Slack Max API MCP

Operations-first Slack MCP server for Codex/Claude Code over stdio.

• Package: slack-max-api-mcp
• Runtime: pure CLI MCP over stdio
• HTTP Slack API gateway/proxy: removed
• Local HTTP callback is still used only for OAuth code return

Tool exposure

• operations (default): 21 operations-first tools only
• developer: operations tools + gateway_* + core Slack API tools
• legacy: fixed core tools + optional catalog method tools (final count depends on method-tool settings)

Environment:

• SLACK_TOOL_EXPOSURE_MODE=operations|developer|legacy
• SLACK_SMART_COMPAT_CORE_TOOLS=true|false
• SLACK_ENABLE_METHOD_TOOLS=true|false
• SLACK_MAX_METHOD_TOOLS=<number>

smart is still accepted as an alias for developer.

Operations-first tools

The default surface is now operations-first and keeps raw API wrappers out of the main tool list:

• ops_policy_info: runtime policy/audit guardrails
• ops_access_policy_info: active access profile, effective rules, pending requests, active grants
• ops_access_policy_set: switch active access-control profile (open, readonly, restricted)
• ops_access_request: create a scoped elevation request for read/write/admin/delete access
• ops_access_approve: approve a pending elevation request and activate a time-boxed grant
• ops_access_revoke: revoke one grant or all active grants
• ops_playbook_list: built-in operations playbooks
• ops_state_overview: inspect local operations state (incidents, digests, broadcasts, followups)
• ops_incident_create: create + optionally announce a tracked incident
• ops_incident_update: persist a status change and optionally post a thread update
• ops_incident_close: close a tracked incident with stored resolution
• ops_broadcast_prepare: prepare and store a broadcast draft before sending
• ops_playbook_run: run standardized workflows (incident_open, support_digest, release_broadcast)
• ops_channel_snapshot: activity/participant/thread snapshot for a channel
• ops_unanswered_threads: find stale or unanswered question-like threads
• ops_sla_breach_scan: detect SLA breach threads across multiple channels
• ops_sla_followup: auto follow-up replies for SLA breaches with duplicate-suppression state
• ops_broadcast_message: send a prepared draft or direct operational announcement
• ops_recent_failures: list recent human-readable failures from local diagnostics state
• ops_explain_error: explain one recorded failure with troubleshooting hints
• ops_audit_log_read: inspect local JSONL audit logs

These tools let teams run repeatable Slack operations without rebuilding multi-step API call chains, and they persist local operational state to make incidents/broadcasts/followups first-class records.

Config and state

• Operations config file: config/operations.json
• Override path: SLACK_OPERATIONS_CONFIG_PATH=<path>
• Local state path: ~/.slack-max-api-mcp/operations-state.json
• Override path: SLACK_OPERATIONS_STATE_PATH=<path>

The operations config controls incident templates, digest defaults, broadcast templates, and follow-up suppression windows.

Access control and diagnostics

• Access control is enforced inside the MCP server, not only by prompt instructions.
• Default profiles are open, readonly, and restricted.
• Elevation is two-step: create a scoped request with ops_access_request, then explicitly approve it with ops_access_approve.
• Recorded failures are stored in operations state and can be inspected with ops_recent_failures and ops_explain_error.

Playbook examples

Codex, run ops_playbook_run with playbook=incident_open on #incident-war-room.
title is "DB Latency Spike", severity is "sev2", owner is "@oncall-db", dry_run=true.

Codex, run ops_playbook_run with playbook=support_digest for channels #support-kor and #support-global.
lookback_hours=24, sla_minutes=60, report_channel=#support-ops, dry_run=true.

Codex, run ops_sla_followup for channels #support-kor and #support-global.
sla_minutes=90, lookback_hours=24, max_messages=20, dry_run=true.

Codex, run ops_incident_create on #incident-war-room.
title is "API Error Spike", summary is "5xx rate above threshold", owner is "@oncall-api", dry_run=true.

Codex, run ops_state_overview with collection=incidents and limit=10.

Governance settings

• SLACK_ENABLE_AUDIT_LOG=true|false (default: true)
• SLACK_AUDIT_LOG_PATH=<path> (default: ~/.slack-max-api-mcp/audit.log)
• SLACK_METHOD_ALLOWLIST=chat.postMessage,conversations.history
• SLACK_METHOD_DENYLIST=users.deletePhoto
• SLACK_METHOD_ALLOW_PREFIXES=chat.,conversations.
• SLACK_METHOD_DENY_PREFIXES=admin.

If allowlist/allow-prefix is set, methods outside that policy are blocked.

Install

npm install -g slack-max-api-mcp@latest

Register MCP

Codex:

codex mcp add slack-max -- npx -y slack-max-api-mcp
codex mcp list

Claude Code:

claude mcp add slack-max -- npx -y slack-max-api-mcp
claude mcp list

Auth options

1) Local OAuth (single machine)

setx SLACK_CLIENT_ID "YOUR_CLIENT_ID"
setx SLACK_CLIENT_SECRET "YOUR_CLIENT_SECRET"
npx -y slack-max-api-mcp oauth login --profile my-workspace --team T1234567890

Helper commands:

npx -y slack-max-api-mcp oauth list
npx -y slack-max-api-mcp oauth use <profile_key_or_name>
npx -y slack-max-api-mcp oauth current

2) Central onboarding server (team onboarding, no client secret on team PCs)

Run on central server:

setx SLACK_CLIENT_ID "YOUR_CLIENT_ID"
setx SLACK_CLIENT_SECRET "YOUR_CLIENT_SECRET"
setx SLACK_ONBOARD_SERVER_HOST "0.0.0.0"
setx SLACK_ONBOARD_SERVER_PORT "8790"
setx SLACK_ONBOARD_PUBLIC_BASE_URL "https://onboard.example.com"
npx -y slack-max-api-mcp onboard-server start

Run on team member PC:

npx -y slack-max-api-mcp onboard run

This flow opens browser OAuth via central server and saves tokens to local token store. Default onboard server URL is https://43.202.54.65.sslip.io. Use --server (or SLACK_ONBOARD_SERVER_URL) only when overriding it.

3) Manual token mode

setx SLACK_BOT_TOKEN "xoxb-..."
setx SLACK_USER_TOKEN "xoxp-..."

Token precedence

1. token_override in tool input
2. env tokens: SLACK_BOT_TOKEN / SLACK_USER_TOKEN / SLACK_TOKEN
3. active OAuth profile from token store (SLACK_PROFILE or default profile)
4. .env.example fallback if SLACK_ALLOW_ENV_EXAMPLE_FALLBACK=true

Development

npm install
npm run check
npm run build:catalog
npm run start
node src/slack-mcp-server.js help