Slack

Send messages and interact with Slack workspaces

Overview

Slack tool allows you to send messages, read channels, and interact with Slack workspaces.

The user asks to post or read messages; the agent calls Slack and returns the outcome.

Installation

pip install "praisonai[tools]"

Environment Variables

export SLACK_BOT_TOKEN=xoxb-your-bot-token
export SLACK_WEBHOOK_URL=https://hooks.slack.com/services/...  # Optional

Quick Start

1. Simple Usage

   from praisonai_tools import SlackTool
   
   # Initialize
   slack = SlackTool()
   
   # Send message
   slack.send_message("#general", "Hello from PraisonAI!")
   
2. With Configuration

   Use the same tool with an agent — see Usage with Agent below, or pass env vars and options from the sections above.

Usage with Agent

from praisonaiagents import Agent
from praisonai_tools import SlackTool

agent = Agent(
    name="SlackBot",
    instructions="You send notifications to Slack.",
    tools=[SlackTool()]
)

response = agent.chat("Send a message to #alerts saying the deployment is complete")
print(response)

Available Methods

send_message(channel, text)

Send a message to a channel.

from praisonai_tools import SlackTool

slack = SlackTool()
slack.send_message("#general", "Hello!")

get_channels()

List available channels.

channels = slack.get_channels()

get_history(channel, limit=10)

Get channel message history.

messages = slack.get_history("#general", limit=20)

Common Errors

Error	Cause	Solution
SLACK_BOT_TOKEN not configured	Missing token	Set environment variable
channel_not_found	Invalid channel	Check channel name
not_in_channel	Bot not in channel	Invite bot to channel

How It Works

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Best Practices

Store the bot token securely

Read the Slack token from the environment, never hard-code it.

Scope bot permissions

Grant only the channel and message scopes the task requires.

Handle rate limits

Slack returns HTTP 429 under load. Retry with backoff so the agent stays responsive.

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Related Tools

Discord

Discord messaging

Telegram

Telegram bot

Email

Email notifications