Slack is a messaging and collaboration platform that lets your RShift Sites app work with team communications, channels, and workspace data. The Slack connector lets your app notify teams, summarize conversations, and send structured updates directly to Slack.
RShift Sites offers three ways to bring Slack into an app you build. Choose the one that matches what you want to build:
| Use | If you want to |
|---|---|
| App + chat connector (this page) | Work with a shared Slack connection in the chat and in your published apps |
| Your app as a Slack agent | Add an app you built to Slack as its own agent, so teammates can mention it or message it directly |
| App user connector | Let each user of your published app connect their own Slack account, or install your bot in their own Slack workspace, and work with their own data. This type uses a Slack app you register yourself |
With Slack, your app can:
- Send messages to channels and direct messages
- Read messages from public and private channels (with the matching scopes)
- List workspace users and channel information
- React to messages with emoji (with the matching scopes)
- Search Slack content (private channels and direct messages need a personal connection)
- Manage channels and invite members (with the matching scopes)
- Run inside Slack as its own agent that replies to mentions and direct messages (see Add your app to Slack as an agent)
Each Slack connection is authorized for a single Slack workspace.
Common use cases and example apps
These examples show what you can build with Slack, each with a prompt to start from.
| Example app | Example prompt | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Customer notifications to Slack | Use Slack and build a quote request form that saves each submission and posts a summary to #new-deals. | Notify your team in Slack when customers take action in your app. The app captures the submission, formats the key details, and posts them to the channel so someone can respond immediately. |
| Incident dashboard with Slack escalation | Use Slack and build an internal incident dashboard with a Post Alert button that sends a structured alert to #ops-alerts. | Consolidate operational data into one internal dashboard. When something needs attention, the app posts a structured alert to Slack so the right team can respond. |
| Weekly Slack digest app | Use Slack and build a tool that summarizes #product and #support from the past 7 days, lets me review the summary, then posts it to #leadership. | Turn busy Slack channels into structured summaries. The app reads recent messages, extracts key themes, and posts a digest for leadership or cross-functional teams. |
| Automated KPI reports | Use Slack and build a dashboard that generates a KPI summary every Monday at 9am and posts it to #team-updates. | Deliver recurring reports directly to Slack channels. The app compiles selected metrics on a schedule and posts formatted updates to keep the team aligned. |
| Multi-workspace notifications | Use Slack and build a deploy tracker that notifies our internal Slack workspace and our partner’s workspace when a deployment finishes. | Send notifications across multiple Slack workspaces from a single app. The app routes messages to different workspaces based on the event or audience. |
| Slack-powered knowledge search | Use Slack and build a search interface for my Slack messages with filters for date and sender. | Create a structured search experience for Slack conversations. The app lets users search messages and filter results to find past discussions and decisions. |
| Team activity dashboard | Use Slack and build a dashboard showing where I’ve been mentioned and which messages need follow-up. | Surface Slack activity in a focused internal view. The app aggregates mentions and recent activity so you can track conversations and follow up on action items. |
| Automated onboarding workflows | Use Slack and build a project kickoff tool that creates Slack channels, adds team members, and sends a welcome message when a new project starts. | Automate Slack setup as part of broader onboarding workflows. The app provisions channels, assigns members, and posts welcome messages without manual coordination. |
How Slack connections work
RShift Sites uses one centrally managed Slack app to power all Slack connections across workspaces, so you never register your own Slack app for this connector. This is a different Slack app from the one behind RShift Sites in Slack, and different again from the Slack app you register yourself for the app user connector.
Within your RShift Sites workspace:
- Each connection is a separate Slack authorization.
- Each connection can use different scopes, a different access type (bot or personal), and a different Slack workspace.
- Multiple projects can use the same connection.
Requests go through RShift Sites’ connector gateway, which holds the OAuth token so it never appears in your project. Each connection can make 100 Slack API requests per minute per project through the gateway. See Gateway-based connectors for details on authentication and usage limits.
How to connect Slack
Who can create Slack connections depends on your plan and workspace settings. App + chat connectors are available by default on Free, Pro, and Business plans. On Enterprise plans, they are effectively disabled at first: Who can create connections and clients defaults to No one until an admin changes it in Connectors → Admin settings → App + chat connectors.
You can create multiple Slack connections using different Slack workspaces or access types, which is useful for separating environments or messaging several workspaces from one app.
When the connection is created, you can link it to the projects where you want to use it. Anyone building in a project can ask RShift Sites in the project chat to link their project to it.
Prerequisites
Before connecting Slack, make sure you have:
- A Slack workspace where you can install apps, or where you can request admin approval to install one
- Permission to create connections in your RShift Sites workspace (see Who can create connections and clients)
Set up your Slack connection
You authorize RShift Sites with your Slack account. You do not need an API token or a Slack app of your own.
Open Slack in Connectors
Open Connectors and select Slack. For the other places to open the catalog from, see Where to find connectors.
Add a connection
Click Add connection and select App + chat connector.
Name the connection
In Display name, name the connection (for example, Slack Prod). This name is only used inside RShift Sites to identify the connection.
Choose the access type
Under Access Type, choose how the connection acts in Slack. You cannot change this after the connection is created.
- Connect as yourself (default): operations run as you, with your Slack permissions, and can reach your personal data such as direct messages if you grant the scopes. Use this for personal search and digests.
- Connect as a bot: operations run as a bot. One bot connection per Slack workspace is enough, and each project can set the bot’s display name and icon. Use this for shared notifications and alerts.
Review scopes (optional)
Under Scopes, review the Slack permissions the connection requests. The list changes with the access type. View basic information about public channels in a workspace and View messages and other content in public channels you are in are always included. Selected by default for both access types: sending messages, reading private channels, direct messages, and group direct messages the connection is in, starting direct and group messages, viewing people, and searching public channels, files, and people. Bot connections also select customizing the bot’s name and icon by default. Personal connections also select searching private channels, direct messages, and group direct messages by default.
Select only the scopes your app needs. You can change scopes later by editing the connection and clicking Reconnect. For full scope documentation, see the Slack scope reference.
Choose who can use this connection
Under Sharing, the connection is private to you by default and shows a Private label. To share it, click Share with others. Then add workspace members by email, or click Invite entire workspace to make the connection available to everyone in your RShift Sites workspace.
See Who can use connections and clients for more information.
Connect to Slack and authorize
Click Connect. The Slack authorization window opens, so make sure your browser doesn’t block pop-ups. If it does, RShift Sites redirects you instead.
Select the Slack workspace you want to connect, review the requested permissions, and authorize the app.
You’ll be redirected back to RShift Sites with a confirmation.
When connected, anyone building in a project can ask RShift Sites in the project chat to link their project to Slack (based on configured connection-level access). Your RShift Sites apps can then send messages, read channels, and work with your team’s Slack workspace.
Slack bot behavior and channel access
When you connect Slack as a bot, messages are sent from RShift Sites’ centrally managed Slack app, which appears in Slack as RShift Sites App with a heart icon. Each project can define its own bot display name and icon, so different projects can appear as different bots in Slack even though they all send through the same Slack app.
Bot customization
You can customize how messages from your project appear in Slack by prompting RShift Sites to set a custom bot name and icon.
For example:
Send messages as 'Deploy Bot' with a rocket emoji icon.Using a consistent bot name and icon helps teammates recognize which project is sending messages.
Public channel access
The bot has access to all public channels in the workspace without an invitation.
Private channel access
You must invite the bot before it can read or post messages in a private channel. In the channel, use /invite and pick RShift Sites App, the connector’s bot. It is different from the RShift Sites app you mention to chat with RShift Sites in Slack. If your app cannot post to a private channel, invite the bot first.
Add your app to Slack as an agent
RShift Sites can add an app you built to your team’s Slack workspace as its own Slack app, so teammates can use it by mentioning it in a channel or sending it a direct message. The app appears in Slack under its own name, not under RShift Sites’. RShift Sites creates the Slack app, sets its permissions, and stores the keys the app needs to connect, so you do not need to visit Slack’s developer site or copy keys between Slack and RShift Sites.
An app added to Slack as an agent works differently from a shared Slack connection. A shared connection lets your app call Slack, for example to post a message. An app added to Slack as an agent also receives messages from Slack: when someone mentions the app or writes to it, Slack delivers that message to your published app, and your app answers with the behavior you built.
Authorize your Slack workspace
A RShift Sites workspace admin or owner authorizes the Slack workspace once. Every app you add to Slack afterward uses that authorization, so you do not repeat it for each app.
Open the Slack connector
Open Connectors, select Slack, and scroll to the Your apps in Slack section.
Connect the workspace
Click Connect Slack workspace and approve the request in Slack. This gives RShift Sites permission to create and manage apps in that Slack workspace.
The person who connects the workspace needs permission to install apps in the Slack workspace. If your company restricts who can install Slack apps, Slack routes the request to your Slack admins for approval. This approval requirement comes from your company’s Slack settings, not from RShift Sites.
You can authorize more than one Slack workspace. After the first one, the button reads Connect another workspace. Each authorized workspace shows who connected it and when.
Build the app and add it to Slack
You build the app in the project chat like any other RShift Sites app. Describe what it should do when someone mentions it or messages it:
Build an onboarding assistant for new hires. When someone mentions it in a Slack channel or sends it a direct message, it should answer questions about our onboarding checklist and point people to the right documents.Then add it to Slack:
Publish the project
Your published app receives and answers the Slack messages, so publish before installing. The app can be published to the workspace only. You do not need to publish it publicly.
Ask RShift Sites to add the app to Slack
Add this app to our Slack workspace as an agent called Onboarding Assistant.RShift Sites asks you to confirm, then creates the Slack app and installs it. You choose the app’s name (up to 35 characters) and can add a short description (up to 140 characters) that appears in Slack. If several Slack workspaces are authorized, tell RShift Sites which workspace to install the app into. Only workspace admins and owners can add apps to Slack.
Approve the installation if Slack requires it
If your Slack workspace requires admin approval for new apps, RShift Sites gives you an approval link, and the app’s status shows Waiting for approval until a Slack admin approves it.
Publish the project again
RShift Sites stores the new Slack app’s keys as project secrets, and your live app receives them only on the next publish. Publish once more, and the app is ready to answer messages.
To start using the app, mention it in a channel (if the app is not in the channel, Slack offers to add it) or open a direct message with it.
What the app can do in Slack
An app added to Slack as an agent can:
- Reply when someone mentions it in a channel it has been added to
- Reply to direct messages
- Post messages and replies under its own name
It cannot read channel history, create slash commands, or respond to interactive buttons or modals. The app can also use a shared Slack connection when it needs broader Slack access, for example reading channels to build a digest.
Manage your apps in Slack
The Your apps in Slack section on the Slack connector page lists every app added from your RShift Sites workspace, with a link to the project it came from, when it was created, and its status: Installing, Waiting for approval, Ready, or Failed. This section is the only place these apps appear in RShift Sites: they are not listed in the Connections section with your shared Slack connections.
Each project can have one app per Slack workspace. If you ask RShift Sites to add the same project again, it updates the existing Slack app, including its name, instead of creating a second one. The Slack connection RShift Sites creates for the app is shared with your entire RShift Sites workspace.
To remove an app, click Remove on its row. RShift Sites deletes the Slack app, its connection, and the Slack keys it stored as project secrets. This does not change your project’s code, and other apps remain installed.
To disconnect a Slack workspace entirely, click Revoke next to the workspace name. This removes RShift Sites’ permission to create and manage apps in that Slack workspace. You must remove the workspace’s apps before you can revoke it. You can authorize the same workspace again later.
Slack admins can see the apps in Slack’s own app management pages and remove or restrict them there. Routine management, such as renaming or removing an app, happens in RShift Sites.
Limitations
The Slack app + chat connector documented on this page cannot:
- Receive incoming Slack events, such as mentions or replies. A shared connection has no webhooks or event subscriptions. To respond to mentions and direct messages, add your app to Slack as an agent instead.
- Create slash commands.
- Respond to interactive buttons or modals in real time.
- Support per-end-user Slack login. Each connection represents a single Slack account or bot shared across all projects linked to it. If you need each user of your app to sign in with their own Slack account, use the Slack app user connector.
An app added to Slack as an agent receives mentions and direct messages. Like a shared connection, it cannot create slash commands or respond to interactive buttons or modals.
If Slack authorization is revoked from the Slack side, reconnect the connection in RShift Sites before API calls can succeed again.
AI disclosure
RShift Sites is an AI-powered platform. Apps built with RShift Sites may generate AI-assisted content such as summaries or notifications. AI-generated outputs may occasionally contain inaccuracies and should be reviewed before use.
Manage your {connector_0} connection
Connections are managed from Connectors: select {connector_0}, then open the connection.
- Unlink projects to remove {connector_0} access from specific projects while keeping the connection available for others. See Unlink projects from a connection for the steps.
- Delete the connection to remove it from the workspace entirely. Deleting is permanent. It removes the credentials from all linked projects, and app features that use {connector_0} stop working until a new connection is added. See Delete a connection for the steps and who can delete.