| name | slack-axi |
| description | Read, search, and cite Slack from the shell. Use when asked to read or summarize a Slack channel, find a discussion across Slack, look up private channels / group DMs / DMs, read a channel over a date range, follow a thread, or produce permalink citations for Slack messages. Token-efficient TOON output; human date ranges in, permalinks out. |
slack-axi
A CLI for reading, searching, and citing Slack with agent-ergonomic (TOON) output. Replaces the
flaky Slack MCP: a stored user token (no logouts, works headless), all conversation types discoverable,
human date windows (no epoch math), threads inlined, and permalinks on demand.
Run commands with npx -y slack-axi <command> (or slack-axi if installed on PATH). Channel
arguments accept #name, bare name, or an id (C…/G…/D…) interchangeably.
Orient
npx -y slack-axi — home: active workspace + your channel count.npx -y slack-axi doctor — verify the token works and scopes are covered.
Find channels (incl. private channels, group DMs, DMs)
npx -y slack-axi channels — your conversations across ALL types (capped; use --match/--type).npx -y slack-axi channels --match proj — fuzzy-find by name.npx -y slack-axi channels --type private — filter (public|private|mpim|im); --all for the whole workspace.npx -y slack-axi dms — DMs and group DMs with participants.npx -y slack-axi members <channel> — channel members; external/shared-channel and guest names resolved on demand, unresolvable ids shown as Uxxxx (unresolved).npx -y slack-axi user <id|@handle> [...] — look up users by id or handle: real/display name and whether each is external (Slack Connect), a guest, or a bot. Resolves shared-channel members the roster misses.
Read a channel over a time window (the primary verb)
npx -y slack-axi read <channel> — last 7 days, thread replies inlined, names resolved.npx -y slack-axi read <channel> --from 2026-04-23 --to 2026-04-29 — explicit window (human dates).npx -y slack-axi read <channel> --since 24h — relative span (90m, 24h, 7d).- Flags:
--threads full|summary|none, --limit <n>, --exclude-bots, --tz <zone>, --cite, --full.
- The output header echoes the resolved range with explicit year + timezone (sanity-check the year),
a
complete: true|false marker, and a top-level messages: N of M count — coverage is never silently
partial.
npx -y slack-axi thread <channel> <ts> — read one thread fully.read/thread show a counts-only reactions column (:emoji:×N) when any message in view has
reactions — free, already in the data. For who reacted, use the reactions command below.read/thread also show a files column when a message has attachments — name (type, size) [F-id],
free from the same payload. Use the F-id with download to fetch the bytes.
Files / attachments
npx -y slack-axi download <file-id…> [--out <dir>] — fetch one or more attachments (file ids from a
read/thread files column) to local files; prints the saved absolute paths so you can open them
(e.g. to view a screenshot). Read-only against Slack; needs the files:read scope. Downloading is
explicit — reading a thread lists attachments but never fetches their bytes on its own.
Reactions (who reacted)
npx -y slack-axi reactions <channel> <ts> — every emoji on a message + the complete, name-resolved
roster of who reacted (count-desc). Sourced from reactions.get full=true (the only complete source;
the inline counts come truncated-roster-free from history). Pass a ts handle from a read/search
row.
Search (find a thing — NOT a window sweep)
npx -y slack-axi search "<query>" — across the workspace.- Modifiers:
--in <channel>, --from <@user> (sender), --with <@user> (conversations including a
person), --after <date|span>, --before <date|span>, --limit <n>, --cite.
- To read a channel over a window completely, use
read --from --to, not search.
Cite (permalinks for the messages you reference)
Read/search rows carry a compact ts handle, not a full permalink. To turn handles into permalinks:
npx -y slack-axi cite <channel> <ts> [<ts> ...] — reconstructs permalinks (with thread_ts for
replies) and emits {channel, ts, permalink} per message — ready to drop into a citation record.- Or pass
--cite to read/search to inline permalinks up front (for bulk ingestion).
Setup (once per workspace)
npx -y slack-axi auth setup — generates an app manifest (all scopes pre-filled, token rotation off)
and walks you through creating + installing a Slack app, then auth login --token xoxp-….npx -y slack-axi setup hooks — install a SessionStart hook so each agent session starts with the
slack-axi home view as ambient context.
