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Slack

The Slack integration lets an agent use Slack as a tool while it helps someone: search messages and files, look up people and conversations, spin up a channel and invite the right people, and — when you enable it — perform governed workspace admin actions such as archiving a stale channel or removing an offboarded user. The agent acts as the person it’s helping for everyday actions, so it only ever sees and does what that person could already see and do in Slack.
This is not the Slack channel. This integration is about an agent using Slack while a conversation happens somewhere else (the web widget, Teams, and so on). If you instead want employees to chat with the agent inside Slack, set up the Slack channel — a separate, complementary feature.

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Modules

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Set up read access

Read access takes about a minute and needs nothing in your Slack admin settings — Cobalt hosts the Slack app.
1

Add the integration

From your agent, open Integrations, choose Slack, and keep the Messaging module on. Reads are on by default; the write modules below are off until you turn them on.
2

Attest to the access requested

Review the read permissions (search, channels, DMs, files, profiles). The higher-impact ones are flagged. Confirm, name the integration, and save.
3

Let people authorize themselves

The first time the agent uses a Slack tool for someone, that person is asked to connect Slack. From then on the agent acts as them and is limited to what they can already see in Slack.

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Set up channel management (optional)

Turn on the Channel management module to let the agent create channels, invite people, and set topics as the asking person.
1

Enable the module

On the Slack integration, switch on Channel management and the tools you want.
2

Attest to the additional permissions

Creating and managing channels are higher-impact, so Cobalt asks you to explicitly confirm the extra permissions before saving.
When the agent creates a channel or invites people, it confirms with the person first and then links straight to the new channel.

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Set up admin actions (optional)

Admin actions operate on your whole workspace, so they run under a separate admin authorization and are governed by policy. Slack offers two ways to authorize, depending on your plan — pick yours with the tier selector on the integration’s authorization screen.
1

Enable the Admin module

Switch on the Admin module. Its tools stay in an Awaiting authorization state — and the rest of the integration keeps working — until you complete the step below.
2

Authorize — Enterprise Grid

If your workspace is on Enterprise Grid, choose that tier and click Connect. You’ll sign in once as an Org Admin to grant the admin permissions. Tokens are stored encrypted; Cobalt never shows them again.
3

Authorize — Pro / Business+ / Plus

If you’re not on Enterprise Grid, choose that tier and paste a workspace-owner User OAuth token (xoxp-…). Admin actions Slack doesn’t permit outside Enterprise Grid are clearly marked Requires Enterprise Grid and stay unavailable.
4

Confirm what the agent may do

Admin actions are gated: destructive ones (removing a member, archiving a channel) ask for confirmation at the moment they run, and actions are limited by policy — anything outside what you’ve permitted is denied rather than performed. Every action is written to the audit trail.

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What it does and doesn’t do

It does
  • Search and read Slack as the asking person (messages, files, channels, DMs, threads, profiles).
  • Create channels, invite people, and set topics as the asking person.
  • Perform governed, audited workspace admin actions (remove/invite a member, create/archive a channel, create a user group, change a role).
  • Link every result back to Slack so people can open it in one click.
It doesn’t (in this version)
  • Post messages or send DMs as you. The agent can create a channel and invite people, but composing and sending messages on your behalf is intentionally not part of this version — it surfaces the new channel’s link so you post the first message yourself.
  • Replace the Slack channel. This integration doesn’t host conversations in Slack — see the Slack channel for that.
  • Download file contents. File results include a link you open in Slack, not the file’s bytes.
  • Bypass Slack’s permissions. Everyday actions run as the asking person and respect their Slack access; admin actions run only within the authorization and policy you set.

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Troubleshooting

“Connect Slack” keeps appearing. The person hasn’t authorized Slack yet, or their authorization was revoked from Slack’s side. Reconnecting from the prompt fixes it. If you recently turned on a new module (like Channel management), people are asked to re-authorize once to grant the added permissions.
  • An admin action says “Requires Enterprise Grid.” That action isn’t available with a non-Grid workspace-owner token. Either upgrade the workspace’s Slack plan or skip that action.
  • The admin tools show “Awaiting authorization.” The Admin module is on but admin authorization hasn’t been completed — finish the connect/paste step on the authorization screen.
  • An admin action was denied. It fell outside the policy you’ve permitted, or a destructive action wasn’t confirmed. Check the audit trail for the reason.
  • “That channel isn’t visible.” For as-yourself actions, the agent only sees channels the asking person belongs to — have them join the channel in Slack, or use an admin action if appropriate.

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FAQs

No. The Slack channel lets employees chat with the agent inside Slack. This Slack integration lets the agent use Slack as a tool during a conversation that’s happening elsewhere. They’re independent and can both be on at once.
Everyday actions (search, read, create channel, invite) run as the person the agent is helping, using their own Slack authorization. Admin actions run under the separate admin authorization you set up, and are governed by policy and audited.
Not for reads or channel management — Cobalt hosts that Slack app. Enterprise Grid admin authorization is a one-time Connect as an Org Admin; non-Grid admin authorization uses a workspace-owner token you paste.
Not in this version. Sending messages as you is intentionally held back; the agent can scaffold a channel and invite people, then hand you the link to post the first message.
No. For as-yourself actions the agent is limited to exactly what that person can see in Slack — Slack enforces it, not Cobalt.