slack-automator

version	4.0.0
name	slack-automator
description	Automate Slack messaging, channels, and search with Block Kit. Use when sending scheduled messages, syncing channels, monitoring chats, notifying teams.
author	BytesAgain
homepage	https://bytesagain.com
source	https://github.com/bytesagain/ai-skills

slack-automator

Send messages to Slack channels via Incoming Webhooks. Supports direct messaging, channel notifications, message templates with variable substitution, scheduled messages, formatting helpers, and full send history with export.

Requirements

• bash 4.0+
• curl (for HTTP requests to Slack)
• python3 (for JSON handling — typically pre-installed)
• Slack Incoming Webhook URL — see setup below

How to Get a Slack Webhook URL

1. Go to [[Technical Reference]]([Technical Reference])
2. Click Create New App → From scratch
3. Name it (e.g., "Automator") and select your workspace
4. In the left sidebar, click Incoming Webhooks
5. Toggle Activate Incoming Webhooks to On
6. Click Add New Webhook to Workspace
7. Select the channel to post to and click Allow
8. Copy the webhook URL (starts with `[Technical Reference])

Setup

Configure the webhook URL before sending messages:

scripts/script.sh connect [Technical Reference]

Verify connectivity:

scripts/script.sh webhook test

Commands

connect <webhook_url>

Save a Slack Incoming Webhook URL to local configuration. The URL is stored in ~/.slack-automator/config.json.

# Save your webhook URL
scripts/script.sh connect [Technical Reference]
# ✅ Webhook URL saved.

send <message>

Send a plain text message to Slack via the configured webhook.

# Send a simple message
scripts/script.sh send "Hello from Slack Automator!"

# Send a message with emoji
scripts/script.sh send "🚀 Deployment complete — v2.1.0 is live!"

# Send multi-word messages
scripts/script.sh send Build succeeded, all 142 tests passing.

notify <channel> <message>

Send a message to a specific Slack channel. The channel name will be prefixed with # if not already present.

# Notify the alerts channel
scripts/script.sh notify alerts "⚠️ Server CPU at 95%!"

# Notify with # prefix (also works)
scripts/script.sh notify "#deployments" "v3.0.2 deployed to production"

# Notify the team channel
scripts/script.sh notify general "Standup in 5 minutes!"

schedule add <time> <message>

Add a scheduled message. Time can be in HH:MM format (converted to daily cron) or a full cron expression. Schedules are saved to ~/.slack-automator/schedule.json.

# Schedule a daily message at 9:00 AM
scripts/script.sh schedule add 09:00 "Good morning, team! ☀️"

# Schedule with cron expression (every Friday at 6 PM)
scripts/script.sh schedule add "0 18 * * 5" "Happy Friday! 🎉"

# Schedule hourly reminder
scripts/script.sh schedule add "0 * * * *" "Hourly status check"

Note: Schedules are saved locally. To actually trigger them, set up a cron job that runs slack-automator send with the scheduled messages.

schedule list

Display all scheduled messages with their IDs, cron expressions, and status.

scripts/script.sh schedule list
# === Scheduled Messages ===
#   ✅ [1710820800] 0 9 * * * — Good morning, team! ☀️
#   ✅ [1710820900] 0 18 * * 5 — Happy Friday! 🎉

schedule remove <id>

Remove a scheduled message by its ID.

scripts/script.sh schedule remove 1710820900
# ✅ Removed schedule 1710820900.

template list

List all saved message templates.

scripts/script.sh template list
# === Message Templates ===
#   📝 deploy — 🚀 Deployed *{{service}}* to production.
#   📝 alert — ⚠️ Alert: {{message}} (severity: {{level}})

template save <name> <message>

Save a reusable message template. Use {{variable}} placeholders for dynamic values.

# Save a deploy notification template
scripts/script.sh template save deploy "🚀 Deployed *{{service}}* to production ({{version}})."

# Save an alert template
scripts/script.sh template save alert "⚠️ {{level}}: {{message}}"

# Save a welcome template
scripts/script.sh template save welcome "👋 Welcome to the team, {{name}}!"

template use <name> [var=value ...]

Send a message using a saved template. Variables in {{var}} are replaced with provided var=value pairs.

# Use deploy template with variables
scripts/script.sh template use deploy service=api-server version=v2.1.0
# Sends: 🚀 Deployed *api-server* to production (v2.1.0).

# Use alert template
scripts/script.sh template use alert level=HIGH message="Database connection timeout"

# Use welcome template
scripts/script.sh template use welcome name=Alice

webhook test

Send a test message to verify webhook connectivity. The test message includes a timestamp.

scripts/script.sh webhook test
# Testing webhook connectivity...
# ✅ Webhook is working! Test message sent.

webhook info

Show the current webhook configuration. The URL is partially masked for security.

scripts/script.sh webhook info
# === Webhook Configuration ===
#   URL: [Technical Reference]
#   Full URL stored in: ~/.slack-automator/config.json

format <style> <message>

Format a message using Slack's mrkdwn syntax and optionally send it. Available styles:

Style	Slack Syntax	Example Output
bold	*text*	text
italic	_text_	text
code	`text`	text
codeblock	```text```	code block
quote	> text	quoted text
strike	~text~	text
list	• item	bulleted list

# Format as bold
scripts/script.sh format bold "Important announcement"
# Output: *Important announcement*

# Format as code block
scripts/script.sh format codeblock "const x = 42;"
# Output: ```const x = 42;```

# Format comma-separated items as bullet list
scripts/script.sh format list "Task 1, Task 2, Task 3"
# Output:
# • Task 1
# • Task 2
# • Task 3

history

Show the 20 most recent messages from the send history, including timestamps, actions, status, and channels.

scripts/script.sh history
# === Message History ===
#   ✅ [2025-03-19 09:00:00] send: Good morning, team!
#   ✅ [2025-03-19 09:15:30] notify → #alerts: CPU alert cleared
#   ❌ [2025-03-19 10:00:00] send: Failed message (webhook down)
#   Total: 42 message(s)

stats

Show usage statistics including message counts, success rate, action breakdown, and date range.

scripts/script.sh stats
# === Slack Automator Stats ===
#   Messages sent:    42
#   Successful:       40
#   Failed:           2
#   Success rate:     95.2%
#   Scheduled:        3
#   Templates:        5
#
#   Actions breakdown:
#     send: 30
#     notify: 8
#     template-use: 4
#
#   Period: 2025-01-15 → 2025-03-19

export <format>

Export message history to a file. Supported formats: json, csv, txt.

# Export as JSON
scripts/script.sh export json
# ✅ Exported history to ~/.slack-automator/export.json

# Export as CSV (for spreadsheets)
scripts/script.sh export csv
# ✅ Exported 42 entries to ~/.slack-automator/export.csv

# Export as plain text
scripts/script.sh export txt

config [key] [value]

View or set configuration values. Available keys: webhook_url, default_channel, username, icon_emoji.

# View all configuration
scripts/script.sh config
# === Slack Automator Configuration ===
#   webhook_url = [Technical Reference]
#   default_channel = #general

# Set a specific value
scripts/script.sh config default_channel "#engineering"
# ✅ Set default_channel = #engineering

# Get a specific value
scripts/script.sh config default_channel
# default_channel = #engineering

help

Print usage information and the list of all available commands.

scripts/script.sh help

version

Print the current version string.

scripts/script.sh version
# slack-automator v3.0.2

Data Storage

All data is stored in ~/.slack-automator/:

File	Purpose
config.json	Webhook URL and settings
history.json	Complete message send history
schedule.json	Scheduled messages
templates/	Saved message templates (.txt)

Examples

Quick Start

# 1. Connect your webhook
scripts/script.sh connect [Technical Reference]

# 2. Test it works
scripts/script.sh webhook test

# 3. Send your first message
scripts/script.sh send "Hello, Slack! 👋"

CI/CD Integration

# Save a deploy template
scripts/script.sh template save deploy "🚀 *{{service}}* deployed to *{{env}}* ({{version}})"

# Use it in your pipeline
scripts/script.sh template use deploy service=web-app env=production version=v1.2.3

Monitoring Alerts

# Direct alert to a channel
scripts/script.sh notify alerts "🔴 Database connection pool exhausted — 0/50 available"

# Formatted alert
scripts/script.sh format bold "CRITICAL: Payment service unreachable"

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