Slack Bot

Create a Slack App, configure OAuth scopes and event subscriptions, and deploy an Agno agent.

slack_bot.py

from agno.agent import Agent
from agno.db.sqlite import SqliteDb
from agno.models.openai import OpenAIChat
from agno.os.app import AgentOS
from agno.os.interfaces.slack import Slack

agent_db = SqliteDb(session_table="agent_sessions", db_file="tmp/persistent_memory.db")

basic_agent = Agent(
    name="Basic Agent",
    model=OpenAIChat(id="gpt-4o"),
    db=agent_db,
    add_history_to_context=True,
    num_history_runs=3,
    add_datetime_to_context=True,
)

agent_os = AgentOS(
    agents=[basic_agent],
    interfaces=[Slack(agent=basic_agent)],
)
app = agent_os.get_app()

if __name__ == "__main__":
    agent_os.serve(app="slack_bot:app", port=7777, reload=True)

Install the dependency: uv pip install 'agno[slack]'

Setup

1. Create a Slack App

   1. Go to api.slack.com/apps and click Create New App
   2. Choose From scratch, give it a name, and select your workspace
   3. On the Basic Information page, copy the Signing Secret
2. Enable Agents & AI Apps

   This is required for streaming task cards and suggested prompts.

   1. In the sidebar, click Agents & AI Apps
   2. Toggle Agent or Assistant to On
   3. Under Suggested Prompts, select Dynamic
   4. Click Save

   Enabling this automatically adds the assistant:write scope.

3. Add OAuth Scopes

   1. In the sidebar, click OAuth & Permissions
   2. Under Scopes > Bot Token Scopes, add:

   Scope	Purpose
   app_mentions:read	Receive @mention events
   assistant:write	Streaming (task cards, suggested prompts)
   chat:write	Send messages and stream responses
   im:history	Read DM history for thread context
   files:read	Download files users send to the bot
   files:write	Upload response files (images, docs)

   These are the minimum scopes for streaming. Add channels:history, groups:history, users:read, or search:read if your agent uses SlackTools for channel history, user lookup, or message search.

   3. Click Install to Workspace and authorize the app
   4. Copy the Bot User OAuth Token (xoxb-...)
4. Set Environment Variables

   export SLACK_TOKEN="xoxb-your-bot-user-token"
   export SLACK_SIGNING_SECRET="your-signing-secret"
   

   Find these in your Slack App settings:

   • Bot User OAuth Token: OAuth & Permissions
   • Signing Secret: Basic Information > App Credentials
5. Subscribe to Events

   1. In the sidebar, click Event Subscriptions

   2. Toggle Enable Events to On

   3. Set Request URL to your tunnel URL:

      https://<your-tunnel>/slack/events
      

      Your app must be running for Slack to verify the URL.

   4. Under Subscribe to bot events, add:

   Event	Purpose
   app_mention	Respond to @mentions in channels
   message.im	Respond to direct messages
   assistant_thread_started	Set suggested prompts on new threads

   Add message.channels and message.groups if you set reply_to_mentions_only=False and want the bot to respond to all channel messages.

   5. Click Save Changes
   6. Go to Install App and click Reinstall to Workspace
6. Enable App Home

   1. In the sidebar, click App Home
   2. Under Show Tabs, enable Messages Tab
   3. Check Allow users to send Slash commands and messages from the messages tab
7. Start a Tunnel

   Slack needs a public HTTPS URL to deliver events:

   ngrok http 7777
   

   Copy the https:// forwarding URL and paste it into the Event Subscriptions Request URL (Step 5). The free ngrok tier gives you a random subdomain that changes on restart.

8. Run the App

   python slack_bot.py
   

   DM the bot or @mention it in a channel to test.

ngrok is for local development only. For production, see the deployment templates.

Scopes Reference

Add scopes based on the features your bot uses.

Minimum (streaming bot that responds to mentions and DMs)

Scope	Required For
app_mentions:read	Receive @mention events in channels
assistant:write	Streaming task cards, suggested prompts, thread titles
channels:read	Resolve channel names (called on every inbound event)
chat:write	Send messages and stream responses
im:history	Read DM history for thread context

File handling

Scope	Required For
files:read	Download files users attach to messages
files:write	Upload images, audio, video, and files generated by agent tools

SlackTools methods

Scope	Required For
channels:read	list_channels(), get_channel_info()
channels:history	get_channel_history(), get_thread() in public channels
groups:read	list_channels() for private channels
groups:history	get_channel_history(), get_thread() in private channels
search:read	search_messages() (requires user token)
search:read.public	search_workspace() messages and channels
search:read.files	search_workspace() files
search:read.users	search_workspace() users
users:read	list_users(), get_user_info()
users:read.email	get_user_info() with email field

Other features

Scope	Required For
users:read	resolve_user_identity=True on the Slack interface
users:read.email	resolve_user_identity=True with email lookup
channels:history	reply_to_mentions_only=False in public channels
groups:history	reply_to_mentions_only=False in private channels

Event subscriptions

Event	Required For
app_mention	Respond to @mentions in channels
message.im	Respond to direct messages
assistant_thread_started	Set suggested prompts on new threads
message.channels	Respond to all public channel messages (reply_to_mentions_only=False)
message.groups	Respond to all private channel messages (reply_to_mentions_only=False)

Developer Resources

Slack Interface

Streaming, sessions, file handling, and behavior details.

Interface Reference

All parameters, endpoints, and event handling.

SlackTools

Give agents outbound Slack actions: messaging, search, files.

Deployment Templates

Production deployment guides for AWS, GCP, and Docker.