Set Up Slack

By the end of this page, your agent will be live in Slack — you can DM it and mention it in channels.

Time: ~30 minutes

How the Slack integration works

OpenClaw connects to Slack via Socket Mode — a WebSocket connection that doesn't require a public URL or webhook endpoint. Your agent runs entirely on your machine; Slack messages are pushed to it in real time.

This means: no server, no ngrok, no domain name needed.

Step 1 — Create a Slack app

1. Go to api.slack.com/apps and click Create New App
2. Choose From scratch
3. Name it (e.g. "My OpenClaw Agent") and select your workspace
4. Click Create App

Step 2 — Enable Socket Mode

In your app's settings:

1. Go to Socket Mode in the left sidebar
2. Toggle it on
3. When prompted, create an App-Level Token with the scope connections:write
4. Give it a name (e.g. "openclaw-socket")
5. Copy the token — it starts with xapp-

Step 3 — Set bot permissions

Go to OAuth & Permissions → Bot Token Scopes and add:

app_mentions:read
channels:history
channels:read
chat:write
groups:history
groups:read
im:history
im:read
im:write
users:read

Then click Install to Workspace at the top of the OAuth page. Copy the Bot User OAuth Token — it starts with xoxb-.

Step 4 — Enable event subscriptions

Go to Event Subscriptions and toggle it on. Under Subscribe to bot events, add:

message.im
app_mention

Save changes.

Step 5 — Configure OpenClaw

Open ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json and add the Slack channel:

{
  "channels": {
    "slack": {
      "appToken": "xapp-YOUR-APP-TOKEN",
      "botToken": "xoxb-YOUR-BOT-TOKEN",
      "dmPolicy": "allowlist",
      "allowlist": ["YOUR_SLACK_USER_ID"]
    }
  }
}

To find your Slack user ID: click your profile picture → View full profile → the URL contains your user ID (starts with U).

Step 6 — Restart and verify

openclaw gateway restart
openclaw gateway status

You should see slack: connected.

Step 7 — Message your agent

In Slack, find the bot you created in the Apps section of the sidebar. Send it a DM. It should respond.

You can also mention it in any channel it's been added to:

@MyOpenClawAgent what's on my agenda today?

Channel routing

By default, your agent responds in whatever channel or DM it receives the message in. You can also configure routing — for example, have automated briefings post to a specific channel:

{
  "automations": [
    {
      "id": "standup-prep",
      "schedule": "0 9 * * 1-5",
      "prompt": "Prepare my standup update. What did I work on yesterday? What's on my calendar today? Any blockers? Keep it to 3 bullet points.",
      "channel": "slack",
      "slackChannel": "#standup"
    }
  ]
}

This posts the standup prep to #standup at 9am on weekdays — without you doing anything.

Troubleshooting