Slack MCP Server

What it does

The Slack MCP Server gives AI coding agents access to your Slack workspace. Agents can search message history for context on past decisions, read channel discussions about requirements, and post status updates when work is complete. This is useful for teams where important context lives in Slack threads rather than formal documentation.

Available tools

Tool	What it does
slack_list_channels	List public and joined channels in the workspace
slack_post_message	Send a message to a channel or thread
slack_reply_to_thread	Reply to a specific message thread
slack_get_channel_history	Read recent messages from a channel
slack_get_thread_replies	Get all replies in a message thread
slack_search_messages	Search messages across the workspace
slack_get_users	List workspace members
slack_get_user_profile	Get profile details for a specific user

Setup by tool

Cursor

Create .cursor/mcp.json in your project root:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "slack": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-slack"],
      "env": {
        "SLACK_BOT_TOKEN": "xoxb-your-bot-token",
        "SLACK_TEAM_ID": "T01234ABCDE"
      }
    }
  }
}

Claude Code

Add to your Claude configuration file:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "slack": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-slack"],
      "env": {
        "SLACK_BOT_TOKEN": "xoxb-your-bot-token",
        "SLACK_TEAM_ID": "T01234ABCDE"
      }
    }
  }
}

Creating a Slack bot token

1. Go to api.slack.com/apps and create a new app
2. Under OAuth & Permissions, add these bot token scopes: channels:history, channels:read, chat:write, search:read, users:read
3. Install the app to your workspace and copy the Bot User OAuth Token (starts with xoxb-)
4. Find your team ID in the workspace URL or Slack admin settings

When to use this

• Context recovery: Search for past discussions about a feature before reimplementing it
• Requirements clarification: Read the channel where a feature was discussed to understand intent
• Deployment notifications: Post automated messages when agents complete significant work
• Cross-team coordination: Read messages from other team channels for dependency context

Security considerations

• Use the minimum required OAuth scopes for your workflow
• Bot tokens can access all channels they're invited to; be selective about channel membership
• Avoid using chat:write scope if agents only need to read context
• Message search may surface sensitive information; consider scope limitations
• Store bot tokens in environment variables, not in committed files