# Slack Digest

> Use when generating a weekly Slack digest, summarizing channel activity, finding key discussions, or checking what happened in Slack. Trigger phrases: slack digest, slack summary, channel digest, what happened in slack.

- Skill: `npow/slack-digest` (Agent Skill)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add npow/slack-digest`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/npow/slack-digest/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Integrations & APIs
- Author: npow (https://skillmd.com/u/npow)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/npow/slack-digest

---


# Slack Digest

Produce a weekly digest of key Slack threads from configured channels using Slack semantic search MCP tools. The digest surfaces high-engagement threads, groups by topic, and highlights unanswered questions.

## Configuration

See [`_shared/report-config.md`](../_shared/report-config.md) for the standard config resolution pattern.

**Config schema** (`~/.claude/skills/slack-digest/config.json`):
- `channel_ids`: list of Slack channel ID strings
- `lookback_days`: number (default: 7)

**Required scope:** at least one `channel_ids` entry.

## Arguments

- **channel_ids**: list of Slack channel IDs to scan
- **lookback_days**: how far back to search (default: 7)

## Workflow

1. **Search Slack channels.** See [`_shared/slack-search.md`](../_shared/slack-search.md) for the standard Slack search workflow. Use query terms: `"discussion update question issue decision"` with `size=20` per channel. Count replies per thread from the full thread fetch — this is the engagement signal.

2. **Classify threads.** For each thread, determine:
   - **Topic category**: incident, decision, question, announcement, discussion, or request
   - **Engagement level**: high (10+ replies), medium (4-9 replies), low (1-3 replies)
   - **Resolution status**: resolved (answer given, decision made), unresolved (question still open, no conclusion), or informational (no resolution needed)
   - Classification is based on thread content: questions end with `?` or start with "does anyone", "how do we"; decisions contain "let's go with", "we decided", "agreed"; incidents contain "incident", "outage", "SEV", "pages".

3. **Identify unanswered questions.** A thread is "unanswered" if: it was classified as a question AND has fewer than 3 replies AND no reply contains a clear answer (code block, link, or statement without a trailing `?`).

4. **Group threads by topic category.** Within each category, sort by engagement (highest first).

5. **Generate report.** Output markdown:

```
## Slack Digest — {date}
Channels: {channel names or IDs} | Period: last {lookback_days} days | Threads analyzed: {N}

### Summary
- Total threads: {N} | High engagement: {N} | Unanswered questions: {N}

### Unanswered Questions (action needed)
(For each: channel, thread summary, who asked, when, permalink)

### Key Decisions
(For each: thread summary, decision outcome, participants, permalink)

### Incidents & Outages
(For each: thread summary, status, permalink)

### Active Discussions
(For each: thread summary, reply count, key participants, permalink)

### Announcements & FYI
(Compact list: summary, permalink)
```

6. **Deliver as HTML.** Follow the shared HTML delivery pattern in [`_shared/html-delivery.md`](../_shared/html-delivery.md). Report name: `slack-digest`. TLDR includes thread count, unanswered questions count, and top discussion topic.

7. **Terminate.** Report is complete when all channels are searched and threads are grouped with permalinks.

## Design Principles

1. **Team-level only.** Aggregate to team level — it is the right granularity for a periodic digest. Individual-level detail (messages per person, reply count per author) is too noisy for a team report.
2. **Deterministic math first, LLM narrates only.** Thread counts, reply counts, and engagement levels must be computed from actual thread data. The LLM writes summaries around the numbers but never invents engagement metrics.
3. **Pair metrics with counter-metrics.** Never report activity volume without resolution rate. If showing total threads, also show how many were resolved vs left open.

## Golden Rules

1. **Fetch full threads, not just snippets.** The RAG result is a snippet. Use `fetch-slack-thread` to get the complete conversation before classifying.
2. **Unanswered questions go first.** They represent work stuck waiting for input. Surface them before everything else.
3. **Include permalinks for every thread.** The reader must be able to click through to the original conversation.
4. **Count replies from the actual thread, not from RAG metadata.** RAG returns relevance-matched snippets, not engagement data. The full thread fetch gives the real reply count.
5. **Check ALL configured channels, not a subset.**

## Anti-Rationalization Counter-Table

| Excuse | Reality |
|---|---|
| "I searched the channel and summarized the top results." | RAG results are relevance-ranked, not engagement-ranked. You must fetch full threads to count replies and assess engagement. |
| "There were too many threads so I sampled a few." | Increase the size parameter. The digest must cover the full set of significant threads. |
| "I classified the thread from the snippet alone." | Snippets miss context. Fetch the full thread before classifying resolution status. |
| "No unanswered questions found, so I skipped that section." | Still include the section with "None" — it's positive signal that questions are getting answered. |
| "I can't get the channel name from the ID." | Use the channel_id in the report. The reader knows their own channels. Don't block on cosmetic lookups. |

## Termination Labels

| Label | Meaning |
|---|---|
| `report_complete` | All channels searched, threads fetched and classified, grouped with permalinks |
| `report_partial` | Some channels searched but thread fetch failed for some — noted which |
| `no_threads_found` | No threads in the time window — channels may be low-traffic or IDs wrong |
| `api_error` | Slack RAG API unreachable or returning errors |

## Self-Review Checklist

- [ ] Every configured channel was searched
- [ ] Full threads were fetched (not just RAG snippets) for classification
- [ ] Reply counts come from actual thread data
- [ ] Unanswered questions section appears first after summary
- [ ] Every thread entry includes a permalink
- [ ] Threads are grouped by topic category, sorted by engagement within each group
- [ ] HTML version uploaded to S3 with commuter link (unless `--no-html` or upload failed with noted fallback)
- [ ] Slack/chat delivery uses TLDR + link, not the full report