Slack App Scaffold

Slack App Scaffold

Bolt for JavaScript + Slack CLI is the 2026 default. Optimize for fast local runs, clear handlers, and safe deploys.

Stack (Default)

• Runtime: Node.js (LTS)
• Framework: @slack/bolt
• Tooling: Slack CLI (slack)
• Config: Slack manifest via CLI-generated project

Core CLI Commands

# Create new Slack app project
slack create my-slack-app

# Run locally (socket mode / dev env)
cd my-slack-app
slack run

# Deploy to Slack-hosted runtime / target env
slack deploy

Workflow (CLI-First)

1. Identify integration points in existing functionality.
2. Scaffold app with slack create.
3. Model capabilities in the manifest (scopes, events, commands, interactivity).
4. Implement handlers in Bolt (events, commands, actions, views/modals).
5. Run locally with slack run and validate in a dev workspace.
6. Deploy with slack deploy.

Project Structure (Typical)

my-slack-app/
├── app/
│   ├── app.js              # Bolt app bootstrap
│   ├── listeners/          # Events, commands, actions, views
│   ├── services/           # Integration layer to existing functionality
│   └── middleware/         # Auth, validation, shared guards
├── manifest.json           # Slack app manifest (CLI-managed)
├── package.json
└── README.md

Design rule: keep Slack handlers thin; push real work into services/.

Common Use Cases

• Notifications: post messages from existing jobs or webhooks.
• Slash commands: wrap existing scripts or APIs behind /commands.
• Workflows: compose multi-step flows with Slack-native triggers.
• Modals: collect structured input, then call existing systems.

Implementation Notes

• Map each Slack surface to one listener module.
• Normalize inputs at the edge; pass clean DTOs inward.
• Acknowledge fast (ack()), then do work.
• Centralize Slack Web API calls behind a small service.

See references/bolt-patterns.md for concrete patterns.

Verification Steps

# 1) Install deps
npm install

# 2) Run locally
slack run

# 3) Lint/test if present
npm test

# 4) Deploy
slack deploy

Manual checks in Slack workspace:

• Trigger each command or event once.
• Validate permissions/scopes match what handlers need.
• Confirm errors surface as user-visible messages, not silent failures.