slack

name	slack
description	Manage Slack using slk CLI — read messages, search, check unread, set status/DND, and browse activity. Use when user asks about Slack, wants to check messages, set status, or says "/slack".
tools	Bash

Slack (slk CLI)

Interact with Slack from the command line using slk (Slack Gem).

Prerequisites

slk must be installed and authenticated. If any command fails with "command not found", suggest running /setup-slack.

Usage

• /slack — Show unread messages across all workspaces
• /slack unread — Same as above
• /slack messages #channel — Read recent channel messages
• /slack search "query" — Search messages

Arguments after /slack map directly to slk subcommands.

Commands

Unread messages

# Show unread across all workspaces (default action)
slk unread

# Unread for a specific workspace
slk unread -w oddball

# Include muted channels
slk unread --muted

# Clear all unread
slk unread clear

# Clear unread for a specific channel
slk unread clear #channel

Read channel/DM messages

# Channel messages
slk messages #general
slk messages #eert-teammates-internal

# DM messages
slk messages @alexteal

# From a Slack URL (message + thread context)
slk messages https://oddball-io.slack.com/archives/C123/p456

# Limit number of messages
slk messages #general -n 20

# Messages since a duration or date
slk messages #general --since 1d
slk messages #general --since 7d
slk messages #general --since 2026-02-28

# Include thread replies inline
slk messages #general --threads

# Specific workspace
slk messages #general -w oddball

Read threads

Use the messages command with a Slack message URL — it returns the message and its thread:

slk messages https://oddball-io.slack.com/archives/C123ABC/p1234567890

Search messages

Requires user token (xoxc/xoxs), not bot tokens.

# Basic search
slk search "deploy"

# Filter by channel
slk search "deploy" --in #platform-sre-team

# Filter by user
slk search "vtk" --from @alexteal

# Filter by date
slk search "outage" --after 2026-02-01 --before 2026-03-01
slk search "standup" --on 2026-02-28

# Combine filters
slk search "PR review" --in #eert-teammates-internal --from @tomwarren

# More results
slk search "deploy" -n 50

# Specific workspace
slk search "deploy" -w oddball

Activity feed

# Recent activity (reactions, mentions, threads)
slk activity

# Include message content
slk activity -m

# Filter by type
slk activity --mentions
slk activity --reactions
slk activity --threads

# Limit results
slk activity -n 10

Status

# Show current status (all workspaces)
slk status

# Set status with emoji
slk status "Working" :laptop:

# Set status with duration
slk status "In a meeting" :calendar: 1h

# Set status with presence and DND
slk status "Focus time" :headphones: 2h -p away -d 2h

# Clear status
slk status clear

# Set across all workspaces
slk status "OOO" :palm_tree: --all

Presets

# List available presets
slk preset list

# Apply a preset
slk preset meeting
slk preset focus
slk preset lunch

# Apply to all workspaces
slk preset meeting --all

Do Not Disturb

# Show DND status (all workspaces)
slk dnd

# Enable for a duration
slk dnd 1h
slk dnd 30m
slk dnd 1h30m

# Disable
slk dnd off

# Set across all workspaces
slk dnd 1h --all

Emoji search

# Search emoji by name
slk emoji search "thumbs"
slk emoji search "party"

JSON Output

Use --json when you need structured data for follow-up processing:

slk unread --json
slk messages #general --json
slk search "deploy" --json
slk activity --json

Workspaces

slk supports multiple workspaces. Use -w <name> to target a specific workspace, or --all for commands that support it. Without -w, slk uses the primary workspace.

# List configured workspaces
slk workspaces

Behavior

1. When the user says "/slack" with no arguments, show unread messages
2. Present messages in a clean, readable format — show sender, timestamp, and content
3. When reading long channels, use --since to limit to recent messages rather than fetching everything
4. For thread context, pass the Slack URL directly to slk messages
5. Use --json when you need to process output programmatically or extract specific data
6. Channel names use #channel format (not weechat %channel format)
7. Weechat logs (~/.local/share/weechat/logs/) and qmd remain useful for historical/indexed search — prefer slk for live data
8. When summarizing unread, group by workspace and highlight channels with the most activity
9. If a command fails with an auth error, suggest slk config setup or /setup-slack