Slack

GolemBot connects to Slack via Socket Mode — no public URL required. The bot responds to direct messages and group channel @mentions.

Prerequisites

• A Slack workspace where you have permission to install apps
• Node.js ≥ 18

Install the SDK

npm install @slack/bolt

Create a Slack App

1. Go to api.slack.com/apps and click Create New App → From scratch.
2. Under Socket Mode, enable it and generate an App-Level Token (scope: connections:write). Copy the xapp-... token.
3. Under OAuth & Permissions → Bot Token Scopes, add:
   • chat:write — send messages
   • im:history — read DMs
   • channels:history — read channel messages (for @mentions)
4. Under Event Subscriptions → Subscribe to bot events, add:
   • message.im — DMs
   • app_mention — group @mentions
5. Install the app to your workspace and copy the Bot Token (xoxb-...).

Configure golem.yaml

name: my-assistant
engine: claude-code

channels:
  slack:
    botToken: ${SLACK_BOT_TOKEN}   # xoxb-...
    appToken: ${SLACK_APP_TOKEN}   # xapp-...

Set environment variables before running:

export SLACK_BOT_TOKEN=xoxb-...
export SLACK_APP_TOKEN=xapp-...
golem gateway

How It Works

Chat type	Behavior
Direct message	Always responds
Channel @mention (@YourBot message)	Strips <@BOT_ID> prefix, then responds
Channel message without @mention	Ignored

DM conversations maintain a per-user session. Channel messages share a per-channel session — all users in the same channel share one context.

Note: Thread replies are delivered to the top-level channel, not inside the thread.

Message Format

The adapter automatically converts standard Markdown to Slack mrkdwn format:

Markdown	Slack mrkdwn
**bold**	*bold*
*italic*	_italic_
~~strike~~	~strike~
[text](url)	<url|text>
# Heading	*Heading* (bold)
- item	• item

Code blocks, blockquotes, and inline code are preserved as-is (Slack renders them natively). Special characters (&, <, >) are automatically escaped.

Message Limits

Slack messages are split at 4,000 characters per chunk if the response is longer.