---
title: "Connecting Slack to your workspace"
description: "Learn how to connect Slack with your workspace"
---

In order to connect `slack` with your openwork `workspace`, you will need the following:

1. Valid slack admin permissions to add an app
2. Create a simple slack app
3. Connect said slack app with your workspace

This is one of the most relevant and meaningful applications of Openwork, and we use it daily ourselves.

> **Disclaimer:** We recommend setting the slackbot with a remote workspace instead of in your local machine to ensure there's `hardware isolation` between the remote workspace the ai can access and your local machine.

For team-owned Slack or other long-running connectors, you can host the runtime in an OpenWork Cloud [shared workspace](/cloud/run-in-the-cloud/shared-workspace) instead of keeping it on a laptop or self-managed server.

## Having the right slack permissions

You should either be a slack `owner`, `admin` or have the right level of approval to be able to add an app into slack.

## Creating a slack app

Go to [Create new app](https://api.slack.com/apps?new_app=1) in Slack. What you need to obtain are the `xoxb` (bot) and `xapp` (Websocket) tokens to paste into Openwork. For more guidelines, questions and instructions regarding slack, please follow [own slack's own documentation.](https://docs.slack.dev/tools/bolt-python/building-an-app)

1. Create the App Manifest: Go to `api.slack.com/apps` → `Create New App` → `From a manifest` → pick your workspace.
2. Install to Workspace & Grab Tokens After creating the app:

- Install App — `sidebar` → `Install App` → `Install to Workspace` → authorize.
- Copy the Bot token (`xoxb-...`) — shown right on the "Install App" page after authorization.

3. Generate an App-Level Token (for Socket Mode)

- Sidebar → `Basic Information` → scroll to `App-Level Tokens`.
- Click Generate Token and Scopes → add scope `connections:write` → name it anything → Generate.
- This gives you the `xapp-` token that we use to open the websocket connection.

> Note: We're sharing a `template manifest` at the end of this tutorial for you to use directly

## Connecting the slackbot with the workspace

Now, once you have both of these tokens, you can directly paste them into the app.

<Frame>
  ![Slack messaging settings with bot and app token fields](/images/slack-connect-tokens.png)

  Paste you `xorb-` and `xapp-` tokens into `Settings` \> `messaging`
</Frame>

## Send test message

Test the bot by sending a message. It should respond instantly indicating that a new session has been initiatied and then send the actual response afterwards. For now, you will have to use `@slack-bot-name` every time you want to talk to it.

<Frame>
  ![Slack thread showing the bot reply to a test message](/images/slack-test-message-thread.png)
</Frame>

## Template Manifest Example

Feel free to use this as a template (or modify it accordingly according to your own use-case)

```yaml
display_information:
  name: MyBot
  description: Your description
  background_color: "#000000"
features:
  bot_user:
    display_name: your-display-name
    always_online: false
oauth_config:
  scopes:
    bot:
      - assistant:write
      - app_mentions:read
      - channels:read
      - channels:history
      - chat:write
      - files:read
      - files:write
      - im:history
      - links:read
      - links:write
      - lists:read
      - lists:write
  pkce_enabled: false
settings:
  event_subscriptions:
    bot_events:
      - app_mention
      - message.im
  interactivity:
    is_enabled: true
  org_deploy_enabled: false
  socket_mode_enabled: true
  token_rotation_enabled: false
```
