Prerequisite: Third-party connectors are available only on the Sana Enterprise tier, with one exception: the Workday connector is included for both Sana Core and Sana Enterprise.

Introduction

Connect Slack to Sana to search conversations and send messages in Slack channels. Find important threads, send updates, manage channels, and stay on top of your team communication without leaving Sana.

In summary, the connector has the following key characteristics:

Category: Communication
Connector type: Real-time
Auth type: OAuth
Hosting type: Managed

Tools

Tools are the operations the agent can use when you ask Sana about Slack. In practice, the agent may call more than one to complete a single request.

Tool

Add reaction

Create a channel

Delete message

Edit message

Find user by email

Find user by ID

Get channel details

Get channel history

Get thread replies

Get user details

Invite user to channel

List channels

List members in channel

List users

Post message

Set channel topic

Set status

Upload file

Note: This article lists the connector's full set of tools. Your workspace owner can disable individual tools for your workspace, so some of those listed here may not be available to your agents. If a tool you expected is missing, reach out to your workspace owner.

Triggers

While tools are the actions an agent takes on your behalf, triggers are the events that can start an agent automatically. When you build an agent, you can choose one of the triggers below as its starting point. For example, having the agent run every time something new happens in Slack.

Trigger

New Channel Created (Instant)

New Interaction Events (Instant)

New Keyword Mention (Instant)

New Message In Channels (Instant)

New Private Channel Created

New Reaction Added (Instant)

New Saved Message (Instant)

New User Added (Instant)

New User Mention (Instant)

Scope and permissions

This connector uses OAuth. When you connect your account, you will need to sign into your account and grant the required permissions:

Scope	Purpose
identify	Read the connected user's own Slack identity
team:read	Read the name and settings of the connected workspace
channels:read	List public channels and read their details
channels:history	Read message history in public channels
channels:write	Create public channels and manage their topic and membership
groups:read	List private channels the user belongs to and read their details
groups:history	Read message history in those private channels
groups:write	Create private channels and manage their topic and membership
im:read	List the direct message conversations the user belongs to
im:write	Send a direct message to a person
mpim:read	List the group direct messages the user belongs to
mpim:write	Send a message to a group direct message
chat:write	Send, edit, and delete messages as the connected user
search:read.public	Search messages in public channels
search:read.private	Search messages in private channels the user belongs to
users:read	List workspace members and read their profiles
users:read.email	Read member email addresses, so a user can be found by email
users:write	Set the connected user's presence
users.profile:read	Read member profile fields
users.profile:write	Set the connected user's status and profile fields
usergroups:read	List user groups in the workspace
usergroups:write	Create and update user groups and their membership
reactions:read	Read the emoji reactions on a message
reactions:write	Add emoji reactions to messages
emoji:read	List the custom emoji in the workspace
files:write	Upload and delete files
reminders:read	Read the connected user's reminders
reminders:write	Create and complete reminders for the connected user
stars:read	Read the connected user's saved items

Set up instructions

Prerequisites:

You are a Sana Enterprise user – all third-party connectors except the Workday connector are available only for users on the Sana Enterprise tier.
Your Sana workspace owner has enabled this connector – if the workspace owner has disabled the connector it won't appear in the list of available connectors.

Step 1: Go to the connectors page in Sana

In Sana, click on your profile icon and name in the bottom left corner and select Connectors.

Step 2: Find Slack in the list of available connectors

Scroll to the Available connectors section and locate Slack.

Note: If you can't find a connector in this list, it means one of the following:

You've already connected it — check the ”Active connectors” section at the top of the connectors page, or
Your workspace owner has disabled this connector for your workspace — reach out to them for more information or to request that it be enabled.

Step 3: Hover the connector card and click the connect button

Hover the Slack card and click the Connect button.

Tip: If you click the card itself instead of the Connect button, you'll open a connector detail page with more information about its capabilities.

Step 4: Initialize the Pipedream connection

When clicking Connect in the previous step, a pop-up will appear powered by Pipedream. Click the Continue button in the pop-up to initialize the set up.

Note: Sana uses Pipedream to connect your account. Pipedream is a Workday product, trusted by millions of people to keep their data secure.

Step 5: Sign in to Slack and approve the requested scopes

You'll be redirected to Slack to go through their OAuth flow. Sign in and approve the scopes Sana needs to operate the connector.

Step 6: Complete the set up

You've successfully connected your Slack account. Click Continue to complete the setup and start using the connector.

Known limitations

Direct messages: You can send a message to a person or a group as a direct message, but the connector cannot read or search direct message history. Reading and searching cover channel messages only.
User search: Users can be found by exact email or by ID, and the full workspace user list can be retrieved, but there is no fuzzy search by name — finding a user by partial name in a large workspace means listing and filtering.
Files: Sana can find files shared in channels and link you to them in Slack, but cannot open or read their contents, and cannot filter them by type. Files shared only in direct messages are not covered.
Channel search: Channels cannot be searched by name directly — search finds a channel through its messages, so a channel with little recent activity may not surface, and listing every channel in a large workspace is slow and rate-limited.