slack-messaging_skill

Overview

This skill lets you send, read, and verify Slack messages from the command line using slackcli. It covers authentication with browser session tokens, discovering channel IDs, sending messages or thread replies, reading messages as text or JSON, and testing integrations across multiple workspaces. The goal is fast, scriptable Slack interactions without creating a Slack app.

How this skill works

The skill wraps slackcli commands to authenticate using xoxc/xoxd browser tokens, list conversations to discover channel or DM IDs, send messages (including thread replies), and read recent messages or threads. It supports JSON output for parsing and integration tests, and manages credentials per workspace in a local config file. Multiple workspaces are supported by running the auth flow for each workspace.

When to use it

• Send quick messages or replies from scripts or CI
• Read recent channel messages or threads from the terminal
• Discover channel and DM IDs for automation
• Test and validate bot or integration posts
• Operate across multiple Slack workspaces from one machine

Best practices

• Extract and refresh browser tokens from a logged-in browser session; tokens expire when you log out
• Store credentials securely; slackcli keeps workspace entries at ~/.config/slackcli/workspaces.json
• Prefer JSON output for programmatic checks (use --json and jq)
• Use conversation list to confirm channel IDs before sending messages
• Avoid storing long-lived secrets in plain text; re-authenticate regularly

Example use cases

• Send a scripted notification to an ops channel from a deployment script
• Read the last 10 messages of a channel to confirm a scheduled job ran
• Post and then verify a test message to validate a webhook or bot integration
• Reply in a thread from a maintenance script to append status updates
• Manage messages across two or more Slack workspaces by adding each workspace via the auth flow