node-red-slack

Node-RED nodes to call Slack Web API methods.

What you get

• slack-config: stores one Slack bot token (xoxb-...) and reuses it across flows.
• slack-api: generic Slack API caller.
• No runtime dependencies outside Node.js built-ins.

Requirements

• Node.js 18+
• Node-RED 3+
• A Slack bot token with the scopes required by the API methods you call

Installation

From the Node-RED editor:

1. Go to Manage palette > Install tab
2. Search for @qomodome/node-red-slack
3. Click Install

From the command line:

npm install @qomodome/node-red-slack

Use the node

1. Add a slack-config node and set your bot token.
2. Add a slack-api node and link it to that config.
3. Send a message where:

msg.topic = "chat.postMessage";
msg.payload = {
  channel: "#my-channel",
  text: "Hello from Node-RED"
};
return msg;

If msg.topic is missing, slack-api uses its Default Method field.

Node reference

slack-config

• name (optional): label in editor
• token (required): Slack bot token

slack-api

• slack config (required): reference to slack-config
• default method (optional): fallback method when msg.topic is empty
• default channel (optional): fallback channel when msg.payload.channel is missing or empty

Message contract

Input:

• msg.topic (string): Slack method, for example chat.postMessage
• msg.payload (object): request body sent to Slack
• msg.payload.channel (optional): if provided, overrides the node default channel. This is channel field in body request

Output on success:

• msg.payload: Slack response body (parsed JSON when possible)
• msg.slack:
  • method
  • statusCode
  • ok

Error behavior:

• Emits node.error(err, msg) and calls done(err)
• Fails when config/token/method is missing
• Fails when msg.payload is not an object
• Fails on HTTP status >= 400
• Fails when Slack responds with ok: false
• No built-in retry/backoff

Use Node-RED catch nodes and your own flow logic for retries and recovery.

Local Docker run

From repository root:

docker compose up --build

Then open:

http://localhost:1880

Notes:

• This setup auto-installs the local module into /data/node_modules.
• Flows persist in a named Docker volume mounted at /data.
• Rebuild after source changes:

docker compose up --build --force-recreate

Development

Run tests:

npm test

Configure your git with custom hooks:

git config core.hooksPath .githooks

Publishing

The publish process is automated via GitHub Actions when pushing a tag that matches the package.json version. To publish a new version:

npm version X.Y.Z
git push origin main vX.Y.Z

For manual publish (not recommended - use only for emergencies):

0. Verify you have an npm account and are logged in with npm whoami. If not, run npm login --scope=@qomodome --auth-type=web and follow the prompts.
1. Update version in package.json
2. Verify contents with npm pack --dry-run
3. Publish to npm:

npm publish --access public

License

MIT License. See LICENSE for details.