Slack

How it works

You create your own Slack app, a personal bot, and connect it to OpenOrc. When you mention the bot in a channel, an agent runs on your computer with your agent sign-ins, and the Slack thread shows its progress, its reply, and its permission requests. OpenOrc connects through Slack's Socket Mode, an outgoing connection from your computer, so there's no server to host. Each person creates a separate bot.

Connect your bot

You need a signed-in agent (see Settings → Connections). Your Slack workspace may need an admin to approve the new app.

1. Open Settings → Slack. Leave Connect Slack set to Personal bot · no server needed.
2. Under Set up your Slack app, enter an App name and click Create Slack app. In Slack, choose your workspace, review the prefilled settings, and create the app. If the form isn't prefilled, click Copy manifest and create the app from a manifest.
3. In the app's settings in Slack, open OAuth & Permissions, click Install to Workspace, and copy the Bot User OAuth Token (xoxb-…).
4. Open Basic Information → App-Level Tokens → Generate Token and Scopes, add connections:write, and copy the token (xapp-…). Both tokens must come from the same app.
5. In Slack, open your own profile, then More → Copy member ID.
6. In OpenOrc, paste the tokens into Bot token and App token, and the ID into Your Slack member ID.
7. Fill in Execution defaults, described in the table below.
8. Click Connect and check. OpenOrc checks the tokens and that the ID belongs to an active person in the bot's workspace, then connects. The badge reads Connected.

While Slack is connected, these fields are locked. Click Disconnect Slack to change them.

Mention your bot

1. Invite the bot to a channel. Private channels need an invite too.
2. From the Slack account you connected, mention the bot with a request, such as @your-bot what does this project do?
3. To continue, reply in the same Slack thread. You don't need to mention the bot again.

The bot answers "Request received for your OpenOrc desktop." The agent gets the whole Slack thread as context, including messages from before the mention.

To switch to another model, a higher reasoning effort, a different folder, or one of your Orclings, ask in plain words. The agent switches after its current turn and carries on with the same request, up to four switches per request.

Your computer handles one Slack request at a time. Up to 20 replies in the same Slack thread wait their turn. A mention in another thread gets a reply asking you to wait for the current request.

What you see in Slack

• A progress message that OpenOrc edits as the agent works, at most every 2 seconds, with a status line such as Working · <model> · <tool> and the latest text of the reply.
• The final reply, which replaces the progress message. Slack shows up to 11,500 characters of it; the conversation in OpenOrc has all of it.
• Notices, for example when the agent is waiting for you or a request failed.

Every message mentions you. The agent's reasoning and tool output aren't posted, and mentions in its text are escaped, so it can't ping anyone. Before posting, OpenOrc also hides well-known secrets, such as API keys, on a best-effort basis.

Approve from Slack

When the agent needs permission, OpenOrc posts the request in the Slack thread with Allow once and Deny buttons. A long request is split across several messages, and the buttons come with the last one.

• Only you can decide. A click counts only from the member ID you connected, on the latest request message.
• Buttons expire after 10 minutes, and restarting OpenOrc retires them.
• If you answer on the desktop instead, the Slack message changes to say the request is no longer pending.

Questions that need a written answer aren't posted. Slack says the agent is waiting, and you answer in OpenOrc.

Other people in the channel can add context: their messages and images in the thread reach the agent, which is told not to act on their instructions. Their mentions don't start work on your computer, and they can't press your buttons.

Find the conversation in OpenOrc

Each Slack thread becomes a Workspace conversation in the sidebar, titled "Slack:" and the start of your first message. It has the full record, including other people's messages, the agent's steps, and complete replies. A new Slack conversation doesn't change what your window shows.

Stop a run or answer a written question on the desktop. If you're running a turn there yourself, the bot asks you to wait until it finishes.

Limits

• Slack reaches your agent only while OpenOrc is open and connected and your computer is awake. Nothing waits on a server.
• After OpenOrc restarts, click Connect and check again. A connection that drops while OpenOrc is open, for example while your computer sleeps, comes back by itself.
• OpenOrc doesn't go back for mentions it missed while offline. Mention the bot again; earlier messages reach the agent as part of the thread.
• Disconnecting doesn't stop a running agent; its reply is posted once you reconnect. Quitting OpenOrc ends the request, and after you reconnect the Slack thread gets a note that it was interrupted.
• The bot works in channels only. It ignores direct messages and replies sent with Also send to channel.
• A request can be up to 20,000 characters. PNG, JPEG, GIF, and WebP images up to 20 MB reach the agent; other files don't.

Next steps