Slack API CLI

A local Slack CLI for fast terminal workflows against the Slack workspace you already use.

This project does not create a Slack app and does not use Slack OAuth. It opens a local browser profile, lets you sign in to Slack normally, extracts the browser session token and cookies, and stores them in a private local auth cache.

What's New in v0.3.0

• Slack Later bookmarks (bookmarks): List active, completed, or archived Saved for Later messages while keeping text redacted by default.
• Save and unsave actions: Add a message to Later or remove it by permalink, with dry-run previews and idempotent behavior.
• Enterprise Grid routing: Use the organization-scoped browser session for saved-item calls when a workspace-scoped session is rejected.
• Reliable automation: Bounded hydration, rate-limit retries, pagination guardrails, canonical thread-reply links, and nonzero exits for incomplete results.
• Command aliases: Use saved or starred anywhere you would use bookmarks.

What's New in v0.2.0

• Slack unread scanning (mark-read) — Fully scan unread conversation history without mutating Slack. Filter out muted conversations with --exclude-muted, keep priority channels with --priority, and mark one channel as read through an exact timestamp with --mark.
• CLI Doctor (doctor) — A read-only audit of installation, configuration, auth, Slack APIs, and agent-session readiness. Default output is concise for humans; add --json for a stable agent-readable report, --offline to inspect only local state, or --strict to fail on warnings.
• Agent Sessions (session, beta) — Bridge a Slack thread to a local coding-agent session (tmux, cmux, or Herdr). The listener runs in a standalone pane, keeps all conversation in the bound thread, and delivers responses back to Slack with mrkdwn formatting. Ships with a portable agent skill (see below).
• Thread inspection (channel replies) — Read a full thread by --thread-ts in addition to parent-only channel history.
• Read pagination (read --max-pages) — Cursor-paginated thread reads so long threads are read completely, with incomplete reads reported and exiting nonzero.
• Secure browser profile permissions — Tightened permissions on the configured browser profile directory and auth cache.

Quick Start

Requirement:

• Node.js 20 or newer

Install the CLI:

npm install -g slack-api-cli

Check that the binary is available:

slack-api --help

Run first-time setup:

slack-api setup

When prompted, enter your Slack workspace URL and complete sign-in in the browser:

Tip: In the Slack desktop app, click the workspace name in the top-left menu to find the workspace URL.
Slack workspace URL: https://example.slack.com
Opening Slack in a browser profile...
Authenticated as: alex

Validate the cached session:

slack-api whoami

Audit your installation end to end:

slack-api doctor

Search recent messages:

slack-api search --query "customer escalation" --since 5m

List, save, or unsave your bookmarked messages:

slack-api bookmarks --limit 50 --include-text
slack-api bookmarks --include-archived
slack-api bookmarks add https://example.slack.com/archives/C0123456789/p1778784641394639
slack-api bookmarks remove https://example.slack.com/archives/C0123456789/p1778784641394639

The default lists active Slack Later items and redacts message text. The --include-archived option also reads completed and archived Later buckets. add saves a message to Later and remove unsaves it (both accept a permalink or --link). On Enterprise Grid the command routes the saved-* calls through the organization host with the enterprise session token captured by slack-api auth --refresh; run that once after setup so bookmarks is not rejected as workspace-scoped.

Read your 1:1 DM history with a person:

slack-api dm history --user "Alice Smith" --include-text

Read a message or thread by permalink:

slack-api read --link 'https://example.slack.com/archives/C0123456789/p1778784641394639'

Scan unread conversations, skipping muted ones:

slack-api mark-read --exclude-muted --priority '#design,#product'

Privacy Defaults

Search and read commands redact message text by default. Add --include-snippets or --include-text only when you intentionally want message text in terminal output or saved JSON.

Mutating commands are dry-run by default. Commands such as send, reply, react, and draft validate what would happen, then require an explicit flag such as --send, --add, --remove, --create, or --delete.

Agent Session Skill

The session command ships with a portable agent skill that lets a coding agent (Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode, or Pi) start, operate, and stop Slack-backed sessions. It lives in the repository:

.agents/skills/slack-agent-session/
├── SKILL.md
└── agents/
    └── openai.yaml

To install it, copy the slack-agent-session folder into your agent's skills directory:

# location varies by agent:
cp -R .agents/skills/slack-agent-session ~/.claude/skills/
# or for project-scoped use:
cp -R .agents/skills/slack-agent-session /path/to/your/project/.claude/skills/

Once installed, an agent can respond to requests like "connect this Slack thread to the current terminal" by following SKILL.md, which covers recommended defaults, session start, session respond, collaboration approval, and the hosted-listener flow.

More Docs

• Setup and configuration
• Common commands
• Agent usage
• Agent sessions
• Agent session assessment

Notes

This CLI depends on Slack's browser behavior and private web API endpoints. It may break when Slack changes its web client, and some workspace policies may restrict specific endpoints.