> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://resources.athenaintel.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Slack

Slack connects to Athena in three ways. None of them asks you to create an app from a manifest or paste a Bot User OAuth Token into Athena, and Athena does not index your Slack channels.

<Info>Agent Slack apps and Athena for Slack are self-serve. Athena's workspace Slack app is switched on by a workspace owner or administrator and connected by an administrator from the Integrations page; it also depends on Slack being enabled in your deployment's managed integration project, which Athena Intelligence maintains. Contact us at [team@athenaintel.com](mailto:team@athenaintel.com) if the switch or the card is missing.</Info>

## Agent Slack apps — talk to an agent in Slack

Each agent that enables Slack gets its own Slack app and bot user, so your team can mention that agent in a channel and get its answer in the thread. Setup lives on the agent's **Slack** section in Athena.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Connect your Slack workspace (workspace admin, once)">
    At [api.slack.com/apps](https://api.slack.com/apps), open **Your App Configuration Tokens** and generate a token for the Slack workspace. In Athena, open an agent's **Slack** section, paste the **access token** (`xoxe…`) and **refresh token** (`xoxe-1-…`), and confirm **Connect workspace Slack**. Athena stores the pair encrypted and rotates it automatically; it is used only to create and update your agents' Slack apps.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Create and install the agent's bot">
    Choose a bot name and icon, click **Create this Slack bot**, then **Install this Slack bot**. Slack opens to authorize the bot; once authorized it is live immediately, without publishing the agent.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Choose where it replies">
    Add the channels the bot replies in, or switch on **Enable all channels**. Invite the bot to a channel like any Slack app, then mention it by its bot name to start a thread.
  </Step>
</Steps>

Conversation behavior in Slack is described on the [Channels](/docs/pillars/applications/channels) page.

## Athena for Slack — link previews, sharing and approvals

Athena for Slack is one workspace-level app. An Athena workspace owner or administrator installs it from **Workspace Settings › Integrations › Athena for Slack**; the card is shown when your deployment has the app configured. Once installed:

* Athena links posted in Slack unfurl as cards for members who can open the asset. Whether titles appear in previews is a switch on the card.
* An owner who posts a link is privately offered to share the asset with channel members who cannot open it.
* Approval requests can be delivered as Slack direct messages with **Approve** and **Reject** buttons; the decision is recorded under the Slack member's Athena account.

## Athena's workspace Slack app — @mentions and direct messages

One workspace-level Athena app can answer @mentions and direct messages in a connected Slack workspace. It is separate from the per-agent apps above: it replies as Athena rather than as a specific agent, and it does not add Slack as a source — Athena does not read channel history through it, and Slack does not appear as a catalog in sessions.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Turn on Slack for the workspace (owner or administrator)">
    Under **Workspace Settings › Integrations**, switch on **Slack** ("Enable Slack so Athena can respond to @mentions and DMs in your workspace"). The switch shows or hides the Slack card on the Integrations page.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Connect the Slack workspace (administrator)">
    With the switch on, administrators see the **Slack** card on the [Integrations](https://app.athenaintel.com/dashboard/integrations/) page. **Connect** opens the managed Slack sign-in, a Slack administrator approves the app, and the Slack workspace is recorded as connected in Athena. There is no token to paste.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Mention or message Athena in Slack">
    In a channel the app has been added to, mention it, or send it a direct message. Athena replies in the thread, and further messages in a thread it has already answered continue the same conversation. Each Slack member is matched to their Athena account by email; a member without an Athena account in the workspace gets a reply asking them to connect to Athena instead of an answer.
  </Step>
</Steps>