Slack (Socket Mode)

Use when you need to control Slack from OpenClaw via the message tool, including reacting to messages or pinning/unpinning items in Slack channels or DMs.

Slack Actions

Overview

Use the message tool with these actions to control Slack: send, react, reactions, read, edit, delete, download-file, pin, unpin, list-pins, member-info, emoji-list. The tool uses the bot token configured for OpenClaw.

Inputs to collect

• channelId (e.g. C123) and messageId (Slack message timestamp, e.g. 1712023032.1234).
• For reactions, an emoji (Unicode or :name:).
• For message sends, a to target (channel:<id> like C123 or user mention <@U123>).

Message context lines include slack message id and channel fields you can reuse directly.

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Actions

Action groups | Default | Notes

Action group	Default	Notes
reactions	enabled	React + list reactions
messages	enabled	Read/send/edit/delete
pins	enabled	Pin/unpin/list
memberInfo	enabled	Member info
emojiList	enabled	Custom emoji list

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Common Patterns

Send a message to a channel

bash

/message
action: send
channel: slack
to: C123
message: Hello @everyone!

Send a message to a specific user

bash

/message
action: send
channel: slack
to: <@U123>
message: Hi there!

React to a message

bash

/message
action: react
channelId: C123
messageId: 1712023032.1234
emoji: ✅

List reactions on a message

bash

/message
action: reactions
channelId: C123
messageId: 1712023032.1234

Edit a message

bash

/message
action: edit
channelId: C123
messageId: 1712023032.1234
message: Updated text

Delete a message

bash

/message
action: delete
channelId: C123
messageId: 1712023032.1234

Read recent messages from a channel

bash

/message
action: read
channelId: C123
limit: 20

Pin a message

bash

/message
action: pin
channelId: C123
messageId: 1712023032.1234

Unpin a message

bash

/message
action: unpin
channelId: C123
messageId: 1712023032.1234

List pinned messages in a channel

bash

/message
action: list-pins
channelId: C123

Get member info by user ID

bash

/message
action: member-info
userId: U123

Returns: real_name, display_name, email, avatar URLs, timezone, profile status, etc.

List custom emojis

bash

/message
action: emoji-list

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Tips & Gotchas

1. Mention format: Use <@U...> instead of @Name to ensure Slack parses the mention correctly.
2. Member lookup: If you don't know a user's ID, check recent message context or project board assignee fields. You can also use member-info once you have any guessable ID.
3. DM policy: Direct messages require im:write scope and may need explicit pairing if your channel config is restrictive.
4. Socket Mode vs Bot API: OpenClaw uses Socket Mode for real-time events; all write operations go through bot token scopes.

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Ideas to try

• React with ✅ to mark completed tasks.
• Pin key decisions or weekly status updates.
• Introduce yourself using <@UserID> to trigger notifications.
• Monitor channel activity with periodic read calls.