Slack Mcp

Slack MCP

Your entire Slack workspace — available to any AI.

[](https://pypi.org/project/slack-mcp/) [](LICENSE)

A Model Context Protocol server that gives LLMs full access to Slack. Messages, channels, files, canvases, lists, search, reactions — all of it.

253 tools · 37 API families · Every Slack feature

---

Quick Start

1. Create a Slack App

1. Go to api.slack.com/apps > Create New App > From a manifest
2. Paste the contents of [manifest.json](manifest.json)
3. Install to your workspace
4. Copy the User OAuth Token (xoxp-...) from OAuth & Permissions

2. Add to your AI client

Claude Code

claude mcp add slack -- uvx --from git+https://github.com/karbassi/slack-mcp.git slack-mcp

Then set SLACK_XOXP_TOKEN in your shell environment.

Claude Desktop

Add to ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "slack": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["--from", "git+https://github.com/karbassi/slack-mcp.git", "slack-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "SLACK_XOXP_TOKEN": "xoxp-..."
      }
    }
  }
}

Cursor

Add to ~/.cursor/mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "slack": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["--from", "git+https://github.com/karbassi/slack-mcp.git", "slack-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "SLACK_XOXP_TOKEN": "xoxp-..."
      }
    }
  }
}

Windsurf

Add to ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "slack": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["--from", "git+https://github.com/karbassi/slack-mcp.git", "slack-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "SLACK_XOXP_TOKEN": "xoxp-..."
      }
    }
  }
}

VS Code / GitHub Copilot

Add to your VS Code settings.json:

{
  "mcp": {
    "servers": {
      "slack": {
        "command": "uvx",
        "args": ["--from", "git+https://github.com/karbassi/slack-mcp.git", "slack-mcp"],
        "env": {
          "SLACK_XOXP_TOKEN": "xoxp-..."
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Local clone

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "slack": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "uv",
      "args": ["run", "--directory", "/path/to/slack-mcp", "slack-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

What Can It Do?

> "Catch me up on #engineering from today" > "Reply to Sarah's thread saying we'll ship it Monday" > "Search for anything about the Q3 roadmap" > "Create a channel called #project-atlas and invite the design team"

| Domain | Tools | Highlights | |---|---|---| | Conversations | 31 | History, threads, replies, create, archive, invite, mark read, team connections, suggestions | | Undocumented | 38 | Drafts, saved items, emoji management, granular search, sidebar, threads, activity inbox, DMs, AI unread summary + digests, Today view, Connect invites | | Files | 19 | Upload, share, edit, list, remote files, shares, recently deleted, favorites | | Chat | 13 | Send, reply, schedule, update, delete, ephemeral, stream | | Users | 15 | Profile, presence, lookup, list, profile extras/sections, custom statuses | | Lists | 15 | Create, edit items, manage access, my assigned items, templates, records | | Legacy | 11 | Slash commands, file editing, bot listing | | Team | 9 | Info, preferences, access logs, billing | | Apps | 9 | Manifests, connections, authorizations, activities | | Workflows | 8 | Featured workflows, step completion, workflow/trigger listing | | Usergroups | 7 | Create, update, manage members | | Canvases | 7 | Create, edit, sections, access control, templates | | Calls | 6 | Start, end, manage participants | | + 24 more | | Calendar, DND, reminders, bookmarks, reactions, pins, stars, views, search, auth, bots, emoji, ... |

Plus resolve_names (bulk ID→name resolution) and cache_clear (bust the response cache on demand) utility tools.

Beyond the Official API

68 undocumented and legacy endpoints — the same internal APIs that Slack's own apps use. Requires session tokens (xoxc+xoxd).

Session endpoints — workspace state the official API doesn't expose

| Endpoint | What it provides | |---|---| | client.boot | Full workspace bootstrap — channels, users, prefs, feature flags | | client.counts | Unread counts per channel/DM/thread plus mention counts | | client.userBoot | User-specific bootstrap data scoped to the authenticated user | | threads.getView | Thread inbox — the list of threads with read/unread state | | subscriptions.thread.getView | My threads with unread reply counts — "catch me up on my threads" | | subscriptions.thread.mark | Mark individual threads as read or unread | | client.dms | Open DMs and group DMs (ims + mpims) | | activity.feed | Activity inbox — mentions, reactions, replies, reminders, invites | | drafts.list | List all unsent message drafts | | drafts.create | Create a message draft with Block Kit text | | drafts.update | Edit an existing draft | | drafts.delete | Delete a draft | | saved.list | List saved-for-later items | | saved.get | Fetch specific saved-for-later items by id | | saved.add | Save a message for later with optional due date | | saved.delete | Remove a saved-for-later item | | lists.getMyItems | Slack List tasks and approvals assigned to me | | emoji.add | Add a custom emoji from a URL | | emoji.remove | Remove a custom emoji | | emoji.adminList | Emoji with rich metadata — uploader, date, usage stats | | search.modules.messages | Granular message search | | search.modules.files | File-specific search | | search.modules.channels | Server-side channel search by name or topic | | search.modules.people | Fuzzy people search by name, title, department | | search.modules.dms | Search within DMs only | | conversations.view | Channel view with read state and personal config | | conversations.listPrefs | Per-channel notification and mute preferences | | users.channelSections.list | Sidebar organization — custom sections, favorites | | users.priority.list | Contacts ranked by interaction frequency | | experiments.getByUser | A/B test experiment assignments | | api.features | Workspace feature flags | | aiApps.list | AI applications configured in the workspace | | ai.alpha.summarize.unreadsSnapshot | AI summary of unread messages — "summarize what I missed" | | ai.alpha.digest.list | Slack's AI recaps/digests of activity across channels | | subscriptions.thread.get | Subscription/read state for a single thread | | today.items.list | Today view items (suggested to-dos, highlights) | | connectInvites.list | Pending Slack Connect channel and DM invites | | conversations.teamConnections | Slack Connect connections for a channel | | conversations.suggestions | Suggested channels for the user | | conversations.bulkReacjiTriggers | Per-channel reacji (auto-reaction) triggers | | lists.templates | Available Slack List templates | | lists.records.list | Records/items within a given Slack List | | calendar.getInstalledCalendars | Connected calendars (gcal, ocal) | | calendar.user.status | The user's current calendar status | | canvases.getCannedTemplates | Available canvas templates | | emoji.collections.list | Installed and available emoji packs | | files.getShares | Where a file is shared (channels, tabs, viewer count) | | files.recentlyDeleted | Recently deleted files | | files.favorites.list | Favorited files | | functions.workflows.list | Workflows and their triggers | | workflows.triggers.list | Triggers, filterable by app | | users.profile.getExtras | Profile extras — shared channels, onboarding state | | users.profile.getSections | Custom profile sections | | users.customStatus.list | Saved and scheduled custom statuses | | search.inline | Inline/quick search scoped to a channel or user | | search.save | Save a search | | enterpriseSearch.getConnectors | Configured enterprise search connectors |

Legacy endpoints — functionality missing from the official API

| Endpoint | What it provides | |---|---| | chat.command | Execute slash commands programmatically | | commands.list | List all slash commands including custom ones | | files.edit | Edit a file's title, content, or filetype in-place | | files.share | Share a file to a channel | | bots.list | List all bot users in the workspace | | team.prefs.get | Team-level preferences — retention, permissions, domains | | users.prefs.get | All user preferences — notifications, sidebar, theme | | users.prefs.set | Set any individual user preference | | users.admin.invite | Invite users by email (Enterprise Grid) | | users.admin.setInactive | Deactivate a user account (Enterprise Grid) | | channels.delete | Dead method — included for completeness |

> [!WARNING] > Undocumented endpoints can break without notice. They use session tokens (xoxc+xoxd) which expire and must be re-grabbed from browser cookies.

Authentication

| Variable | Required | Description | |---|---|---| | SLACK_XOXP_TOKEN | Yes | User OAuth token from your Slack app | | SLACK_XOXC_TOKEN | No | Browser session token for undocumented endpoints | | SLACK_XOXD_TOKEN | No | Browser session cookie (paired with xoxc) |

> [!TIP] > The xoxp token covers all Slack Web API tools. Utility tools like resolve_names and cache_clear work without additional auth. For undocumented endpoints (unread counts, workspace boot, file editing), you also need xoxc+xoxd — grab them from your browser cookies while logged into slack.com.

Caching

Responses are cached automatically to reduce API calls:

• Stable data (users, teams, bots, emoji) — 1 hour TTL
• Dynamic data (channel lists, members, bookmarks) — 5 minute TTL
• Old threads (conversations_replies with ts > 1 hour old) — 1 hour TTL
• Bounded history (conversations_history with old date range) — 1 hour TTL
• Resolved names (user/bot → 1 hour, channel → 5 minutes)

Cache is stored at the platform-native location (~/Library/Caches/slack-mcp on macOS, ~/.cache/slack-mcp on Linux). Set XDG_CACHE_HOME to override.

Use the cache_clear tool to bust the cache when you need fresh data.

Name Resolution

All tool responses automatically resolve user, channel, DM, and bot IDs to display names via a resolved_names field — no extra tool calls needed. Resolved names are disk-cached to avoid redundant API lookups.

Response Compaction

15 high-volume tools automatically strip bloat from Slack API responses — blocks (duplicates text), attachments (link unfurls), thumbnails (22 per file), and metadata noise. Measured reductions:

| Endpoint | Before | After | Reduction | |---|---|---|---| | conversations.history | 465 KB | 113 KB | 76% | | files.list | 127 KB | 26 KB | 80% | | conversations.list | 59 KB | 17 KB | 71% | | reactions.list | 353 KB | 167 KB | 53% |

Compaction is on by default. Pass detailed=True to any compactable tool to get the full Slack API response.

Development

git clone https://github.com/karbassi/slack-mcp.git
cd slack-mcp
uv sync
uv run pre-commit install            # ruff + ty on every commit
mise run check                       # test + lint + security scan
mise run test:integration            # requires tokens in .env

> [!NOTE] > ~68 integration tests are skipped because they require a bot token (xoxb), Slack Connect, interactive triggers (e.g. views.open), or would be destructive (e.g. auth.revoke). Adding bot token support is a future goal.

License

[MIT](LICENSE)

Source & license

This open-source MCP server is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

• Author: karbassi
• Source: karbassi/slack-mcp
• License: MIT
• Homepage: https://github.com/karbassi/slack-mcp#readme

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.