Skip to content
BranchesTags

Repository files navigation

SlackCLI

GitHub Downloads (all assets, all releases) Release Stars License Last Commit

Disclaimer: This is an unofficial, open-source CLI tool for interacting with Slack. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or supported by Slack Technologies. Slack has an official CLI — see the Slack CLI documentation for the officially supported tooling.

A fast, developer-friendly command-line interface tool for interacting with Slack workspaces. Built with TypeScript and Bun, it enables AI agents, automation tools, and developers to access Slack functionality directly from the terminal.

Features

  • 🔐 Dual Authentication Support: Standard Slack tokens (xoxb/xoxp) or browser tokens (xoxd/xoxc)
  • 🪄 Automatic Browser Login: sign into Slack in a browser and the tokens are captured for you
  • 🎯 Easy Token Extraction: Automatically parse tokens from browser cURL commands
  • 🏢 Multi-Workspace Management: Manage multiple Slack workspaces with ease
  • 💬 Conversation Management: List channels, read messages, send messages
  • 🎉 Message Reactions: Add emoji reactions to messages programmatically
  • 📄 Canvas Support: List and read Slack canvas documents as markdown
  • 🚀 Fast & Lightweight: Built with Bun for blazing fast performance
  • 🔄 Auto-Update: Built-in self-update mechanism
  • 🎨 Beautiful Output: Colorful, user-friendly terminal output

Installation

Homebrew (macOS and Linux)

brew tap shaharia-lab/tap
brew install slackcli

To upgrade to the latest version:

brew upgrade slackcli

Pre-built Binaries

Linux (x86_64)

curl -L https://github.com/shaharia-lab/slackcli/releases/latest/download/slackcli-linux -o slackcli
chmod +x slackcli
mkdir -p ~/.local/bin && mv slackcli ~/.local/bin/

Linux (arm64)

curl -L https://github.com/shaharia-lab/slackcli/releases/latest/download/slackcli-linux-arm64 -o slackcli
chmod +x slackcli
mkdir -p ~/.local/bin && mv slackcli ~/.local/bin/

macOS (Intel)

curl -L https://github.com/shaharia-lab/slackcli/releases/latest/download/slackcli-macos -o slackcli
chmod +x slackcli
mkdir -p ~/.local/bin && mv slackcli ~/.local/bin/

macOS (Apple Silicon)

curl -L https://github.com/shaharia-lab/slackcli/releases/latest/download/slackcli-macos-arm64 -o slackcli
chmod +x slackcli
mkdir -p ~/.local/bin && mv slackcli ~/.local/bin/

Windows

Download slackcli-windows.exe from the latest release and add it to your PATH.

From Source

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/shaharia-lab/slackcli.git
cd slackcli

# Install dependencies
bun install

# Build binary
bun run build

Authentication

SlackCLI supports two authentication methods:

1. Standard Slack App Tokens (Recommended for Production)

Create a Slack app at api.slack.com/apps and obtain a bot token (xoxb-) or user token (xoxp-).

slackcli auth login --token=xoxb-YOUR-TOKEN --workspace-name="My Team"

2. Automatic Browser Login (Easiest)

Sign into Slack in a browser and let SlackCLI capture the tokens. No Slack app, no DevTools, no copy-paste.

slackcli auth login-auto

A browser window opens on Slack. Sign in as you normally would, and SlackCLI enrols every workspace you are signed into — one sign-in covers them all.

Option Purpose
--workspace-url <url> Open a specific workspace instead of the Slack home
--timeout <seconds> How long to wait for sign-in (default 300)
--headless No visible window — only works once you are already signed in
SLACKCLI_BROWSER Path to a browser, if yours is not auto-detected
SLACKCLI_BROWSER_PROFILE Override the profile directory

Requirements: Chrome, Edge, Chromium, or Brave installed. Nothing is downloaded and no extra dependency is installed — SlackCLI drives the browser you already have.

Why you sign in again the first time. SlackCLI runs the browser against its own profile in ~/.config/slackcli/browser-profile, separate from your everyday browsing. It has to: since Chrome 136 the browser refuses remote debugging against the default profile, so your existing session cannot be reused. The profile persists, so only the first run needs interaction — after that the window opens and closes on its own.

Security notes.

  • Token values are never printed.
  • The browser profile is a credential store. While it exists, login-auto can re-mint working tokens with no prompt. slackcli auth logout therefore deletes it along with workspaces.json; pass --keep-browser-session to keep it signed in.
  • Only https:// URLs on a slack.com host are ever paired with your session cookie — a URL read from the browser that points anywhere else is refused.
  • While the browser is open it exposes a DevTools port on loopback that any local process could connect to. SlackCLI closes the browser as soon as capture finishes, and also on Ctrl-C or termination.
  • Credentials land in ~/.config/slackcli/workspaces.json (mode 0600); the profile directory is 0700 on macOS and Linux (Windows uses ACL defaults).

3. Browser Session Tokens (Manual)

Extract tokens from your browser session by hand. No Slack app creation required!

# Step 1: Get extraction guide
slackcli auth extract-tokens

# Step 2: Login with extracted tokens
slackcli auth login-browser \
  --xoxd=xoxd-YOUR-TOKEN \
  --xoxc=xoxc-YOUR-TOKEN \
  --workspace-url=https://yourteam.slack.com

How to Extract Browser Tokens:

  1. Open your Slack workspace in a web browser
  2. Open Developer Tools (F12)
  3. Go to Network tab
  4. Send a message or refresh
  5. Find a Slack API request
  6. Extract:
    • xoxd token from Cookie header (d=xoxd-...)
    • xoxc token from request payload ("token":"xoxc-...")

4. Parse cURL Command

The easiest way to extract browser tokens is to copy a Slack API request as cURL and let SlackCLI parse it automatically!

# Step 1: In browser DevTools, right-click any Slack API request
#         → Copy → Copy as cURL

# Step 2: Interactive mode (recommended) - just paste and press Enter twice
slackcli auth parse-curl --login

# Alternative: Read directly from clipboard
slackcli auth parse-curl --from-clipboard --login

# Alternative: Pipe from clipboard or file
pbpaste | slackcli auth parse-curl --login
cat curl-command.txt | slackcli auth parse-curl --login

This automatically extracts:

  • Workspace URL and name
  • xoxd token from cookies
  • xoxc token from request data

Usage

Authentication Commands

# Sign in via a browser; tokens are captured automatically
slackcli auth login-auto

# Refresh tokens later without any interaction (profile stays signed in)
slackcli auth login-auto --headless

# List all authenticated workspaces
slackcli auth list

# Set default workspace
slackcli auth set-default T1234567

# Remove a workspace
slackcli auth remove T1234567

# Logout from all workspaces (also clears the login-auto browser profile)
slackcli auth logout

# Logout but keep the browser signed in
slackcli auth logout --keep-browser-session

Multiple Profiles for One Workspace

By default each Slack workspace is stored once. To keep more than one identity for the same workspace — for example a browser-authenticated user for search and drafts alongside a bot token for unattended jobs — give each login a --profile name:

# A user identity (browser auth)
slackcli auth login-browser \
  --xoxd=xoxd-... --xoxc=xoxc-... \
  --workspace-url=https://example.slack.com \
  --profile=rafael

# A bot identity in the same workspace
slackcli auth login \
  --token=xoxb-... \
  --workspace-name=example \
  --profile=automation-bot

Select a profile anywhere --workspace is accepted:

slackcli search messages "after:2026-07-01" --workspace=rafael --json
slackcli messages send --recipient-id=C123 --message="Done" --workspace=automation-bot

Notes:

  • Backward compatible. Existing workspaces.json files and single-identity setups keep working unchanged — --profile is optional.
  • Re-authenticating the same identity refreshes its stored tokens in place.
  • Logging in a second identity for a workspace without --profile is saved under an auto-generated key (e.g. T123-2) instead of overwriting the first. The chosen key is printed after login.
  • auth list, auth set-default, and auth remove accept a profile name, workspace ID, or workspace name. If a bare workspace ID/name matches more than one profile, SlackCLI asks you to pick a profile instead of guessing.

Conversation Commands

# List all conversations
slackcli conversations list

# List only public channels
slackcli conversations list --types=public_channel

# List DMs
slackcli conversations list --types=im

# Read recent messages from a channel
slackcli conversations read C1234567890

# Read a specific thread
slackcli conversations read C1234567890 --thread-ts=1234567890.123456

# Read with custom limit
slackcli conversations read C1234567890 --limit=50

# Get JSON output (includes ts and thread_ts for replies)
slackcli conversations read C1234567890 --json

Message Commands

# Send message to a channel
slackcli messages send --recipient-id=C1234567890 --message="Hello team!"

# Send DM to a user
slackcli messages send --recipient-id=U9876543210 --message="Hey there!"

# Reply to a thread
slackcli messages send --recipient-id=C1234567890 --thread-ts=1234567890.123456 --message="Great idea!"

# Send a message with a file attachment
slackcli messages send --recipient-id=C1234567890 --message="Here is the file" --file=./report.pdf

# Edit an existing message you posted
slackcli messages edit --channel-id=C1234567890 --timestamp=1234567890.123456 --message="Corrected message"

# Create a draft message in a channel (only works with browser session tokens)
slackcli messages draft --recipient-id=C1234567890 --message="Hello team!"

# Add emoji reaction to a message
slackcli messages react --channel-id=C1234567890 --timestamp=1234567890.123456 --emoji=+1

# More reaction examples
slackcli messages react --channel-id=C1234567890 --timestamp=1234567890.123456 --emoji=heart
slackcli messages react --channel-id=C1234567890 --timestamp=1234567890.123456 --emoji=fire
slackcli messages react --channel-id=C1234567890 --timestamp=1234567890.123456 --emoji=eyes

File uploads require Slack workspace permissions that allow file upload, such as files:write for standard Slack app tokens.

Editing only works on messages posted by the authenticated user or app; ephemeral messages cannot be edited.

Common emoji names:

  • +1 or thumbsup - 👍
  • heart - ❤️
  • fire - 🔥
  • eyes - 👀
  • tada - 🎉
  • rocket - 🚀

Canvas Commands

# List canvases in the workspace
slackcli canvas list
slackcli canvas list --limit=50
slackcli canvas list --channel=C1234567890

# Read canvas content as markdown
slackcli canvas read F1234567890

# Read canvas in JSON format (includes markdown field)
slackcli canvas read F1234567890 --json

# Read raw HTML (no conversion)
slackcli canvas read F1234567890 --raw

# Read the canvas associated with a channel
slackcli canvas read --channel=C1234567890

Update Commands

# Check for updates
slackcli update check

# Update to latest version
slackcli update

Multi-Workspace Usage

# Use specific workspace by ID
slackcli conversations list --workspace=T1234567

# Use specific workspace by name
slackcli conversations list --workspace="My Team"

Configuration

Configuration is stored in ~/.config/slackcli/:

  • workspaces.json - Workspace credentials
  • config.json - User preferences (future)

Development

Prerequisites

  • Bun v1.0+
  • TypeScript 5.x+

Setup

# Install dependencies
bun install

# Run in development mode
bun run dev --help

# Build binary
bun run build

# Build for all platforms
bun run build:all

# Type check
bun run type-check

Project Structure

slackcli/
├── src/
│   ├── index.ts              # CLI entry point
│   ├── commands/             # Command implementations
│   │   ├── auth.ts
│   │   ├── conversations.ts
│   │   ├── messages.ts
│   │   └── update.ts
│   ├── lib/                  # Core library
│   │   ├── auth.ts
│   │   ├── workspaces.ts
│   │   ├── slack-client.ts
│   │   ├── formatter.ts
│   │   └── updater.ts
│   └── types/                # Type definitions
│       └── index.ts
├── .github/workflows/        # CI/CD
└── dist/                     # Build output

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.

  1. Fork the repository
  2. Create your feature branch (git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature)
  3. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add some amazing feature')
  4. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/amazing-feature)
  5. Open a Pull Request

Troubleshooting

Authentication Issues

Standard Tokens:

  • Ensure your token has the required OAuth scopes
  • Check token validity in your Slack app settings

Browser Tokens:

  • Tokens expire with your browser session
  • Extract fresh tokens if authentication fails
  • Verify workspace URL format (https://yourteam.slack.com)

Permission Errors

If you get permission errors when accessing conversations or sending messages:

  • Verify your bot/user has been added to the channel
  • Check OAuth scopes include required permissions
  • For browser tokens, ensure you have access in the web UI

Update Issues

If installed via Homebrew, use brew upgrade slackcli instead of slackcli update.

If slackcli update fails:

  • Ensure you have write permissions to the binary location
  • Try running with sudo if installed system-wide
  • Consider installing to user directory (~/.local/bin) instead

License

MIT License - see LICENSE file for details

Support

🤝 Contributors

A huge thanks to the amazing people who have contributed to SlackCLI!

Acknowledgments

Made with ❤️ by Shaharia Lab

About

Slack CLI - Command-line tool for interacting with Slack workspaces and channels. AI-friendly with structured output formats (JSON, table, text) designed for easy integration with AI tools and automation workflows.

Topics

ai-toolsautomationcligolangslackslack-apislack-cli

Resources

Readme
MIT license

Contributing

Contributing

Security policy

Security policy
Activity
Custom properties

Stars

110 stars

Watchers

1 watching

Forks

36 forks
Report repository

Releases

Sponsor this project

Packages

Used by

Contributors

Languages