Simple Agent
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Slack

Add your AI agent to a Slack workspace — responds in channels, threads, and DMs.

With the Slack integration, your agent answers questions directly in your workspace's channels and DMs. Ideal for internal teams that need a knowledge base assistant, technical support, or new employee onboarding.

Prerequisites

  • Slack workspace with admin permissions (or admin approval to install apps)
  • Simple Agent Growth or Agency plan

Setup

1. Create the Slack App

  1. Go to api.slack.com/apps → Create New App → From scratch
  2. Give it a name (e.g., "Simple Agent") and select the workspace
  3. Under OAuth & Permissions → Scopes → Bot Token Scopes, add:
Scope Purpose
app_mentions:read Read when the bot is mentioned
channels:history Read channel messages (needed for thread context)
chat:write Send messages
im:history Read DMs
im:read View DMs
im:write Reply to DMs

2. Install the app in the workspace

  1. Under OAuth & Permissions → Install to Workspace
  2. Copy the Bot User OAuth Token (xoxb-...)

3. Connect in Simple Agent

  1. Dashboard → Channels → Slack
  2. Paste the Bot Token
  3. Click Save and generate Webhook URL

4. Configure Event Subscriptions

  1. In the Slack app → Event Subscriptions → Enable Events
  2. Paste the Simple Agent URL in the Request URL field
  3. Slack sends a challenge — Simple Agent responds automatically
  4. Under Subscribe to bot events, add:
    • app_mention — respond when mentioned
    • message.im — respond to DMs

Response modes

Mention in channel

The agent only responds when directly mentioned (@botname). This prevents the agent from replying to every channel conversation.

@Simple Agent how do I export reports?
→ Simple Agent: You can export to CSV or PDF under Reports → Export...

Direct DM

The agent responds to all messages sent via DM, without requiring a mention.

Automatic threading

All responses are sent in a thread of the original message to keep the channel clean.

Advanced settings

Option Description
Authorized channels Restrict which channels the agent can respond in
Thread context The agent reads the last N messages in the thread as context (default: 10)
Thinking emoji Adds a ⏳ reaction while processing — removes it after replying
Handoff If the user types /human, opens a ticket in your helpdesk

Use cases

Internal knowledge base: Train the agent with your internal documentation (Notion, Confluence, Google Drive) and let the team ask questions in Slack.

Technical support: Train with runbooks, READMEs, and changelogs. The agent answers infrastructure questions without needing to ping anyone.

Onboarding: Train with the company handbook, HR policies, and internal processes. New employees get their questions answered directly in Slack.

Troubleshooting

Bot doesn't respond to mentions:

  • Confirm the bot was added to the channel: /invite @botname
  • Check that the app_mention event is subscribed

Request URL fails:

  • The endpoint must return HTTP 200 with the challenge field in the same request. Simple Agent does this automatically — if it fails, check for a proxy or firewall in front of the URL.

Error "not_in_channel":

  • The bot must be a member of the channel. Use /invite @botname in the desired channel.

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