> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.getcollate.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Slack Integration with Collate for Data Collaboration
> Integrate Collate with Slack to enable real-time data collaboration, search assets, receive notifications, and share metadata insights directly in Slack.
# Slack Application in Collate
Integrate Collate with Slack to enhance data collaboration and streamline team workflows. This integration enables real-time notifications, in-Slack search and sharing of metadata assets, and message interactions—all within your existing Slack workspace.
**Tip**:
**Looking to send alerts to Slack instead?** This page covers the interactive Collate AI assistant (search, ask questions, take actions from Slack). For one-way alert notifications — data quality failures, pipeline status, and similar events posted via webhook — see [Slack Alerts Configuration](/ai-2-0/how-to-guides/data-quality-observability/alerts-notifications/slack-alerts-configuration).
## Overview
The Slack application connects your Slack workspace with Collate, enabling seamless communication and metadata access:
* **Real-Time Notifications**: Receive instant alerts, mentions, and updates directly in Slack.
* **Metadata Search**: Quickly search for glossaries, terms, tags, and tables within Slack.
* **Asset Sharing**: Share Collate assets effortlessly with your team from Slack.
* **Enhanced Productivity**: Stay informed and connected without leaving your workspace.
## Slack Runs the Full Collate AI Agent
The Collate AI assistant in Slack isn't a limited, separate bot — it's the native Slack **Agents & AI Apps** assistant, running the same agent that powers Collate AI on the web.
* **It takes action, not just answers questions**: create a glossary term, update entity metadata, open a data access request, or trigger an automation directly from a Slack conversation.
* **It streams responses**: answers appear incrementally as the agent generates them, with a status indicator while it works.
* **It's channel- and file-aware**: ask questions in the context of a specific channel, or attach a file for the agent to reference.
* **Every run is user-prompted**: the agent responds to what you ask — it doesn't decide on its own to check something and post proactively. Autonomous, scheduled checks are a separate automations feature, not part of Slack chat.
## Key Capabilities
* **Search Entities**: Use Slack to search glossaries, terms, tags, and tables — or use `/find` to search across all entity types, and `/asset` to fetch and share a specific entity by name or fully qualified name.
* **Take Action**: Create glossary terms, update entity metadata, open data access requests, or trigger automations without leaving Slack.
* **Assistant Panel**: Open Collate AI from Slack's Home tab for a dedicated chat panel with suggested prompts, conversation history, and streamed answers — in addition to @mentions and direct messages.
* **Rich Responses**: Answers come back as formatted cards with rendered chart images where relevant, not just plain text and tables.
* **Interactive Actions**: Share an answer to a channel, view lineage/tests/incidents inline, and give a thumbs up or down on a response.
* **File Upload as Context**: Attach a file to a question for the agent to reference while answering.
* **Notifications**: Get notified when someone mentions `@`, or when updates occur in your data workspace.
**Note**:
**Workspace limit**: Collate supports one Slack workspace per Collate instance. Multi-workspace installs aren't available yet.
**Cost**: Slack conversations draw from the same AI credit budget as Collate AI on the web — see [Billing and AI Credits](/ai-2-0/admin-guide/billing-and-ai-credits) for details.
## Using Collate in Slack
Once the app is installed, users need to invite it to their channel before they can interact with it.
### Step 1: Invite the App to a Channel
There are two ways to invite the Collate AI Chat app to a channel:
**Option A: From channel settings:**
1. Open the channel in Slack.
2. Click the channel name at the top to open **Channel Settings**.
3. Go to the **Integrations** tab > **Add an App**.
4. Search for your Collate AI Chat app and click **Add**.
**Option B: Via slash command:**
In any channel, type:
```
/invite @Collate AI
```
Replace `@Collate AI` with the name you gave your Slack app during setup.
### Step 2: Start Asking Questions
Once the app is in your channel, mention it with a natural language query:
```
@Collate AI tell me the assets within bigquery service
```
```
@Collate AI show tables owned by the marketing team
```
```
@Collate AI what are the Tier 1 assets in the warehouse?
```
Collate AI will respond directly in the channel with relevant metadata from your data platform.
**Tip**: You can also interact with the Collate AI Chat app in **Direct Messages**: no channel invite needed.
## Authorizations
When connected, Collate will have the following permissions in Slack:
* View and respond to messages that mention `@`.
* Access content in public channels where Collate is added.
* Join public channels and view their basic information.
* Access content in direct messages and group direct messages.
* View user profiles in the workspace.
* Send messages as `@`, including to channels it's not a member of.
* Post messages to designated Slack channels.
## Slack App Configuration
To enable Slack integration in Collate:
1. Navigate to **Settings** > **Applications** > **Add Apps**.
2. Search for **Slack** and install the application.
### Configuration Fields
* **Client ID**: Identifies your Slack app. Required to initiate OAuth flows.
* **Client Secret**: Authenticates OAuth requests made by your app.
* **Signing Secret**: Verifies that incoming requests originate from Slack.
* **User Token**: Authenticates Slack API requests on behalf of a user (starts with `xoxp-`).
* **Bot Token**: Authenticates Slack API requests on behalf of the bot (starts with `xoxb-`).
**Tip**: Store all five credentials securely. Enter them in Collate via **Settings** > **Applications** > **Slack Application**: do not share tokens directly.
## How to Obtain Slack Credentials
To integrate Slack with Collate, you need to generate a **Bot Token**, **User Token**, **Client ID**, **Client Secret**, and **Signing Secret** from your Slack workspace.
### Create a Slack App
1. Go to the [Slack API: Your Apps](https://api.slack.com/apps) page.
2. Click **Create New App**.
3. Click **From scratch**.
4. Enter the **App Name** (e.g., `Collate AI`) and choose your **Slack workspace**.
5. Click **Create App**.
6. After your app is created, you'll be redirected to the Basic Information page under Settings.
Here, you'll find the following important credentials:
* Client ID – Used to identify your app.
* Client Secret – Used for authenticating requests made from your app.
* Signing Secret – Used to verify that incoming requests (e.g., from Slack) are genuinely from Slack.
Click **Show** next to each secret to view the values. You can regenerate them using the **Regenerate** button if needed. Once you have all credentials, enter them in Collate via **Settings** > **Applications**.
Make sure to store these securely, as you'll need them to configure OAuth and validate request signatures later.
### Configure OAuth & Permissions
1. In your app's dashboard, navigate to **OAuth & Permissions**.
2. Under **Scopes**, configure the following:
#### For **Bot Token Scopes**:
Add these scopes:
* `app_mentions:read`
* `assistant:write` — required for the Collate AI assistant panel (streaming, suggested prompts)
* `channels:read`
* `chat:write`
* `commands` — required for `/find` and `/asset`
* `files:read`
* `files:write` — required for chart images and file upload as context
* `groups:read`
* `im:history`
* `im:read`
* `im:write`
* `mpim:history`
* `mpim:read`
* `users:read`
* `users:read.email`
#### For **User Token Scopes**:
Add these scopes:
* `channels:history`
* `groups:history`
* `im:history`
* `mpim:history`
**Tip**: Only add the scopes you need. Ensure your Slack workspace allows user token generation (may require admin privileges).
### Configure Redirect URLs
Before installing the app to your workspace, configure the redirect URLs to ensure successful OAuth authentication:
1. In the left-hand menu, go to **OAuth & Permissions**.
2. Scroll down to the **Redirect URLs** section.
3. Click **Add New Redirect URL** and enter the redirect URL (e.g., `https://<your-instance-url>.getcollate.io/api/slack/callback`).
4. Click **Save URLs** to apply the changes.
The redirect URL must exactly match the URL used in your OAuth request.
This ensures Slack can return the authorization code to your backend after the user grants permissions.
### Configure Event Subscriptions
After setting the necessary OAuth scopes, follow the steps below to configure **Event Subscriptions**:
1. In the left-hand menu under Features, click on Event Subscriptions.
2. Toggle the Enable Events switch to On.
3. In the Request URL field, enter your app's endpoint (e.g., `https://<your-instance-url>.getcollate.io/api/slack/events`).
* Slack will send a verification request containing a challenge parameter.
* Ensure your endpoint responds with the challenge value to confirm validation.
4. Scroll down to the Subscribe to bot events section and click **Add Bot User Event**.
* Add the following events (ensure corresponding scopes are already granted under OAuth permissions):
* app\_home\_opened – Triggered when a user clicks into your App Home (no additional scope needed).
* app\_mention – Subscribes to messages that mention your app or bot (app\_mentions:read scope required).
* message.im – Subscribes to messages in direct message channels (im:history scope required).
* message.mpim – Subscribes to messages in multi-party direct message channels (mpim:history scope required).
* assistant\_thread\_started – Triggered when a user opens the Collate AI assistant panel (assistant:write scope required).
* assistant\_thread\_context\_changed – Triggered when a user switches channels inside an open assistant thread (assistant:write scope required).
5. (Optional) Under **Subscribe to events on behalf of users**, click **Add Workspace Event** and select:
* message.im – Subscribes to messages posted in a direct message channel on behalf of users (im:history scope required).
Slack automatically adds the necessary scopes for any subscribed events if not already included.
### Install the App to Workspace
1. Still in **OAuth & Permissions**, click **Install** to install App to your Workspace.
2. Authorize the permissions requested by the app.
After installation, you'll be redirected to the OAuth screen where your tokens will be displayed.
### Copy the Tokens
* **Bot User OAuth Token**: Starts with `xoxb-...`
* **User OAuth Token**: Starts with `xoxp-...`
Store these tokens securely and provide them in the Slack app configuration within Collate.
**Tip**:
* Never expose your tokens publicly.
* Rotate tokens periodically.
* Use Slack's [token rotation policy](https://api.slack.com/authentication/token-types#rotating) for better security.
## Test the Integration
1. Open the Collate AI assistant panel from Slack's Home tab, or DM the app directly.
2. Confirm you see a greeting and a set of suggested prompts.
3. Ask a question, for example: `What tables do we have in our sales database?`
4. Confirm the response streams in with a status indicator, and that any resulting card includes a working **Open in Collate** link.
5. In a channel, invite the app and mention it: `@Collate AI what dashboards do we have?` — confirm it responds in a thread.
6. Try the slash commands: `/find ` and `/asset `.
7. Attach a small file (for example, a CSV) to a question and confirm the assistant references it in its answer.
## Troubleshooting
| Issue | Possible Cause | Solution |
| ---------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| App fails to install or connect | Missing or invalid Slack app configuration | Confirm the app is installed under **Settings** > **Applications**, and double-check the Client ID, Client Secret, Signing Secret, Bot Token, and User Token |
| Event subscription verification fails | Request URL isn't reachable, or doesn't match your Collate instance | Confirm your Collate instance is reachable over HTTPS at the endpoint you entered, and that it responds to Slack's challenge request |
| "AI Platform is not enabled" or no AI responses | The AI platform isn't enabled on this Collate instance | Confirm AI Platform / Collate AI is enabled for your instance |
| App doesn't respond to @mentions or in the assistant panel | Missing scopes, or the app wasn't invited to the channel | Re-check the Bot Token Scopes above, and invite the app to the channel with `/invite @Collate AI` |
| "Sorry, I couldn't authenticate your request" | The Slack user doesn't map to a Collate user | Confirm the Slack user's email matches an existing Collate user account |
| Assistant panel doesn't appear in Home tab | `assistant:write` scope or assistant events not configured | Confirm `assistant:write` is granted and `assistant_thread_started` / `assistant_thread_context_changed` are subscribed |
## Security Considerations
* **Credential Storage**: Client Secret, Signing Secret, Bot Token, and User Token are stored encrypted in Collate — never share them outside the Slack Application configuration screen.
* **Least-Privilege Scopes**: Only grant the scopes listed in this guide; avoid adding broader scopes than the integration needs.
* **HTTPS Required**: The Event Subscriptions request URL and OAuth redirect URL must both use HTTPS.
* **Token Rotation**: Rotate the Bot Token, User Token, and Signing Secret periodically, and immediately if you suspect a leak.
* **Single Workspace Scope**: Because one Collate instance connects to one Slack workspace, switching workspaces requires reconfiguring the app rather than adding a second connection.
For more information, refer to the [Slack API documentation](https://api.slack.com/).
2. Search for **Slack** and install the application.
### Configuration Fields
* **Client ID**: Identifies your Slack app. Required to initiate OAuth flows.
* **Client Secret**: Authenticates OAuth requests made by your app.
* **Signing Secret**: Verifies that incoming requests originate from Slack.
* **User Token**: Authenticates Slack API requests on behalf of a user (starts with `xoxp-`).
* **Bot Token**: Authenticates Slack API requests on behalf of the bot (starts with `xoxb-`).
3. Click **From scratch**.
4. Enter the **App Name** (e.g., `Collate AI`) and choose your **Slack workspace**.
5. Click **Create App**.
6. After your app is created, you'll be redirected to the Basic Information page under Settings.
Here, you'll find the following important credentials:
* Client ID – Used to identify your app.
* Client Secret – Used for authenticating requests made from your app.
* Signing Secret – Used to verify that incoming requests (e.g., from Slack) are genuinely from Slack.
Click **Show** next to each secret to view the values. You can regenerate them using the **Regenerate** button if needed. Once you have all credentials, enter them in Collate via **Settings** > **Applications**.
Make sure to store these securely, as you'll need them to configure OAuth and validate request signatures later.
### Configure OAuth & Permissions
1. In your app's dashboard, navigate to **OAuth & Permissions**.
2. Under **Scopes**, configure the following:
#### For **Bot Token Scopes**:
Add these scopes:
* `app_mentions:read`
* `assistant:write` — required for the Collate AI assistant panel (streaming, suggested prompts)
* `channels:read`
* `chat:write`
* `commands` — required for `/find` and `/asset`
* `files:read`
* `files:write` — required for chart images and file upload as context
* `groups:read`
* `im:history`
* `im:read`
* `im:write`
* `mpim:history`
* `mpim:read`
* `users:read`
* `users:read.email`
#### For **User Token Scopes**:
Add these scopes:
* `channels:history`
* `groups:history`
* `im:history`
* `mpim:history`
### Configure Event Subscriptions
After setting the necessary OAuth scopes, follow the steps below to configure **Event Subscriptions**:
1. In the left-hand menu under Features, click on Event Subscriptions.
2. Toggle the Enable Events switch to On.
3. In the Request URL field, enter your app's endpoint (e.g., `https://<your-instance-url>.getcollate.io/api/slack/events`).
* Slack will send a verification request containing a challenge parameter.
* Ensure your endpoint responds with the challenge value to confirm validation.
4. Scroll down to the Subscribe to bot events section and click **Add Bot User Event**.
* Add the following events (ensure corresponding scopes are already granted under OAuth permissions):
* app\_home\_opened – Triggered when a user clicks into your App Home (no additional scope needed).
* app\_mention – Subscribes to messages that mention your app or bot (app\_mentions:read scope required).
* message.im – Subscribes to messages in direct message channels (im:history scope required).
* message.mpim – Subscribes to messages in multi-party direct message channels (mpim:history scope required).
* assistant\_thread\_started – Triggered when a user opens the Collate AI assistant panel (assistant:write scope required).
* assistant\_thread\_context\_changed – Triggered when a user switches channels inside an open assistant thread (assistant:write scope required).
5. (Optional) Under **Subscribe to events on behalf of users**, click **Add Workspace Event** and select:
* message.im – Subscribes to messages posted in a direct message channel on behalf of users (im:history scope required).
Slack automatically adds the necessary scopes for any subscribed events if not already included.
### Install the App to Workspace
1. Still in **OAuth & Permissions**, click **Install** to install App to your Workspace.
2. Authorize the permissions requested by the app.
After installation, you'll be redirected to the OAuth screen where your tokens will be displayed.
### Copy the Tokens
* **Bot User OAuth Token**: Starts with `xoxb-...`
* **User OAuth Token**: Starts with `xoxp-...`
Store these tokens securely and provide them in the Slack app configuration within Collate.