Slack

Each agent gets its own Slack bot, and people @mention it by name: @archestra_marketing and @archestra_coding can work in the same channel, even the same thread. The answer streams in as the agent writes it, and a Stop button ends it.

Connect Slack

You paste one token pair from Slack once, and Archestra creates a Slack app for every agent you add. You need a Slack workspace where you can install apps.

1. Go to Settings → Messaging Channels → Slack and click Connect Slack.
2. On api.slack.com/apps, click Generate Token under Your App Configuration Tokens, and paste both tokens. Archestra renews them itself. Each person who adds bots pastes their own.
3. Click Add Slack bot, pick the agent, and keep or change its Slack name.
4. Approve the install in Slack. In Socket Mode, also paste the app-level token Slack shows; Slack has no API to create it.
5. Add your team as collaborators on the app's Slack page. Slack makes only the person whose token created an app its collaborator, and has no API to add others.
6. Edit the bot to add it to channels. It joins public channels itself; for a private one, type /invite @archestra_marketing there.

What to know:

• Name and icon: the bot uses the agent's icon and keeps it in sync. Renaming the agent renames the bot, unless you picked its Slack name yourself. Slack app icons must be images, so an emoji icon keeps Slack's default.
• Reinstall: when Slack needs new permissions, the bot's row says so and links to its Slack page.
• An app connected before: it is listed for conversion. Pick the agent it should answer as; it keeps its name, channels, and DMs.

Connection mode and the token live under Advanced:

With an HTTPS address, installing a new bot is one click: Slack sends you back to Archestra with the bot connected.

When a Bot Answers

• In a channel, a bot answers when you mention it.
• In a thread, one mention is enough. It then answers every message in that thread.
• In a direct message, it answers every message.
• Mentioning one bot does not wake another in the same thread.

One bot per channel can reply to all messages, with no mention needed. Turning it on for a bot takes it from the bot that had it. Other bots in the channel still wait for their mention.

To quiet a thread, reply mute or react :mute: or :shushing_face: to a message in it. You can also press Stop while the bot is working. These controls cancel the answer in progress and end auto-replies; mention the bot again to wake it.

Watch the Answer Arrive

The answer appears as the agent writes it, so a long one never leaves the thread silent. Each tool call shows as a step that turns done or failed. The bot already carries the agent's name, so answers have no signature line.

• Steps: the tool calls of one answer are grouped in a single list.
• Streaming: in direct messages and threads where you mentioned the bot. Elsewhere the full answer posts at once, because the agent may decide to stay quiet.
• Suggested prompts: the agent's first four suggested prompts wait at the top of the bot's direct messages.

Channel Instructions

Tell the agents how to behave in one channel. Edit the agent's bot, open the channel's Settings, and write them as you would talk to the agent. Every bot in the channel follows them. For example: "Every message here is a task. Create it at once, and do not ask first."

They come first, before the agent's own instructions. They add to what the agent does, and never remove an ability.

Bots also read the channel's description from Slack, to know what the channel is about. Anyone in the channel can edit it, so it is context, not instructions.

What to Know

• New people: someone who messages a bot without an Archestra account gets one. It has the organization's default role for new users, set in Settings → Auth. Find these accounts in Settings → Users.
• Welcome message: the bot DMs a new person a sign-up link, or a sign-in link when you use SSO. To turn it off, set ARCHESTRA_CHATOPS_SIGNUP_WELCOME_ENABLED=false.
• Files: the agent reads images, PDFs, and text files such as CSV, JSON, and Markdown. Files posted earlier in the same thread count too. With a code sandbox, it can open other files, such as ZIP archives.
• File limits: 20 files per message, 10 MB per file, 25 MB in total. Archestra skips larger files and tells the agent which files it did not get.
• Agent experience: connecting moves your existing Slack apps to Slack's agent experience, which the Stop button and DM prompts need. Slack cannot switch an app back.

Troubleshooting