| name | slack-actions |
| description | Slack action patterns — when to DM vs post to channel, how to draft messages that survive the approval queue, how to use reactions as low-friction status signals. Use when the agent is about to call any of the @open-neko/plugin-slack actions (send_slack_message, send_slack_dm, react_slack_message, lookup_slack_entity). Especially useful when the operator's intent is to alert someone, escalate a finding, acknowledge an event, or chase a stalled item. |
| license | Apache-2.0 |
| metadata | {"authoredBy":"open-neko","pairsWith":"@open-neko/plugin-slack"} |
Slack action patterns
The @open-neko/plugin-slack plugin contributes four sandboxed actions:
| Action | Visibility | When to use |
|---|
send_slack_message | Channel-wide | Status updates, public alerts, weekly digests |
send_slack_dm | One-to-one | Stalled task nudges, personal escalations, polite chases |
react_slack_message | Subtle | Acknowledge a thread, show "OpenNeko saw this" without adding noise |
lookup_slack_entity | Auto (read-only) | Resolve usernames / channel IDs before the other three |
Draft → approve → fire, every time
Every write action defaults to ask mode — the agent drafts a payload, the
approval card surfaces in the operator's queue, the operator clicks
Approve before anything fires. Do not assume otherwise.
Drafting rules
- Lead with the conclusion. "Germany hourly revenue down 62% vs baseline."
not "I noticed an interesting pattern…". Operators skim Slack on
their phones.
- One thing per message. Don't combine an alert and a follow-up
question. Split them.
- No emoji unless the operator's own messages use them —
lookup_slack_entity returns the user's profile; if their style is
plain text, match it.
- Format dates as ISO. Slack-rendering varies; ISO is unambiguous.
- Identify yourself once at the top of new threads ("From the
OpenNeko Revenue Drop watcher:"). In replies, skip — it's noise.
Channel vs DM heuristic
- Channel: anything multiple operators need to see. Default.
- DM: when only one operator can act on the finding, AND the channel
would be inappropriate noise (e.g. "you missed an AR-aging follow-up
last Friday" — DM their account owner, not #ops).
Reactions
A react_slack_message (✅ ▼ ⚠️ 🔍) is often the right move on a
follow-up — quieter than a reply, still discoverable in the thread's
history. Use ✅ when an action you were tracking completes, ⚠️ when a
finding upgrades from "watch" to "act", 🔍 when you're about to dig
deeper but haven't yet.
Lookup before write
When the operator references a person or channel by name, call
lookup_slack_entity first. The returned id is what the write
actions need. Skipping this step is the #1 cause of failed Slack
posts ("channel not found" / "user_not_found").
Failure modes the operator should see
channel_not_found — pass the operator a hint to invite the
Slack app to the channel first.token_revoked — the bot token expired or was revoked; operator
needs to re-install with openneko secrets set @open-neko/plugin-slack SLACK_BOT_TOKEN <new>.ratelimited — exponential backoff is fine; surface the wait if
it's >5s so the operator knows why the approval is taking.
What this skill is NOT for
- The actual API call mechanics — the plugin handles that. You just
draft the payload and ask which action kind to invoke.
- Long-form documents — that's
docx / pptx / Notion territory. A
Slack post is a sentence-or-three nudge.
