Bringing a team bot to Slack
Member·4 minutes to read
What this does for you
A team bot you published joins your team's Slack workspace through your deployment's own Slack app. It posts there under its own name and picture and answers teammates who have linked their Slack account. Nobody creates a Slack app or types an app id or secret.
Before you start
- The bot is published to the team, and you are its owner or one of its managers.
- Slack is set up on your deployment. The people who run it register one Slack app for it; once they have, the bot's Settings show the card Bring to your team’s Slack. Your deployment's operators can also keep this card off; then it does not show.
Adding the bot
- Press Add to Slack. Slack's own page opens. Pick the workspace and allow the app.
- Back in the app, the card says the bot is in that workspace and the handle teammates mention it by. The bot sends you a welcome message in Slack.
- To add it to a second workspace, press Add to another workspace and do the same again.
Remove from Slack, beside a workspace on the card, takes the bot out of that one workspace. It stays in the app and keeps working everywhere else, and adding it again later brings it back with the same handle.
When a Slack admin has to approve it
Some workspaces let only their admins approve new apps. Slack's page then offers Request to install instead of Allow.
- The card shows Awaiting admin approval with the date the request was Last submitted. If Slack did not send you back, choose Send request in Slack to open Slack's request page again.
- Once the admin approves, Slackbot tells you in Slack. Open its link to the app: you come back to the bot with the install finished, and the card says the bot is in the workspace. Check approval on the card does the same.
- Slack does not tell Botseon when an admin turns a request down: Slackbot tells you in Slack, and Slack is the source of truth. Once Slackbot says it was denied, come back and choose My request was denied: the card then says Request denied, Denied, reported on that day, next to the date the request was last submitted.
- A turned-down app is restricted in that workspace, so Slack refuses a new request until an admin lifts the restriction. Ask them to, then choose Resubmit to file the request again.
- Cancel request ends it at any point (before a request is known to have been sent, the same button reads Cancel setup). Nothing is installed, even if an admin approves later.
If something goes wrong
| What you see | Why | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| No Bring to your team’s Slack card | Slack is not set up on your deployment, or you are not the bot's owner or a manager | Ask whoever runs your deployment, or the bot's owner |
Publish this bot to the team first. Only a published bot can be added to Slack. | The bot is not published to the team | Publish the bot, then come back to the card |
Request denied (with Denied, reported on and a date) | You reported that Slackbot said the request was denied; the date is when you reported it | Ask a Workspace Owner to lift the restriction, then Resubmit, or Cancel request |
Awaiting admin approval stays after the admin approved or declined | Slack tells Botseon nothing until you go back through Slack | Approved: open Slackbot's link, or choose Check approval. Denied: choose My request was denied |
| Resubmit lands on a Slack page that will not let you ask | The admin restricted the app | Ask a Workspace Owner to lift the restriction first |
Teammates then link their own Slack account once under Settings → General → Team bots; see Share a bot with the team.
Last verified against build 0ad5fe6.