Praison AI

Slackbot Agent

Build AI-powered Slack bots with PraisonAI

Build intelligent Slack bots that can respond to messages, handle mentions, and execute tasks.

Diagram

Slack

Slack Bot

Agent

Quick Start

  1. Simple Usage
    typescript
    import { Agent, createSlackBot } from 'praisonai-ts';

// Create an agent
const agent = new Agent({
  name: 'SlackAssistant',
  instructions: 'You are a helpful Slack assistant.',
});

// Create Slack bot
const bot = createSlackBot({
  botToken: process.env.SLACK_BOT_TOKEN!,
  signingSecret: process.env.SLACK_SIGNING_SECRET!,
});

// Handle messages
bot.onMessage(async (message) => {
  const response = await agent.chat(message.text);
  return { text: response, threadTs: message.ts };
});

// Start the bot
bot.listen(3000);
  2. With Configuration

    Configure signing secrets, Socket Mode, and event handlers — see sections below.

Configuration

typescript
import { createSlackBot } from 'praisonai-ts';

const bot = createSlackBot({
  // Required
  botToken: process.env.SLACK_BOT_TOKEN!,

  // For webhook mode (recommended for production)
  signingSecret: process.env.SLACK_SIGNING_SECRET!,

  // For Socket Mode (development)
  appToken: process.env.SLACK_APP_TOKEN,
  socketMode: true,
});

Event Handlers

Message Handler

typescript
bot.onMessage(async (message) => {
  // message.channel - Channel ID
  // message.user - User ID
  // message.text - Message text
  // message.ts - Timestamp
  // message.threadTs - Thread timestamp (if in thread)

  const response = await agent.chat(message.text);

  return {
    text: response,
    threadTs: message.ts, // Reply in thread
  };
});

App Mention Handler

typescript
bot.onAppMention(async (message) => {
  // Triggered when bot is @mentioned
  const response = await agent.chat(message.text);
  return { text: response };
});

Reaction Handler

typescript
bot.onReactionAdded(async (event) => {
  if (event.reaction === 'eyes') {
    // Process message when 👀 reaction is added
    console.log('Processing message:', event.item.ts);
  }
});

Rich Responses

With Blocks

typescript
bot.onMessage(async (message) => {
  return {
    text: 'Here are the results:',
    blocks: [
      {
        type: 'section',
        text: {
          type: 'mrkdwn',
          text: '*Results*\n• Item 1\n• Item 2',
        },
      },
      {
        type: 'actions',
        elements: [
          {
            type: 'button',
            text: { type: 'plain_text', text: 'View More' },
            action_id: 'view_more',
          },
        ],
      },
    ],
  };
});

Socket Mode (Development)

For local development without exposing a public URL:

typescript
const bot = createSlackBot({
  botToken: process.env.SLACK_BOT_TOKEN!,
  appToken: process.env.SLACK_APP_TOKEN!,
  socketMode: true,
});

// No need to call listen() - socket mode connects automatically
await bot.start();

Webhook Mode (Production)

For production deployments:

typescript
const bot = createSlackBot({
  botToken: process.env.SLACK_BOT_TOKEN!,
  signingSecret: process.env.SLACK_SIGNING_SECRET!,
});

// Start HTTP server
bot.listen(3000);

With Tools

typescript
const agent = new Agent({
  name: 'SlackAssistant',
  instructions: 'You help with tasks in Slack.',
  tools: [
    {
      name: 'search_docs',
      description: 'Search documentation',
      execute: async ({ query }) => {
        // Search implementation
        return { results: ['doc1', 'doc2'] };
      },
    },
  ],
});

bot.onMessage(async (message) => {
  const response = await agent.chat(message.text);
  return { text: response };
});

Environment Variables

VariableRequiredDescription
SLACK_BOT_TOKENYesBot token (xoxb-…)
SLACK_SIGNING_SECRETWebhookSigning secret
SLACK_APP_TOKENSocketApp token (xapp-…)
OPENAI_API_KEYYesFor the agent

Slack App Setup

  1. Create a Slack App at https://api.slack.com/apps
  2. Enable Socket Mode or configure Event Subscriptions
  3. Add bot scopes: chat:write, app_mentions:read, channels:history
  4. Install to workspace
  5. Copy tokens to environment variables

Best Practices

Guidelines
  1. Use threads – Reply in threads to keep channels clean
  2. Handle errors gracefully – Return friendly error messages
  3. Rate limit – Respect Slack’s rate limits
  4. Log interactions – Track usage for debugging

Related

Agent

Core agent docs

 Tools

Adding tools