Slack Integration

Overview

klaw provides native Slack integration, allowing your team to interact with AI agents directly in Slack channels and threads. This guide walks you through setting up and configuring the integration.

Prerequisites

klaw installed and configured
Slack workspace admin access
API key configured

Step 1: Create a Slack App

Go to Slack API

Visit api.slack.com/apps and click Create New App.

Choose creation method

Select From scratch and give your app a name (e.g., “klaw”) and select your workspace.

Enable Socket Mode

Go to Socket Mode in the sidebar and enable it. Generate an App-Level Token with connections:write scope. Save this as SLACK_APP_TOKEN.

Configure OAuth scopes

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

app_mentions:read - Receive @mentions
chat:write - Send messages
channels:history - Read channel messages
channels:read - View channel info
groups:history - Read private channel messages
groups:read - View private channel info
im:history - Read DMs
im:read - View DM info
im:write - Send DMs
users:read - View user info

Enable Events

Go to Event Subscriptions and enable events. Subscribe to these bot events:

app_mention - When someone @mentions the bot
message.channels - Messages in channels
message.groups - Messages in private channels
message.im - Direct messages

Install to Workspace

Go to Install App and click Install to Workspace. Save the Bot User OAuth Token as SLACK_BOT_TOKEN.

Step 2: Configure Environment

Set the required environment variables:

export SLACK_BOT_TOKEN=xoxb-...
export SLACK_APP_TOKEN=xapp-...
export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-...  # Or your preferred provider

For permanent configuration, add to your shell profile or ~/.klaw/config.toml:

[channel.slack]
enabled = true
bot_token = "${SLACK_BOT_TOKEN}"
app_token = "${SLACK_APP_TOKEN}"

Step 3: Start klaw

Start the klaw platform with Slack integration:

klaw start

You should see:

╭─────────────────────────────────────────╮
│               klaw                      │
│        AI Employee Platform            │
╰─────────────────────────────────────────╯
Provider:  anthropic
Model:     claude-sonnet-4-20250514
Namespace: default/default

Slack bot active. Listening for messages...
Scheduler running. Cron jobs will execute automatically.

Press Ctrl+C to stop

Step 4: Invite the Bot

In Slack, invite your bot to channels:

Go to the channel where you want the bot
Type /invite @klaw (or your bot’s name)
The bot is now active in that channel

Interacting with the Bot

@Mention the Bot

@klaw help me understand this error message

Thread Conversations

Start a thread and continue the conversation:

User: @klaw explain this code
Bot:  [Explanation in thread]
User: Can you refactor it?
Bot:  [Refactored code in same thread]

The bot maintains context within threads.

Route to Specific Agents

Use @agent syntax to route to specific agents:

@klaw @researcher find best practices for Go error handling
@klaw @coder implement those patterns

Setting Up Agents

Create agents for your Slack workspace:

# Create agents
klaw create agent coder \
  --model claude-sonnet-4-20250514 \
  --skills code-exec,git

klaw create agent researcher \
  --model claude-sonnet-4-20250514 \
  --skills web-search,browser

klaw create agent devops \
  --model claude-sonnet-4-20250514 \
  --skills docker,git

View your agents:

klaw get agents

Scheduled Tasks (Cron)

Set up automated tasks in Slack:

Create from CLI

klaw cron create daily-standup \
  --schedule "0 9 * * 1-5" \
  --agent reporter \
  --task "Generate daily standup summary from yesterday's activity"

Create from Slack

In Slack, tell the bot to create a cron job:

@klaw Create a cron job that runs every morning at 9am
to summarize the #engineering channel activity

The bot will use the cron_create tool automatically.

Manage Cron Jobs

klaw cron list
klaw cron enable daily-standup
klaw cron disable daily-standup

Channel-Specific Monitoring

Set up monitoring for specific channels:

@klaw Monitor this channel every 5 minutes and alert
if anyone mentions "urgent" or "production issue"

The bot will create a cron job that:

Reads new messages from the channel
Analyzes them based on your criteria
Responds in threads when matches are found

Configuration Options

Namespace Binding

Bind Slack channels to specific namespaces:

apiVersion: klaw.sh/v1
kind: ChannelBinding
metadata:
  name: slack-engineering
  namespace: engineering
spec:
  channel: slack
  config:
    allowed_channels:
      - C0123456789  # #engineering
    default_agent: coder

Orchestrator Rules

Configure message routing:

[orchestrator]
mode = "hybrid"
default_agent = "coder"

[[orchestrator.rules]]
pattern = "(?i)(deploy|kubernetes|docker)"
agent = "devops"

[[orchestrator.rules]]
pattern = "(?i)(research|find|search)"
agent = "researcher"

Best Practices

Limit channel access

Only invite the bot to channels where it’s needed. This reduces noise and improves response relevance.

Use threads

Encourage users to start threads for conversations. This keeps channels clean and maintains context better.

Set up dedicated channels

Consider creating dedicated channels like #klaw-tasks or #ai-assistant for AI interactions.

Configure rate limits

For busy channels, consider rate limiting to prevent overwhelming the system.

Troubleshooting

Bot doesn't respond

Check if the bot is invited to the channel
Verify Socket Mode is enabled in Slack app settings
Check klaw start output for errors
Ensure tokens are correctly set

Slow responses

Check your API provider’s status
Consider using a faster model (Haiku for simple tasks)
Reduce the number of tools/skills for faster processing

Missing messages

Ensure channels:history scope is granted
Check if the bot has access to the channel
For private channels, add groups:history scope

Next Steps

Multi-Agent Workflows

Orchestrate multiple agents

Distributed Deployment

Scale your Slack bot

Getting Started

Core Concepts

Guides

Configuration

Architecture

CLI Reference

Resources

Slack Integration

Overview

Prerequisites

Step 1: Create a Slack App

Step 2: Configure Environment

Step 3: Start klaw

Step 4: Invite the Bot

Interacting with the Bot

@Mention the Bot

Thread Conversations

Route to Specific Agents

Setting Up Agents

Scheduled Tasks (Cron)

Create from CLI

Create from Slack

Manage Cron Jobs

Channel-Specific Monitoring

Configuration Options

Namespace Binding

Orchestrator Rules

Best Practices

Troubleshooting

Next Steps

Multi-Agent Workflows

Distributed Deployment

​Overview

​Prerequisites

​Step 1: Create a Slack App

​Step 2: Configure Environment

​Step 3: Start klaw

​Step 4: Invite the Bot

​Interacting with the Bot

​@Mention the Bot

​Thread Conversations

​Route to Specific Agents

​Setting Up Agents

​Scheduled Tasks (Cron)

​Create from CLI

​Create from Slack

​Manage Cron Jobs

​Channel-Specific Monitoring

​Configuration Options

​Namespace Binding

​Orchestrator Rules

​Best Practices

​Troubleshooting

​Next Steps

Multi-Agent Workflows

Distributed Deployment

Overview

Prerequisites

Step 1: Create a Slack App

Step 2: Configure Environment

Step 3: Start klaw

Step 4: Invite the Bot

Interacting with the Bot

@Mention the Bot

Thread Conversations

Route to Specific Agents

Setting Up Agents

Scheduled Tasks (Cron)

Create from CLI

Create from Slack

Manage Cron Jobs

Channel-Specific Monitoring

Configuration Options

Namespace Binding

Orchestrator Rules

Best Practices

Troubleshooting

Next Steps