slackcli

Command-line interface for Slack API operations.

First Step: Check Configuration

Run slack config at the start of every session to check workspace setup:

bash

slack config

Check the last line of output:

•Using org from SLACK_ORG: <name> → No --org needed, commands use this workspace
•No org selected (use --org or SLACK_ORG) → Must pass --org=<workspace> to every command

The output also shows available workspaces in the "orgs" section.

Workspace Selection

bash

# When SLACK_ORG env is set (no --org needed):
slack conversations list

# When no org is selected (--org required):
slack --org=mycompany conversations list

If the user hasn't specified a workspace and no default is configured, ask them which workspace to use (show the available orgs from slack config).

Global Options

bash

slack --org=<workspace>  # Specify workspace (required if SLACK_ORG not set)
slack --verbose          # Enable debug logging
slack --json             # Output as JSON (available on most commands)

Conversations

bash

slack conversations list              # All conversations (cached)
slack conversations list --public     # Public channels only
slack conversations list --private    # Private channels only
slack conversations list --dms        # DMs and group DMs only
slack conversations list --member     # Channels you're a member of
slack conversations list --non-member # Channels you're not in
slack conversations list --refresh    # Force cache refresh

Messages

List Messages

bash

slack messages list '#channel'                    # Recent messages (default limit 100)
slack messages list '#channel' --today            # Today only
slack messages list '#channel' --last-7d          # Last 7 days
slack messages list '#channel' --last-30d         # Last 30 days
slack messages list '#channel' --since 2024-01-15 # Since specific date
slack messages list '#channel' --since 7d --until 3d  # Relative range
slack messages list '#channel' --with-threads     # Include thread replies
slack messages list '#channel' --reactions=counts # Show reaction counts
slack messages list '#channel' --reactions=names  # Show who reacted
slack messages list '#channel' -n 50              # Limit to 50 messages
slack messages list '#channel' 1234567890.123456  # View specific thread
slack messages list C0123456789 --json            # Use channel ID, JSON output

Send Messages

Send to channels or DMs. Target can be #channel, @username, @email@example.com, or IDs.

bash

slack messages send '#channel' "Hello world"
slack messages send '@john.doe' "Hello via DM"
slack messages send '#channel' --thread 1234567890.123456 "Reply in thread"
echo "Message" | slack messages send '#channel' --stdin
slack messages send '#channel' --file ./report.pdf           # Upload file
slack messages send '#channel' "Here's the report" --file ./report.pdf
slack messages send '#channel' "Message" --json              # Returns message timestamp

Edit Messages

bash

slack messages edit '#channel' 1234567890.123456 "Updated message"
slack messages edit '#channel' 1234567890.123456 "Updated" --json

Delete Messages

bash

slack messages delete '#channel' 1234567890.123456         # With confirmation
slack messages delete '#channel' 1234567890.123456 --force # Skip confirmation

Search

Search Messages

bash

slack search messages "quarterly report"
slack search messages "bug fix" --in '#engineering'
slack search messages "deadline" --from '@john.doe'
slack search messages "meeting" --after 7d
slack search messages "project" --before 2024-01-15 --after 2024-01-01
slack search messages "query" --sort timestamp --sort-dir desc
slack search messages "query" -n 50 --page 2

Search Files

bash

slack search files "report.pdf"
slack search files "spreadsheet" --in '#finance'
slack search files "presentation" --from '@jane.doe'
slack search files "budget" --after 30d

Users

bash

slack users list                    # List all users (cached)
slack users list --refresh          # Force refresh
slack users list --bots --deleted   # Include bots and deleted users
slack users search "john"           # Search by name/email
slack users get @john.doe           # Get user details
slack users get john@example.com    # Get by email
slack users get U0123456789         # Get by user ID

Files

Files are downloaded to /tmp/slackcli-<random>/.

bash

slack files download F0ABC123DEF                      # Download by file ID
slack files download 'https://files.slack.com/...'   # Download by URL
slack files download F0ABC123DEF --json               # Output download details as JSON

Reactions

bash

slack reactions add '#channel' 1234567890.123456 thumbsup    # Add reaction
slack reactions add '#channel' 1234567890.123456 :+1:        # Colons stripped
slack reactions remove '#channel' 1234567890.123456 thumbsup # Remove reaction

Pins

bash

slack pins list '#channel'                           # List pinned messages
slack pins add '#channel' 1234567890.123456          # Pin a message
slack pins remove '#channel' 1234567890.123456       # Unpin a message

Scheduled Messages

bash

slack scheduled list                                 # List all scheduled
slack scheduled list '#channel'                      # Filter by channel
slack scheduled create '#channel' "in 1h" "Reminder!"
slack scheduled create '#channel' "in 30m" "Meeting soon"
slack scheduled create '#channel' "tomorrow" "Daily standup"
slack scheduled create '#channel' "tomorrow 9am" "Good morning!"
slack scheduled create '#channel' "2025-02-03 09:00" "Team meeting"
slack scheduled create '#channel' --thread 1234567890.123456 "in 1h" "Reply"
slack scheduled delete S0123456789                   # Delete by scheduled ID

Resolve Slack URLs

bash

slack resolve 'https://workspace.slack.com/archives/C0123456789/p1234567890123456'
slack resolve 'https://...' --json

Extracts workspace from URL automatically.

References

Channels

•#channel-name - Channel name with hash
•C0123456789 - Channel ID

Users

•@username - Username with @
•@email@example.com - Email with @
•U0123456789 - User ID

Message Timestamps

Format: 1234567890.123456. Get them from:

•--json output of any message command
•Thread reply indicator in text output
•Slack URL (the p parameter, add decimal before last 6 digits)

Message Formatting

When composing messages, use Slack's mrkdwn syntax. Slack does NOT support markdown tables — use plain text alignment, bullet lists, or code blocks to present tabular data instead.

Syntax	Result
`bold`	bold
`_italic_`	italic
`code`	`code`
```code block```	code block
`<@U123456>`	@mention user
`<#C123456>`	#mention channel
`<!here>`	@here
`<!channel>`	@channel
`<https://url\|text>`	hyperlink

Get user/channel IDs from --json output or slack users get.