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Connecting a bot to Slack requires you to configure it to send messages (using API credentials) and to receive messages (using a webhook).

## Sending Messages

Create a new file `credentials.yml` in the root folder of your Rasa project (if you've used `rasa init` this file should already exist and you can just edit it). Add the following lines to the file:

```yaml
slack:
  slack_channel: "CA003L0XZ"    # channel ID, not a channel name!
  slack_token: "xoxb-XXX"       # token obtained in the next step
  slack_signing_secret: "YYY"   # secret obtained in the next step
```

The `slack_channel` can be a channel or an individual person that the bot should listen to for communications, in addition to the default behavior of listening for direct messages and app mentions, i.e. _@app_name_. To get a channel id, right click on the channel in Slack and choose **Copy Link**. The id will be the last component in the URL.

In the next couple steps, you'll create a Slack App to get the values for `slack_token` and `slack_signing_secret`:

1. To create the app go to [Your Apps](https://api.slack.com/apps "The Your Apps section of your Slack interface") and click on **Create New App**.

Fill out your **App Name** and select the **Development Workspace** where you'll play around and build your app.

2. Head over to **OAuth & Permissions** and scroll down to **Scopes**. Scopes give your app permission to do things in your workspace.

To get started, you should at least add the following scopes:

- `app_mentions:read`,  
   - `channels:history`,  
   - `chat:write`,  
   - `groups:history`,  
   - `im:history`,  
   - `mpim:history` and  
   - `reactions:write`.

In Slacks API documentation you can find a [list and explanation of all available scopes](https://api.slack.com/scopes).

3. On the **OAuth & Permissions** page, click **Install App to Workspace** to add the bot to your workspace.

Once added, Slack will show you a **Bot User OAuth Access Token** which you'll need to add to your `credentials.yml` as the value for `slack_token`:

```yaml
slack:
     slack_channel: "your-channel" # choose a channel for your bot
     slack_token: "xoxb-XXX"       # token obtained in the next step
     slack_signing_secret: "YYY"   # secret obtained in the next step
```

The token should start with `xoxb`.

4. Head over to **Basic Information** to gather the **Signing Secret**.

Copy the signing secret into your `credentials.yml` as the value for `slack_signing_secret`:

This setup will allow your bot to send messages. Now let's head over to the setup for receiving and reacting to messages.

## Receiving Messages

Before continuing, make sure you have configured a Slack App for [Sending Messages](/content/docs/reference/channels/slack/#sending-messages/index.html) and have added Slack credentials to your `credentials.yml` file.

To receive messages, you will need a publicly available URL for Slack to reach your bot and tell you about new messages. If you are running locally, you can [test channels using ngrok](/content/docs/reference/channels/messaging-and-voice-channels/#testing-channels-on-your-local-machine/index.html)

1. To configure your bot to receive messages, your bot needs to be running. Start your bot e.g. using

```bash
rasa run
```

If you are running locally, make sure ngrok (or another tool to retrieve a public url) is running as well.

2. To send messages directly to your bot using the slack UI, head to **App Home**, scroll to the bottom and select the checkbox for `Allow users to send Slash commands and messages from the messages tab.` You might have to quit the Slack app and re-open it before your changes take effect.

3. Configure the webhook by heading to **Event Subscriptions** and turning **Enable Events** on.

As a request URL enter the public url of your bot and append `/webhooks/slack/webhook`, e.g. `https://<host>/webhooks/slack/webhook` replacing `<host>` with your URL. If you are using ngrok, your url should look like `https://92832de0.ngrok.io/webhooks/slack/webhook`.

You won't be able to use a `localhost` url.

4. As a last step, you'll need to **Subscribe to bot events** on the same page. You'll need to add the following events:

- `message.channels`,  
   - `message.groups`,  
   - `message.im` and  
   - `message.mpim`.

Make sure to hit **Save Changes** at the bottom of the page after you've added these events.

(If you didn't grant all required permissions to your app while setting up sending of messages, you'll be prompted to **reinstall your app** which you will need to do. Otherwise, Slack will confirm your change with a **Success!**)

As per [Slack docs](https://api.slack.com/messaging/sending), make sure you invite your bot to a channel it should be accessing. You can do this by using `/invite` in the channel.

Your bot is now ready to go and will receive webhook notifications about new messages.

## Optional: Interactive Components

After you've completed [Sending Messages](/content/docs/reference/channels/slack/#sending-messages/index.html) and [Receiving Messages](/content/docs/reference/channels/slack/#receiving-messages/index.html) your bot is ready to go. If you want to use Slack's [interactive components](https://api.slack.com/block-kit/interactivity) (buttons or menus), you'll need to do some additional configuration:

Open the **Interactivity & Shortcuts** page and toggle **Interactivity** to be on. Afterwards, you'll need to enter the same url into the **Request URL** field which you used in Step 2 of [Receiving Messages](/content/docs/reference/channels/slack/#receiving-messages/index.html), e.g. `https://<host>/webhooks/slack/webhook`.

## Additional Slack Options

Here is a complete overview of all the configuration parameters for the Slack connection:

```yaml
slack:
  slack_channel: "CA003L0XZ"    # channel ID, not a channel name!
  slack_token: "xoxb-XXX"       # token obtained in the next step
  slack_signing_secret: "YYY"   # secret obtained in the next step
  proxy: "http://myProxy.online"  # Proxy Server to route your traffic through. This configuration is optional. Only HTTP proxies are supported
  slack_retry_reason_header: "x-slack-retry-reason"  # Slack HTTP header name indicating reason that slack send retry request. This configuration is optional.
  slack_retry_number_header: "x-slack-retry-num"  # Slack HTTP header name indicating the attempt number. This configuration is optional.
  errors_ignore_retry: None  # Any error codes given by Slack included in this list will be ignored. Error codes are listed [here](https://api.slack.com/events-api#errors).
  use_threads: False  # If set to True, bot responses will appear as a threaded message in Slack. This configuration is optional and set to False by default.
  conversation_granularity: "sender" # sender allows 1 conversation per user (across channels), channel allows 1 conversation per user per channel, thread allows 1 conversation per user per thread. This configuration is optional and set to sender by default.
```

Make sure to restart your Rasa server after changing the `credentials.yml` for the changes to take effect.