js channels	Channels listed
Send	send C123 "test"	Message appears

Checklist:

~/.slack/slack.js exists?
~/.slack/config.json configured?
me command returns user?
channels command lists channels?
test message sends?
assistant mode: APP_TOKEN set?
assistant mode: message.im event subscribed?
inbox command: returns cached messages?

Validation workflow:

Phase	Command	Expected
Basic	node ~/.slack/slack.js me	User ID returned
Channels	node ~/.slack/slack.js channels	List displayed
Cache	node ~/.slack/slack.js list-cache	Cached users shown
Inbox	node ~/.slack/slack.js inbox	Messages or "No messages"
Assistant	node ~/.slack/slack.js assistant	Connects successfully

Example Session

$ node ~/.slack/slack.js search "Nuno"
[engineering] mohsen.bostan: @U06SZL4S5BK mentioned in discussion

$ node ~/.slack/slack.js send U06SZL4S5BK "Hey! Quick question about the PR"
✓ Message sent

$ node ~/.slack/slack.js read C08SU0H7T9U
[Nuno Marques] Sure, what's up?
[Mohsen Bostan] Just sent you a message