OpenClaw Slack Bot Setup: Team AI Assistant in Minutes

Overview

A Slack bot powered by OpenClaw gives your team an AI assistant directly in your messaging platform. Team members can ask questions, run automations, and trigger workflows without leaving Slack.

This guide walks you through creating a Slack App, installing the OpenClaw Slack skill, and configuring the bot for your team.

Prerequisites

• A running OpenClaw instance (local or self-hosted)
• Admin access to your Slack workspace
• Node.js 20+ installed

Step 1: Create a Slack App

1. Go to api.slack.com/apps and click Create New App
2. Choose From scratch
3. Name your app (e.g., "OpenClaw Bot") and select your workspace
4. Click Create App

Configure Bot Permissions

Navigate to OAuth & Permissions and add these Bot Token Scopes:

| Scope | Purpose | |-------|---------| | chat:write | Send messages | | app_mentions:read | Respond to @mentions | | im:history | Read DM messages | | im:write | Send DM responses | | channels:history | Read channel messages (when mentioned) | | channels:read | List channels | | users:read | Identify who sent a message |

Enable Events

Go to Event Subscriptions and enable events. You will set the Request URL after installing the skill.

Subscribe to these bot events:

• app_mention — triggers when someone @mentions the bot
• message.im — triggers on direct messages to the bot

Install to Workspace

Go to Install App and click Install to Workspace. Authorize the permissions.

Save the Bot User OAuth Token (starts with xoxb-) and the Signing Secret (found under Basic Information).

Step 2: Install the OpenClaw Slack Skill

claw skill install slack-bot

During installation, you will be prompted for:

• Bot Token: Your xoxb- token from step 1
• Signing Secret: From the Slack App's Basic Information page
• Port: The port for the webhook endpoint (default: 3100)

Step 3: Configure the Webhook URL

The Slack skill starts a webhook server. You need to expose it to the internet so Slack can send events.

For Local Development

Use a tunnel service:

# Using ngrok
ngrok http 3100

Copy the HTTPS URL and set it as the Request URL in Slack's Event Subscriptions:

https://your-ngrok-url.ngrok.io/slack/events

For Production

If your OpenClaw instance is publicly accessible (e.g., behind Caddy or Nginx), add a route for the Slack webhook:

# Caddyfile
openclaw.yourdomain.com {
    handle /slack/* {
        reverse_proxy localhost:3100
    }
    handle {
        reverse_proxy localhost:3000
    }
}

Set the Request URL to:

https://openclaw.yourdomain.com/slack/events

Slack will send a verification challenge. If the skill is running, it responds automatically.

Step 4: Configure the Bot

Edit the Slack skill configuration:

claw skill config slack-bot

Or edit directly at ~/.config/openclaw/skills/slack-bot/config.yaml:

# Bot identity
bot_name: "OpenClaw"
bot_emoji: ":robot_face:"

# Channel restrictions
channels:
  allowlist:
    - "#dev-team"
    - "#engineering"
    - "#openclaw-bot"
  denylist:
    - "#general"
    - "#announcements"

# Response behavior
response:
  thread_replies: true          # Reply in threads by default
  max_response_length: 4000     # Slack message limit
  typing_indicator: true        # Show "typing..." while processing

# Permissions
permissions:
  allow_commands: true           # Allow shell command execution
  allow_file_access: false       # Restrict file system access
  allowed_skills:                # Which skills the bot can use
    - "git-helper"
    - "jira-integration"
    - "code-reviewer"

Step 5: Test the Bot

In Slack, mention the bot in an allowed channel:

@OpenClaw What is the current time?

Or send a direct message:

Summarize the latest commits in our main repo

The bot should respond within a few seconds.

Available Commands

The Slack bot responds to natural language, but also supports structured commands:

| Command | Description | |---------|-------------| | @OpenClaw help | Show available commands | | @OpenClaw status | Check OpenClaw system status | | @OpenClaw run [task] | Execute a specific task | | @OpenClaw workflow [name] | Trigger a named workflow | | @OpenClaw skills | List available skills |

Custom Slash Commands

Register slash commands in your Slack App for quicker access:

1. Go to Slash Commands in your Slack App settings
2. Create a new command (e.g., /claw)
3. Set the Request URL to https://openclaw.yourdomain.com/slack/commands

Now your team can type:

/claw run tests for the auth module

Channel Management

Per-Channel Configuration

Different channels can have different capabilities:

channel_overrides:
  "#dev-team":
    allow_commands: true
    allow_file_access: true
    allowed_skills: ["*"]
  "#support":
    allow_commands: false
    allow_file_access: false
    allowed_skills: ["faq-responder"]

Rate Limiting

Prevent bot abuse with rate limits:

rate_limits:
  per_user:
    requests: 20
    period: "1h"
  per_channel:
    requests: 100
    period: "1h"
  global:
    requests: 500
    period: "1h"

User Permissions

Restrict who can use the bot:

user_permissions:
  admins:
    - "U0123456789"     # Slack user IDs
  allowed_users: "*"     # Everyone in the workspace
  blocked_users: []

Security Best Practices

Token Security

• Store tokens in environment variables, never in code
• Rotate the Bot Token periodically
• Use the Signing Secret to verify incoming requests

Principle of Least Privilege

• Only grant the bot scopes it actually needs
• Restrict channel access to relevant channels
• Limit which skills the bot can invoke

Audit Trail

Enable logging for all bot interactions:

logging:
  enabled: true
  log_file: /var/log/openclaw/slack-bot.log
  include:
    - user
    - channel
    - command
    - response_time

Data Handling

• The bot processes messages on your infrastructure
• No message content is sent to Slack's servers beyond what Slack already handles
• Set auto-delete for conversation history if compliance requires it

Troubleshooting

Bot not responding to mentions

1. Verify the Event Subscription URL is correct and verified
2. Check that app_mention event is subscribed
3. Confirm the channel is not in the denylist
4. Check OpenClaw logs: claw skill logs slack-bot

"Invalid signature" errors

The Signing Secret may be incorrect. Re-copy it from the Slack App's Basic Information page.

Slow responses

LLM API latency is usually the bottleneck. Consider:

• Using a faster model for Slack interactions
• Enabling response caching for common questions
• Reducing the max context size for the bot

Message truncation

Slack has a 4,000 character limit per message. Long responses are automatically split into multiple messages. Adjust max_response_length if needed.

Further Reading

• OpenClaw WhatsApp Bot Setup — Connect OpenClaw to WhatsApp for personal AI messaging
• OpenClaw Workflow Automation — Trigger workflows from Slack commands
• OpenClaw for Enterprise — Team deployment and management