Slackcli

slackcli

Command-line interface for Slack API operations.

First Step: Check Configuration

Run slack config at the start of every session to check workspace setup:

slack config

Check the last line of output:

• Using org from SLACK_ORG: <name> → No --org needed, commands use this workspace
• No org selected (use --org or SLACK_ORG) → Must pass --org=<workspace> to every command

The output also shows available workspaces in the "orgs" section.

Flag Placement

Always place flags after the full command path, not between slack and the command group. This ensures command prefix matching works correctly for permissions.

# Correct:
slack conversations list --org=mycompany
slack messages list '#channel' --org=work --json

# Wrong:
slack --org=mycompany conversations list

Workspace Selection

# When SLACK_ORG env is set (no --org needed):
slack conversations list

# When no org is selected (--org required):
slack conversations list --org=mycompany

If the user hasn't specified a workspace and no default is configured, ask them which workspace to use (show the available orgs from slack config).

Global Flags

Conversations

slack conversations list              # All conversations (cached)
slack conversations list --public     # Public channels only
slack conversations list --private    # Private channels only
slack conversations list --dms        # DMs and group DMs only
slack conversations list --member     # Channels you're a member of
slack conversations list --non-member # Channels you're not in
slack conversations list --refresh    # Force cache refresh

Messages

List Messages

slack messages list '#channel'                    # Recent messages (default limit 100)
slack messages list '#channel' --today            # Today only
slack messages list '#channel' --last-7d          # Last 7 days
slack messages list '#channel' --last-30d         # Last 30 days
slack messages list '#channel' --since 2024-01-15 # Since specific date
slack messages list '#channel' --since 7d --until 3d  # Relative range
slack messages list '#channel' --with-threads     # Include thread replies
slack messages list '#channel' --reactions=counts # Show reaction counts
slack messages list '#channel' --reactions=names  # Show who reacted
slack messages list '#channel' -n 50              # Limit to 50 messages
slack messages list '#channel' 1234567890.123456  # View specific thread
slack messages list C0123456789 --json            # Use channel ID, JSON output

Send Messages

Send to channels or DMs. Target can be #channel, @username, @email@example.com, or IDs.

slack messages send '#channel' "Hello world"
slack messages send '@john.doe' "Hello via DM"
slack messages send '#channel' --thread 1234567890.123456 "Reply in thread"
echo "Message" | slack messages send '#channel' --stdin
slack messages send '#channel' --file ./report.pdf           # Upload file
slack messages send '#channel' "Here's the report" --file ./report.pdf
slack messages send '#channel' "Message" --json              # Returns message timestamp

Edit Messages

slack messages edit '#channel' 1234567890.123456 "Updated message"
slack messages edit '#channel' 1234567890.123456 "Updated" --json

Delete Messages

slack messages delete '#channel' 1234567890.123456         # With confirmation
slack messages delete '#channel' 1234567890.123456 --force # Skip confirmation

Search

Search Messages

slack search messages "quarterly report"
slack search messages "bug fix" --in '#engineering'
slack search messages "deadline" --from '@john.doe'
slack search messages "meeting" --after 7d
slack search messages "project" --before 2024-01-15 --after 2024-01-01
slack search messages "query" --sort timestamp --sort-dir desc
slack search messages "query" -n 50 --page 2

Search Files

slack search files "report.pdf"
slack search files "spreadsheet" --in '#finance'
slack search files "presentation" --from '@jane.doe'
slack search files "budget" --after 30d

Users

slack users list                    # List all users (cached)
slack users list --refresh          # Force refresh
slack users list --bots --deleted   # Include bots and deleted users
slack users search "john"           # Search by name/email
slack users get @john.doe           # Get user details
slack users get john@example.com    # Get by email
slack users get U0123456789         # Get by user ID

Files

Files are downloaded to /tmp/slackcli-<random>/.

slack files download F0ABC123DEF                      # Download by file ID
slack files download 'https://files.slack.com/...'   # Download by URL
slack files download F0ABC123DEF --json               # Output download details as JSON

Reactions

slack reactions add '#channel' 1234567890.123456 thumbsup    # Add reaction
slack reactions add '#channel' 1234567890.123456 :+1:        # Colons stripped
slack reactions remove '#channel' 1234567890.123456 thumbsup # Remove reaction

Pins

slack pins list '#channel'                           # List pinned messages
slack pins add '#channel' 1234567890.123456          # Pin a message
slack pins remove '#channel' 1234567890.123456       # Unpin a message

Scheduled Messages

slack scheduled list                                 # List all scheduled
slack scheduled list '#channel'                      # Filter by channel
slack scheduled create '#channel' "in 1h" "Reminder!"
slack scheduled create '#channel' "in 30m" "Meeting soon"
slack scheduled create '#channel' "tomorrow" "Daily standup"
slack scheduled create '#channel' "tomorrow 9am" "Good morning!"
slack scheduled create '#channel' "2025-02-03 09:00" "Team meeting"
slack scheduled create '#channel' --thread 1234567890.123456 "in 1h" "Reply"
slack scheduled delete S0123456789                   # Delete by scheduled ID

Resolve Slack URLs

slack resolve 'https://workspace.slack.com/archives/C0123456789/p1234567890123456'
slack resolve 'https://...' --json

Extracts workspace from URL automatically.

References

Channels

• #channel-name - Channel name with hash
• C0123456789 - Channel ID

Users

• @username - Username with @
• @email@example.com - Email with @
• U0123456789 - User ID

Message Timestamps

Format: 1234567890.123456. Get them from:

• --json output of any message command
• Thread reply indicator in text output
• Slack URL (the p parameter, add decimal before last 6 digits)

Message Formatting

When composing messages, use Slack's mrkdwn syntax. Slack does NOT support markdown tables — use plain text alignment, bullet lists, or code blocks to present tabular data instead.

Get user/channel IDs from --json output or slack users get.

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