openclaw-slack-router

A Slack plugin for openclaw. Each Slack channel is an isolated project context — no cross-project bleed, managed entirely through chat.

How it works

• Each Slack channel is a separate project context (#project-a and #project-b never share history)
• Mention the bot in any registered channel — it sends your message to openclaw and replies in-thread
• Manage channels by chatting with the bot in your main channel

Setup

1. Create a Slack app

In the Slack app console, create a new app and configure:

• Socket Mode — enable it under Settings → Socket Mode, generate an App Token (xapp-...) under Settings → Basic Information → App-Level Tokens
• Bot Token — under OAuth & Permissions → Install to Workspace, copy the Bot OAuth Token (xoxb-...)
• OAuth scopes: app_mentions:read, channels:history, channels:join, channels:manage, chat:write, groups:history, im:history
• Event subscriptions: app_mention, message.im

2. Install the plugin

openclaw plugins install @datanovallc/[email protected]

3. Configure your tokens

openclaw slack setup

The wizard asks for your Bot Token, App Token, and gateway URL. It saves them to ~/.openclaw/.env.

4. Create your main channel in Slack

In Slack, create a channel (e.g. #rook-main) and invite your bot user to it.

5. Set the main channel ID

Right-click the channel in Slack → View channel details → copy the channel ID (starts with C).

The setup wizard (step 3) asks for this ID — if you provided it there, skip this step.

Otherwise, add it to the config file at ~/.openclaw/openclaw-slack-router.config.json:

{
  "mainChannelId": "CXXXXXXXXX"
}

6. Restart openclaw

openclaw gateway restart

The bot posts a welcome message in your main channel on first start.

Using the bot

Create project channels

In your main channel, tell the bot:

| Say this | What happens | |----------|-------------| | new channel my-project | Create a new project channel (e.g. new channel my-project) | | list channels | Show all active channels | | remove channel my-project | Deactivate a channel | | help | Shows available commands |

Chat in a project channel

Mention the bot to send a message to openclaw:

@YourBot what's the status of the API migration?

Route to a specific agent:

@YourBot /research find recent papers on RAG architectures

Environment variables

Set in ~/.openclaw/.env by the setup wizard.

| Variable | Required | Description | |----------|----------|-------------| | SLACK_BOT_TOKEN | Yes | Slack bot OAuth token (xoxb-...) | | SLACK_APP_TOKEN | Yes | Slack app-level token for Socket Mode (xapp-...) | | OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_URL | No | openclaw gateway WebSocket URL | | OPENCLAW_GATEWAY_TOKEN | No | Gateway auth token (if your gateway requires one) |

Configuration file

openclaw-slack-router.config.json lives in openclaw's state directory and is managed by the bot. You can also edit it directly:

{
  "botName": "Rook",
  "mainChannelId": "CXXXXXXXXX",
  "introPosted": false,
  "defaultAgent": "default",
  "agents": {
    "default": {
      "name": "openclaw-gateway",
      "description": "Routes messages through the local openclaw gateway"
    }
  },
  "channels": {
    "C1234567890": {
      "name": "my-project",
      "historyLimit": 50
    }
  }
}

| Field | Description | |-------|-------------| | botName | Display name used in logs and error messages | | mainChannelId | Channel ID of your admin/control channel | | introPosted | Set to true after the bot posts its first intro — prevents re-posting on restart | | defaultAgent | Which agent handles unrouted messages | | agents | Registered agent names and descriptions | | channels | Active project channels; historyLimit controls how many messages are fetched for context |

Adding a custom subagent

Implement the SubagentDefinition interface:

import type { SubagentDefinition, SubagentContext } from "openclaw-slack-router";

const myAgent: SubagentDefinition = {
  name: "my-agent",
  description: "Does something useful",
  async handle(ctx: SubagentContext): Promise<string> {
    // ctx.currentMessage  — the current message text
    // ctx.threadHistory   — [{role, content}] full channel history
    // ctx.channelId       — Slack channel ID
    // ctx.userId          — Slack user ID who sent the message
    // ctx.threadTs        — thread timestamp to reply into
    return "response text";
  },
};

Register it in src/subagents/index.ts alongside openclaw-gateway.

Development

npm run dev       # watch mode with tsx
npm test          # run tests
npm run typecheck # type check without emitting
npm run build     # compile to dist/