copy-for-slack

name	copy-for-slack
description	Convert a message from standard Markdown to Slack's mrkdwn formatting and copy it to the clipboard, ready to paste into Slack. Trigger phrases "copy for slack", "/copy-for-slack", "format this for slack", "slackify this", "make this slack-ready", "copy that to slack", "give me a slack version".

Copy for Slack

Take a message (usually one just drafted in the conversation) and rewrite it in Slack's mrkdwn dialect, then put it on the clipboard so the user can paste it straight into the Slack composer.

Slack is not standard Markdown. Pasting GitHub-flavored Markdown into Slack renders **bold** as literal asterisks, drops headings, and mangles tables. This skill fixes that.

1. Pick the source text

In priority order:

1. Text the user passed as an argument / quoted in their request.
2. The specific message they point at ("copy the message above", "the draft you just wrote").
3. Otherwise, the most recent substantive message you produced.

If it's ambiguous which message they mean, ask before copying.

2. Convert Markdown → Slack mrkdwn

Apply every rule that's relevant. The first three are the ones that bite most often.

Markdown	Slack mrkdwn	Notes
**bold** / __bold__	*bold*	Single asterisks. The #1 gotcha.
*italic* / _italic_	_italic_	Underscores only.
~~strike~~	~strike~	Single tildes.
`code`	`code`	Unchanged.
```lang fenced block	``` fenced block	Drop the language label — Slack shows it as literal text. Keep the triple backticks.
# H1 / ## H2 …	*Heading* on its own line	Slack has no headings. Bold the text; keep a blank line after.
[text](url)	[text](url)	Keep Markdown-style links — Slack's composer auto-links them on paste. (For API/incoming-webhook payloads use `<url
Bare https://…	leave as-is	Slack auto-links bare URLs.
- item / 1. item	- item / 1. item	Bullets and numbers render fine. Use - for bullets.
> quote	> quote	Supported. Use >>> before a multi-line block quote.
--- horizontal rule	remove (blank line)	No divider in mrkdwn.
tables	code block or plain lines	No table support; reformat as an aligned ``` block or simple Label: value lines.
:emoji:	:emoji:	Shortcodes work.
@name you can't resolve	leave as @name	Only use <@U123> when you actually know the member ID.

Keep the wording identical — only the formatting changes. Don't hard-wrap; let Slack reflow.

3. Copy to the clipboard

Write the converted text via a quoted heredoc (so backticks and $ stay literal) into the platform clipboard command. Use a unique delimiter that can't appear in the body.

macOS:

pbcopy <<'SLACK_MSG_EOF'
<converted slack text here>
SLACK_MSG_EOF

Portable (use whichever exists — macOS pbcopy, Linux X11 xclip/xsel, Wayland wl-copy, WSL clip.exe):

copy_cmd=$(command -v pbcopy || command -v wl-copy || echo "xclip -selection clipboard")
$copy_cmd <<'SLACK_MSG_EOF'
<converted slack text here>
SLACK_MSG_EOF

If no clipboard tool is available, print the converted text in a fenced block and tell the user to copy it manually.

4. Confirm

After copying, show the converted message (so the user can eyeball it) and confirm it's on the clipboard — e.g. "Copied to clipboard (Slack-formatted)." Note any lossy conversions you made (a table flattened to a code block, a heading turned into bold, etc.).

Notes

• Default link style is Markdown [text](url) for pasting into the Slack message box. Only switch to <url|text> when the destination is the Slack API / an incoming webhook.
• Slack bold/italic/strike only render when the markers hug the text and sit on word boundaries (*bold*, not * bold *).
• Don't invent content or trim the message — this skill reformats, it doesn't rewrite.