Publish

Arguments

The user invoked this with: $ARGUMENTS

Parse <markdown-file> and <channel> from $ARGUMENTS. Both are required — if either is missing, ask the user before proceeding.

• <channel> may be a channel name (my-channel, #my-channel) or a Slack channel ID (C123..., G123...).

Workflow

1. Check for SLACK_BOT_TOKEN before anything else — use the slack-publish:agent-token-checker agent. If it reports "Token missing", stop here and show the user this guidance: If this exits non-zero, stop here and show the user this guidance:

   SLACK_BOT_TOKEN is not set. To publish to Slack you need a bot token. Here's how to get one:

   1. Go to https://api.slack.com/apps and click Create New App → From a manifest
   2. Select your workspace and paste the contents of slack-app-manifest.yaml (in the plugin directory)
   3. Click Install to Workspace and copy the Bot User OAuth Token (starts with xoxb-)
   4. Invite the bot to your target channel: /invite @Markdown Publisher
   5. Set the token in one of these ways:
      • Shell environment: export SLACK_BOT_TOKEN='xoxb-...'
      • .env file in your working directory: SLACK_BOT_TOKEN=xoxb-...
      • Pass at runtime: re-run with --env-file /path/to/file.env

   Once the token is set, try again.

2. Verify the markdown file exists at the given path.

3. Run the publisher script, quoting each argument as a discrete shell word to prevent shell injection:

   python3 "${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/publish/scripts/publish_markdown_to_slack.py" \
     -- "<markdown-file>" "<channel>"
   

4. To use a different token file:

   python3 "${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/publish/scripts/publish_markdown_to_slack.py" \
     -- "<markdown-file>" "<channel>" --env-file "<path>"
   

5. To preview the converted Slack text without posting:

   python3 "${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/publish/scripts/publish_markdown_to_slack.py" \
     -- "<markdown-file>" "<channel>" --dry-run
   

6. Report success including the resolved channel ID and message timestamp (ts).

7. If posting fails, report the exact Slack API error. Common causes:

   • Missing token scopes (chat:write, channels:read, groups:read)
   • Bot not invited to the destination channel

Environment

SLACK_BOT_TOKEN must be available. Set it via:

• Shell environment: export SLACK_BOT_TOKEN='xoxb-...'
• .env or .env.local in the working directory
• --env-file <path> flag

Required bot token scopes:

• chat:write
• channels:read (public channel name lookup)
• groups:read (private channel name lookup)