Secure Slack access for AI agents

Through Slack, agents can search messages, read channels and threads, and send or schedule messages on your team's behalf — every call runs through your policies and is logged for audit.

Server URL: https://mcp.slack.com/mcp

Setup

Navigate to Resources and click Add Resource
Select Slack from the catalog
On Choose how to install Slack, click a credential mode card (see below)

Clicking Use SecureAuth's app installs the resource immediately — there is no separate confirmation step. Bring your own app instead opens a form for your own Client ID and Client Secret, and Add at the bottom of that form completes the install. Either way Slack then shows an Admin setup required dialog with a Setup guide button pointing back at the matching section below.

The resource is added with all tools and scopes pre-configured. Each user connects their own Slack account via OAuth when they first use a Slack tool. Navigate to Connections to manage linked accounts.

Credential modes

Slack supports two modes:

Use SecureAuth's app — install instantly with SecureAuth's pre-registered Slack app. No setup on your side. Recommended for most installs.
Bring your own app — use a Slack app owned by your workspace. Recommended when you need custom branding on the consent screen, dedicated rate limits, or audit isolation in your workspace.

See Credential modes for the full comparison.

Use SecureAuth's app

Install instantly with SecureAuth's pre-registered Slack app — nothing to create on your side. Each user connects their own Slack account via OAuth the first time they use a Slack tool.

No admin setup is required unless your workspace restricts app installs. Slack lets members add apps themselves by default; if a Workspace Owner has turned on app approval ("Only allow pre-approved apps"), the SecureAuth AI Gateway app (Slack's name for the pre-registered app) must be approved before members can connect. When a member first tries to connect, Slack sends an approval request to your Workspace Owners via Slackbot — an owner approves it once, and members can connect from then on.

Bring your own app

A Slack workspace admin creates a Slack app at api.slack.com/apps, installs it into the workspace, then returns to SecureAuth with the Client ID and Client Secret.

In the Agent Authority console, go to Resources → Add Resource → Slack → Bring your own app and copy the redirect URI shown on the page.

The fastest path to create the Slack app is From an app manifest. Paste this JSON, replacing <paste-redirect-uri> with the URI you just copied and <your-company> with your branding:

{
  "display_information": {
    "name": "<your-company> Agent Authority",
    "description": "Agent Authority integration",
    "background_color": "#0b1326"
  },
  "features": {
    "bot_user": {
      "display_name": "<your-company>",
      "always_online": false
    }
  },
  "oauth_config": {
    "redirect_urls": ["<paste-redirect-uri>"],
    "scopes": {
      "user": [
        "search:read.public",
        "search:read.private",
        "search:read.mpim",
        "search:read.im",
        "search:read.files",
        "search:read.users",
        "chat:write",
        "channels:history",
        "groups:history",
        "mpim:history",
        "im:history",
        "canvases:read",
        "canvases:write",
        "reactions:read",
        "reactions:write",
        "users:read",
        "users:read.email"
      ],
      "bot": ["users:read"]
    },
    "pkce_enabled": false
  },
  "settings": {
    "org_deploy_enabled": false,
    "socket_mode_enabled": false,
    "token_rotation_enabled": false,
    "is_mcp_enabled": true
  }
}

After Slack creates the app, go to Basic Information → App Credentials in your Slack app and copy the Client ID and Client Secret back into the Slack resource page in the Agent Authority console, then click Add.

Available tools

Tool names are matched exactly by policy rules unless you use a wildcard, so copy them from here verbatim — and check the Available Tools card on the resource's Overview tab in the Agent Authority console for the authoritative list of what your install actually exposes.

Tool	Description
`slack_search_public`	Search public messages across channels
`slack_search_public_and_private`	Search public and private messages
`slack_search_channels`	Search for channels
`slack_search_users`	Search for users
`slack_send_message`	Send a message to a channel or user
`slack_send_message_draft`	Send a message draft
`slack_schedule_message`	Schedule a message for later delivery
`slack_read_channel`	Read messages from a channel
`slack_read_thread`	Read messages in a thread
`slack_read_user_profile`	Read a user's profile
`slack_create_canvas`	Create a new canvas
`slack_read_canvas`	Read a canvas
`slack_update_canvas`	Update an existing canvas
`slack_add_reaction`	Add an emoji reaction to a message

Required scopes

search:read.public — search public channels
search:read.private — search private channels
search:read.mpim — search multi-person direct messages
search:read.im — search direct messages
search:read.files — search files
search:read.users — search users
chat:write — send messages
channels:history — read public channel history
groups:history — read private channel history
mpim:history — read multi-person direct message history
im:history — read direct message history
canvases:read — read canvases
canvases:write — create canvases
reactions:read — read message reactions
reactions:write — add and remove message reactions
users:read — read user profiles
users:read.email — read user email addresses

Policy examples

Rules are evaluated top to bottom and the first match wins; a call that matches no rule is denied. New rules are created at the top of the list, so create the rule you want evaluated last first.

Search and read, but no sending: allow slack_search_*, slack_read_*, then add a deny for slack_send_* and slack_schedule_message below those allows — or disable your organization's seeded Allow all rule so anything unmatched is denied. The allow rules alone block nothing: with Allow all in place, slack_send_message, slack_send_message_draft, and slack_schedule_message keep matching it. Removing Allow all is org-wide, so add the allows everything else needs first.
Only one agent may send: allow slack_send_* scoped to that agent, and add a deny for slack_send_* (unscoped) below it. A scoped allow does not exclude anyone — other agents simply fall through to the next matching rule, which is Allow all unless you deny or remove it.
Block scheduling messages entirely: add a deny rule for slack_schedule_message above any allow rules.

Next steps

Create a policy — start from the search-and-read pattern in Policy examples above.
Credential modes — compare SecureAuth's app against bringing your own before you install.
Sandbox an agent to one Slack channel — a worked policy for this exact resource.

Secure Slack access for AI agents

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