Slack Workspace App

Slack integration is currently disabled

The Slack workspace app described on this page is not operational in v1. The previous Computer-routed implementation was retired in PR #1666 alongside the Computer feature kill. Inbound Slack endpoints (/slack/events, /slack/slash-command, /slack/interactivity) currently respond 200 OK and drop events.

The replacement design — Slack ingestion flowing into Spaces and the tenant platform agent — is on the roadmap. This page is preserved as historical reference for the install model, scopes, and attribution patterns that the replacement will likely re-use.

The Slack workspace app (when re-enabled) lets people work with the tenant platform agent from Slack without turning Slack into a separate agent runtime. Slack is an ingress and delivery surface: messages are verified, mapped to the right tenant workspace and linked requester, routed to a Space, and answered back in Slack with explicit attribution.

What the app does

• Handles @ThinkWork mentions in channels and direct messages to the bot.
• Handles /thinkwork <computer> <prompt> slash commands, such as /thinkwork finance summarize this thread.
• Handles message shortcuts for asking a Computer to work from a specific Slack message or thread.
• Preserves Slack thread context and supported file references in the Computer task envelope.
• Returns an immediate Slack acknowledgement, then delivers the completed Computer response through a placeholder update, modal update, response_url, or threaded message.
• Shows which shared Computer acted and who requested it with an always-on footer: Routed via @ThinkWork · Finance Computer · requested by Eric.

Install and linking model

An admin installs the Slack app for a workspace from ThinkWork admin. The install stores the workspace bot token in AWS Secrets Manager under a tenant-scoped path. End users then link their own Slack identity from the mobile connection flow or Slack App Home, which creates a slack_user_links row from Slack user id to ThinkWork user id. Computer access is resolved from the user’s direct and Team shared Computer assignments at invocation time.

The app is workspace-scoped in v1. Enterprise Grid customers can install ThinkWork separately into each workspace that needs it.

Supported surfaces

Slack surface	User action	Slack response behavior
Channel mention	@ThinkWork finance summarize this thread	A placeholder is posted in-thread, then updated with the selected shared Computer response.
Direct message	finance draft a customer update	The selected shared Computer response is posted back in the DM.
Slash command	/thinkwork finance what changed this week?	Slack receives an empty 200 ack; the answer is sent as an ephemeral response with a Post to channel button.
Message shortcut	Use the ThinkWork shortcut on a message	A working modal opens immediately. If multiple Computers are assigned, the next version presents a picker.
Public promotion	Click Post to channel on an ephemeral answer	The response is posted publicly with shared Computer and requester attribution.

Slack scopes

The app requests the minimum bot and OAuth scopes needed for the supported surfaces. Scope names may vary slightly as Slack evolves, but v1 expects:

Scope	Why ThinkWork needs it
app_mentions:read	Receive @ThinkWork mentions.
channels:history, groups:history, im:history, mpim:history	Read the source thread context that the user explicitly invoked from.
chat:write	Post placeholders, final responses, link prompts, and promoted public messages.
commands	Receive /thinkwork slash commands.
files:read	Reference files attached to invoked Slack messages.
im:write	Send connection prompts when a Slack user is not linked yet.
users:read	Resolve display names and avatar metadata for attribution.
users:read.email	Match Slack users to ThinkWork users during linking.
chat:write.customize	Optional. Lets ThinkWork render responses with ThinkWork branding while preserving shared Computer attribution.

Why chat:write.customize is optional

ThinkWork uses chat:write.customize only for clearer attribution in shared channels. Some enterprise IT teams remove or reject that scope because it allows a bot to customize message identity. The Slack app still works without it: the dispatcher retries with the plain bot identity, prefixes the message body with the shared Computer name when needed, keeps the attribution footer, and emits the slack.attribution.degraded metric for operators.

Unlinked users

If a Slack user invokes ThinkWork before linking their identity, ThinkWork does not create Computer work. The app posts a short connection prompt and publishes the App Home connect action. After the user links Slack to ThinkWork, the same Slack surface proceeds only for shared Computers assigned to that user.

Unassigned users and ambiguous targets

Slack never creates a personal Computer fallback. If a linked user has no assigned shared Computers, ThinkWork returns assignment guidance and does not enqueue work. If a user has multiple assigned Computers and omits the target, ThinkWork asks for a target such as finance or sales instead of guessing.

Data sent to the Computer

ThinkWork sends only the invoked Slack context needed for the turn: Slack team id, channel id, invoking Slack user id, selected shared Computer id, requester ThinkWork user id, source message, summarized messages from the source thread, and referenced file metadata. Messages outside the invoked thread are not included.

For the formal disclosure, see Slack data handling.

Operations

The runtime emits CloudWatch EMF metrics for Slack ingress, dedupe, unknown teams, dispatch success/failure, and attribution degradation. Operators should start with the Slack dispatch runbook when a Slack alarm fires.