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OpenClaw + Slack: Run an AI Agent in Your Slack Workspace

Slack is an official OpenClaw channel. Install the @openclaw/slackplugin, hand it a bot token and an app token, and OpenClaw answers mentions, DMs, and threads — using its full tool set, skills, and memory — right inside your workspace.

Install the Slack Plugin

Slack runs as an official channel plugin. Install it once on your OpenClaw host:

openclaw plugins install @openclaw/slack

The plugin declares the slack channel and reads its credentials from environment variables.

Create the Slack App

  1. Go to api.slack.com/apps and click Create New App → From scratch.
  2. Name it (e.g. “OpenClaw”) and pick your workspace.
  3. Under OAuth & Permissions, add bot scopes: app_mentions:read, chat:write, im:history, im:read, im:write, channels:history, files:read.
  4. Enable Socket Mode (Settings → Socket Mode). Generate an app-level token with the connections:write scope — this is your SLACK_APP_TOKEN (starts with xapp-).
  5. Install the app to your workspace and copy the Bot User OAuth Token(xoxb-) — this is your SLACK_BOT_TOKEN.
Tip: Socket Mode means Slack connects out to your bot — no public webhook URL required, so OpenClaw works even on a host that isn't internet-reachable.

Configure OpenClaw

Set the tokens in the environment OpenClaw runs in:

export SLACK_BOT_TOKEN=xoxb-...
export SLACK_APP_TOKEN=xapp-...

Then enable the channel in ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json:

{
  "channels": {
    "slack": {
      "dmPolicy": "open",
      "allowFrom": ["*"]
    }
  }
}

Like Discord, Slack apps are install-scoped to your workspace, so dmPolicy: "open" with allowFrom: ["*"]is safe — only members of your authorized workspace can reach the bot. Restart the gateway and invite the bot to a channel with /invite @openclaw.

What the Bot Can Do

  • Reply when @-mentioned in any channel it's invited to
  • Accept DMs from workspace members
  • Keep per-thread context so a thread is one conversation
  • Run OpenClaw tools — web search, MCP servers, skills, browser automation
  • Accept file uploads (PDFs, images, code) as multimodal input

Easiest Path: Connect Slack from the Dashboard

Prefer not to wrangle tokens? On OpenClaw Launch, Slack is available as a one-click Connect Platforms option for Hermes Agent instances — the OAuth flow handles tokens for you. If you want the same managed experience for an OpenClaw agent, deploy and reach out at [email protected]; for self-hosted OpenClaw, the plugin steps above are the path today.

Security

The bot only acts within your single authorized workspace, and workspace admins can revoke the install at any time under Manage apps. Scope the bot to specific channels by only inviting it where you want it active.

What's Next?

Deploy OpenClaw

Spin up a fully configured OpenClaw agent in 30 seconds, then connect it to Slack and the rest of your stack.

Deploy OpenClaw