I finally got around to connecting my OpenClaw agent to Slack last weekend. The official docs mention it is possible but the actual steps are… sparse. Here is exactly what I did.
The prerequisites nobody mentions
You need a Slack workspace where you have admin permissions. Not just member — admin. I wasted 20 minutes trying to figure out why the OAuth flow was failing before I realized I was using my company Slack where I am just a regular member.
You also need the OpenClaw Slack channel plugin. Not the Discord one. They sound similar but they are completely different codebases with different configuration formats. Ask me how I know.
Step 1: Create the Slack app
Go to api.slack.com/apps and create a new app. Choose “From scratch” not “From manifest” — the manifest approach is theoretically faster but the OpenClaw docs reference the manual approach so stick with that.
Key permissions you need: chat:write, channels:history, channels:read, im:history, im:read, users:read. I initially forgot im:history and couldn’t figure out why DMs weren’t working.
Step 2: The config
Add your Bot Token to the OpenClaw config under channels.slack. The format is slightly different from Discord — you need both the bot token AND the app token (for socket mode). This tripped me up for a solid hour.
What I use it for
Morning standup summaries. My agent reads the standup channel, compiles who said what, and DMs me a summary. Saves me from scrolling through 15 messages every morning.
Also: it monitors #bugs for anything that mentions my projects and pings me directly. No more missing critical bug reports buried in channel noise.
For more integration ideas, check the OpenClaw GitHub repo — the community has shared dozens of Slack workflow configs in the discussions section.