Slack

SlackTools enable an Agent to interact with the Slack API. 12 methods cover messaging, channels, file management, search, threads, and user lookup.

Prerequisites

uv pip install -U "agno[slack]"

export SLACK_TOKEN=***

Example

The following agent sends a message to a Slack channel, lists channels, and retrieves message history. The messaging, channel, and file tools are enabled by default, so SlackTools() needs no configuration.

from agno.agent import Agent
from agno.tools.slack import SlackTools

agent = Agent(tools=[SlackTools()])

# Example 1: Send a message to a Slack channel
agent.print_response("Send a message 'Hello from Agno!' to the channel #general", markdown=True)

# Example 2: List all channels in the Slack workspace
agent.print_response("List all channels in our Slack workspace", markdown=True)

# Example 3: Get the message history of a specific channel by channel ID
agent.print_response("Get the last 10 messages from the channel 1231241", markdown=True)

Toolkit Params

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
token	Optional[str]	None	Slack API token. Falls back to SLACK_TOKEN env var.
markdown	bool	True	Enable Slack mrkdwn formatting in messages.
output_directory	Optional[str]	None	Directory to save downloaded files locally. Setting this implies save_downloads=True.
save_downloads	bool	False	When True, save downloaded files to disk (in output_directory or current directory). When False, return file content as base64.
enable_send_message	bool	True	Enable send_message tool.
enable_send_message_thread	bool	True	Enable send_message_thread tool.
enable_list_channels	bool	True	Enable list_channels tool.
enable_get_channel_history	bool	True	Enable get_channel_history tool.
enable_upload_file	bool	True	Enable upload_file tool.
enable_download_file	bool	True	Enable download_file tool.
enable_search_messages	bool	False	Enable search_messages tool. Requires a user token and the search:read OAuth scope.
enable_search_workspace	bool	False	Enable search_workspace tool. Uses Slack’s assistant.search.context API. Requires search:read.public, search:read.files, and search:read.users bot scopes. Only works through the Slack interface (needs action_token).
enable_get_thread	bool	False	Enable get_thread tool.
enable_list_users	bool	False	Enable list_users tool.
enable_get_user_info	bool	False	Enable get_user_info tool.
enable_get_channel_info	bool	False	Enable get_channel_info tool.
all	bool	False	Enable all tools. Overrides individual flags.
ssl	Optional[SSLContext]	None	SSL context for the Slack WebClient.
max_file_size	int	1073741824	Maximum file size in bytes for uploads and downloads (default 1 GB).
thread_message_limit	int	20	Maximum number of messages to fetch in get_thread.

When you do not pass instructions, SlackTools builds usage guidance from the enabled tools (when to reply in a thread, which search to use) and adds it to the agent’s system prompt automatically.

Toolkit Functions

Function	Description
send_message(channel, text)	Send a message to a Slack channel.
send_message_thread(channel, text, thread_ts)	Reply to a message thread in a channel.
list_channels(include_private=False)	List all channels in the workspace. Set include_private=True to include private channels (requires groups:read scope).
get_channel_history(channel, limit=100)	Get message history from a channel. Returns top-level messages only; use get_thread() to expand threads.
upload_file(channel, content, filename, title?, initial_comment?, thread_ts?)	Upload a file to a channel with optional caption.
download_file(file_id, dest_path?)	Download a file by file ID. Returns path or base64 content.
search_messages(query, limit=20)	Search messages across the workspace. Requires a user token (bot tokens return not_allowed_token_type).
search_workspace(query, content_types?, channel_types?, limit=10, include_context_messages=True)	Search messages, files, channels, and users across the workspace using Slack’s Real-Time Search API. Only works through the Slack interface.
get_thread(channel, thread_ts, limit=20)	Get all messages in a thread by parent timestamp. Capped by thread_message_limit.
list_users(limit=100)	List all users in the workspace.
get_user_info(user_id)	Get detailed info about a user by user ID.
get_channel_info(channel)	Get channel metadata: name, topic, purpose, member count, and visibility.

search_messages supports Slack search modifiers: from:@user, in:#channel, has:link, before:2024-01-01, after:2024-01-01. Combine them to narrow results.

SlackTools also exposes download_file_bytes(file_id) for programmatic use. It returns raw bytes and is not registered as an agent tool.

Developer Resources

Examples

Tool configurations: all tools, a subset, and read-only.

Slack Interface

Streaming, sessions, file handling, and behavior details.

Source Code

View the SlackTools implementation on GitHub.