Slack Power Tools

Advanced Slack automation via Slack Web API. Requires a Slack Bot Token with appropriate scopes.

Prerequisites

export SLACK_BOT_TOKEN="xoxb-your-token"

Required OAuth scopes depend on features used (see each section).

Channel Management

Scopes: channels:manage, channels:read, groups:write, groups:read

List all channels

curl -s -H "Authorization: Bearer $SLACK_BOT_TOKEN" \
  "https://slack.com/api/conversations.list?types=public_channel,private_channel&limit=200" | jq '.channels[] | {id, name, num_members, is_archived}'

Create a channel

curl -s -X POST -H "Authorization: Bearer $SLACK_BOT_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"name": "new-channel", "is_private": false}' \
  "https://slack.com/api/conversations.create" | jq '.'

Archive a channel

curl -s -X POST -H "Authorization: Bearer $SLACK_BOT_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"channel": "C123456"}' \
  "https://slack.com/api/conversations.archive"

Set channel topic/purpose

curl -s -X POST -H "Authorization: Bearer $SLACK_BOT_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"channel": "C123456", "topic": "Project X Discussion"}' \
  "https://slack.com/api/conversations.setTopic"

curl -s -X POST -H "Authorization: Bearer $SLACK_BOT_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"channel": "C123456", "purpose": "All things Project X"}' \
  "https://slack.com/api/conversations.setPurpose"

Invite users to channel

curl -s -X POST -H "Authorization: Bearer $SLACK_BOT_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"channel": "C123456", "users": "U111,U222,U333"}' \
  "https://slack.com/api/conversations.invite"

Kick user from channel

curl -s -X POST -H "Authorization: Bearer $SLACK_BOT_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"channel": "C123456", "user": "U111"}' \
  "https://slack.com/api/conversations.kick"

Scheduled Messages

Scopes: chat:write

Schedule a message

# post_at is Unix timestamp
curl -s -X POST -H "Authorization: Bearer $SLACK_BOT_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "channel": "C123456",
    "text": "Reminder: Team standup in 15 minutes!",
    "post_at": 1735689600
  }' \
  "https://slack.com/api/chat.scheduleMessage" | jq '.'

List scheduled messages

curl -s -H "Authorization: Bearer $SLACK_BOT_TOKEN" \
  "https://slack.com/api/chat.scheduledMessages.list" | jq '.scheduled_messages[]'

Delete scheduled message

curl -s -X POST -H "Authorization: Bearer $SLACK_BOT_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"channel": "C123456", "scheduled_message_id": "Q123456"}' \
  "https://slack.com/api/chat.deleteScheduledMessage"

File Management

Scopes: files:write, files:read

Upload a file

# Get upload URL
UPLOAD=$(curl -s -H "Authorization: Bearer $SLACK_BOT_TOKEN" \
  "https://slack.com/api/files.getUploadURLExternal?filename=report.pdf&length=$(stat -f%z report.pdf)")

UPLOAD_URL=$(echo $UPLOAD | jq -r '.upload_url')
FILE_ID=$(echo $UPLOAD | jq -r '.file_id')

# Upload file content
curl -s -X POST "$UPLOAD_URL" -F "file=@report.pdf"

# Complete upload and share to channel
curl -s -X POST -H "Authorization: Bearer $SLACK_BOT_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d "{\"files\": [{\"id\": \"$FILE_ID\"}], \"channel_id\": \"C123456\"}" \
  "https://slack.com/api/files.completeUploadExternal"

List files

curl -s -H "Authorization: Bearer $SLACK_BOT_TOKEN" \
  "https://slack.com/api/files.list?channel=C123456&count=20" | jq '.files[] | {id, name, filetype, size, created}'

Delete a file

curl -s -X POST -H "Authorization: Bearer $SLACK_BOT_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"file": "F123456"}' \
  "https://slack.com/api/files.delete"

User Management

Scopes: users:read, users.profile:write

List all users

curl -s -H "Authorization: Bearer $SLACK_BOT_TOKEN" \
  "https://slack.com/api/users.list?limit=200" | jq '.members[] | select(.deleted==false) | {id, name, real_name, is_admin}'

Get user info

curl -s -H "Authorization: Bearer $SLACK_BOT_TOKEN" \
  "https://slack.com/api/users.info?user=U123456" | jq '.user'

Set user status (for bot/self)

curl -s -X POST -H "Authorization: Bearer $SLACK_BOT_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "profile": {
      "status_text": "In a meeting",
      "status_emoji": ":calendar:",
      "status_expiration": 1735693200
    }
  }' \
  "https://slack.com/api/users.profile.set"

User Groups

Scopes: usergroups:write, usergroups:read

List user groups

curl -s -H "Authorization: Bearer $SLACK_BOT_TOKEN" \
  "https://slack.com/api/usergroups.list?include_users=true" | jq '.usergroups[] | {id, handle, name, user_count}'

Create user group

curl -s -X POST -H "Authorization: Bearer $SLACK_BOT_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"name": "Backend Team", "handle": "backend-team"}' \
  "https://slack.com/api/usergroups.create"

Update user group members

curl -s -X POST -H "Authorization: Bearer $SLACK_BOT_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"usergroup": "S123456", "users": "U111,U222,U333"}' \
  "https://slack.com/api/usergroups.users.update"

Search

Scopes: search:read

Search messages

curl -s -H "Authorization: Bearer $SLACK_BOT_TOKEN" \
  "https://slack.com/api/search.messages?query=project%20deadline&sort=timestamp&count=20" | jq '.messages.matches[] | {channel: .channel.name, user, text, ts}'

Search files

curl -s -H "Authorization: Bearer $SLACK_BOT_TOKEN" \
  "https://slack.com/api/search.files?query=report%20Q4&count=20" | jq '.files.matches[] | {name, filetype, user}'

Do Not Disturb

Scopes: dnd:write, dnd:read

Set DND

# Snooze for 60 minutes
curl -s -X POST -H "Authorization: Bearer $SLACK_BOT_TOKEN" \
  "https://slack.com/api/dnd.setSnooze?num_minutes=60"

End DND

curl -s -X POST -H "Authorization: Bearer $SLACK_BOT_TOKEN" \
  "https://slack.com/api/dnd.endSnooze"

Check DND status

curl -s -H "Authorization: Bearer $SLACK_BOT_TOKEN" \
  "https://slack.com/api/dnd.info?user=U123456" | jq '.'

Reminders

Scopes: reminders:write, reminders:read

Create reminder

curl -s -X POST -H "Authorization: Bearer $SLACK_BOT_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "text": "Review PR #42",
    "time": "in 2 hours",
    "user": "U123456"
  }' \
  "https://slack.com/api/reminders.add"

List reminders

curl -s -H "Authorization: Bearer $SLACK_BOT_TOKEN" \
  "https://slack.com/api/reminders.list" | jq '.reminders[]'

Analytics & Stats

Channel message count (last 7 days)

# Get channel history and count
curl -s -H "Authorization: Bearer $SLACK_BOT_TOKEN" \
  "https://slack.com/api/conversations.history?channel=C123456&oldest=$(($(date +%s) - 604800))&limit=1000" | jq '.messages | length'

Most active users in channel

curl -s -H "Authorization: Bearer $SLACK_BOT_TOKEN" \
  "https://slack.com/api/conversations.history?channel=C123456&limit=1000" | jq '[.messages[].user] | group_by(.) | map({user: .[0], count: length}) | sort_by(-.count) | .[0:10]'

Workspace stats

# Count total users
curl -s -H "Authorization: Bearer $SLACK_BOT_TOKEN" \
  "https://slack.com/api/users.list" | jq '[.members[] | select(.deleted==false and .is_bot==false)] | length'

# Count channels
curl -s -H "Authorization: Bearer $SLACK_BOT_TOKEN" \
  "https://slack.com/api/conversations.list?types=public_channel&exclude_archived=true" | jq '.channels | length'

Bookmarks

Scopes: bookmarks:write, bookmarks:read

Add bookmark to channel

curl -s -X POST -H "Authorization: Bearer $SLACK_BOT_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "channel_id": "C123456",
    "title": "Project Wiki",
    "type": "link",
    "link": "https://wiki.company.com/project"
  }' \
  "https://slack.com/api/bookmarks.add"

List bookmarks

curl -s -H "Authorization: Bearer $SLACK_BOT_TOKEN" \
  "https://slack.com/api/bookmarks.list?channel_id=C123456" | jq '.bookmarks[]'

Common Workflows

Daily standup reminder (schedule for 9 AM)

# Calculate next 9 AM timestamp
NINE_AM=$(date -v+1d -v9H -v0M -v0S +%s)
curl -s -X POST -H "Authorization: Bearer $SLACK_BOT_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d "{\"channel\": \"C123456\", \"text\": \"🌅 Good morning team! Time for standup.\nWhat did you do yesterday?\nWhat will you do today?\nAny blockers?\", \"post_at\": $NINE_AM}" \
  "https://slack.com/api/chat.scheduleMessage"

Bulk invite users to a new project channel

# Create channel, set topic, invite team
CHANNEL=$(curl -s -X POST -H "Authorization: Bearer $SLACK_BOT_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"name": "project-phoenix"}' \
  "https://slack.com/api/conversations.create" | jq -r '.channel.id')

curl -s -X POST -H "Authorization: Bearer $SLACK_BOT_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d "{\"channel\": \"$CHANNEL\", \"topic\": \"🔥 Project Phoenix - Q1 2026\"}" \
  "https://slack.com/api/conversations.setTopic"

curl -s -X POST -H "Authorization: Bearer $SLACK_BOT_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d "{\"channel\": \"$CHANNEL\", \"users\": \"U111,U222,U333,U444\"}" \
  "https://slack.com/api/conversations.invite"

Weekly channel cleanup report

echo "# Slack Cleanup Report"
echo "Generated: $(date)"
echo ""
echo "## Inactive Channels (no messages in 30 days)"
# List channels, check last message date
curl -s -H "Authorization: Bearer $SLACK_BOT_TOKEN" \
  "https://slack.com/api/conversations.list?types=public_channel&exclude_archived=true&limit=500" | \
  jq -r '.channels[] | "\(.id) \(.name)"' | while read id name; do
    last_msg=$(curl -s -H "Authorization: Bearer $SLACK_BOT_TOKEN" \
      "https://slack.com/api/conversations.history?channel=$id&limit=1" | jq -r '.messages[0].ts // "0"')
    if [ $(echo "$last_msg < $(date -v-30d +%s)" | bc) -eq 1 ]; then
      echo "- #$name (last activity: $(date -r ${last_msg%.*} +%Y-%m-%d 2>/dev/null || echo 'never'))"
    fi
done

Error Handling

All Slack API responses include ok: true/false. Check errors:

response=$(curl -s ...)
if [ "$(echo $response | jq -r '.ok')" != "true" ]; then
  echo "Error: $(echo $response | jq -r '.error')"
fi

Common errors:

• channel_not_found - Invalid channel ID
• not_in_channel - Bot not in channel
• missing_scope - Need additional OAuth scope
• ratelimited - Too many requests, check Retry-After header