Connect Slack to Atender

This connects your Slack workspace to Atender and lets you choose how Slack channels and direct messages route to Agent Stacks.

Before you start

• A Slack workspace where you have permission to install apps
• A user role with the Manage integrations permission in Atender
• Slack channels ready to review after setup

Steps

1. Open Settings → Slack.
2. Click Connect to Slack. Atender redirects you to Slack’s authorization page.
3. In Slack, pick the workspace you want to connect, review the permissions Atender is requesting, and approve. Slack redirects you back to Atender.
4. Back in Settings → Slack, you’ll now see the workspace name and an Active badge under the Connection card.
5. Review the Slack channels Atender discovered for the connected workspace.
6. For each support channel, choose the Agent Stack that should handle messages from that channel. Leave the Agent Stack unset if the channel should stay humans-only.
7. Configure Allow direct messages:
   Turn it on if people should be able to start conversations with Atender by sending the Slack app a direct message.
   Choose the workspace-level Agent Stack that should handle direct messages.
   Add the welcome message people should see when they start a direct message conversation.
8. Optional: under Advanced, set the reply delay in seconds if you want Atender to wait before posting Slack replies.

Changes save automatically when you choose a stack, update direct message settings, or change the reply delay.

Incident publishing is configured separately in Settings → Incidents Settings → Slack. Channels assigned to incidents show an Incidents badge in Slack channel settings and hide support-only configuration. Once the incidents setup article is available, use it to configure incident Slack publishing.

Verify it worked

Send a message in a Slack channel that has an Agent Stack selected, or send a direct message to the Atender Slack app if Allow direct messages is enabled. You should see Atender respond according to the selected stack. If nothing arrives, see Troubleshooting below.

Change Slack routing later

Use Settings → Slack to manage support-channel routing after setup. Pick a different Agent Stack for a support channel, leave a channel unset for humans-only, update direct message settings, or adjust the Advanced reply delay. Changes take effect immediately. No reconnect needed.

Configure incident publishing separately in Settings → Incidents Settings → Slack.

Disconnect

In Settings → Slack, use the Disconnect action in the page header. Confirm the dialog to remove the stored Slack token and stop Slack routing. You can reconnect at any time by clicking Connect to Slack again.

Troubleshooting

• Symptom: The Connect to Slack button shows “Slack integration is not yet available. Please contact support.” Fix: Slack OAuth credentials aren’t configured for your tenant. Contact Atender support to enable it.

• Symptom: A private channel I want to use isn’t in the channel list. Fix: In Slack, invite the Atender app into that channel (/invite @Atender in the channel), then come back to Settings → Slack and search again.

• Symptom: Connection shows Disconnected instead of Active after redirect. Fix: Slack rejected or revoked the install. Use Disconnect in the page header, confirm the dialog, then try Connect to Slack again from scratch.

• Symptom: Atender does not respond in a Slack channel. Fix: Check that the channel has an Agent Stack selected. If it is unset, the channel is humans-only. If a stack is selected, confirm Atender’s app is still in the channel on the Slack side — Slack auto-removes apps if they’re inactive too long. Channels assigned to incidents show an Incidents badge and do not show support-channel routing settings here.

• Symptom: Atender does not respond to direct messages. Fix: Check that Allow direct messages is turned on, a workspace-level Agent Stack is selected, and the welcome message is configured.

See also

• What is the Slack integration