Slack MCP server

Connect the Slack MCP server

Learn how to connect the Slack MCP server to Atomicwork and manage AI agent tool permissions.

Integrating the Slack Model Context Protocol (MCP) server with Atomicwork gives your AI Coworkers, automated workflows, and coding agents direct access to your Slack workspace. Once connected, your AI Workforce can securely interact with Slack to manage channels, send messages, search workspace content, and execute administrative tasks.

The Slack MCP server is specifically designed for AI Coworkers to leverage Slack tools. For standard employee support, ticket creation, and regular Slack channel interactions, see our guide on connecting Slack and Atomicwork.

Review access requirements

Before you begin the setup, ensure that you meet the following access requirements:

• Atomicwork admin access: You need organization administrator permissions in Atomicwork to access the MCP Store.
• Slack admin access: You need administrator permissions in your Slack workspace to authorize the secure OAuth connection.

Connect the Slack MCP server

Follow these steps to establish the OAuth connection between Atomicwork and Slack:

1. Navigate to Settings, select MCP Store, and click Slack.
2. Click on the Slack tile and select Connect.
3. Complete the secure OAuth authorization flow by logging in with your Slack administrator credentials.
4. Review and authorize the requested permissions. You can toggle search access for private channels and group direct messages, while identity and public channel search remain required.
5. View the list of available Slack tools displayed on your screen once the setup is complete.

Configure AI Coworker and workflow access

After completing the setup, you can control which tools your AI Coworkers can access. To maintain a secure workspace, we recommend practicing the principle of least privilege and granting only the minimum necessary capabilities.

To configure access for your agents:

1. Navigate to AI Workforce, select AI Coworkers, and click Tools.
2. Locate the Slack tool in the Communication category.
3. Toggle individual actions or enable complete access based on the agent's responsibilities. For more details, see our guide on setting up an AI Coworker.

In addition to standard agents, the Admin Assist workflow builder and the coding agent automatically have access to the Slack MCP server. This allows you to build automated workflows and write custom code scripts that interact directly with your Slack workspace.

Understand available tool categories

The Slack MCP server provides a wide range of tools that your AI Workforce can use to automate tasks. These capabilities are grouped into several broad categories:

• Message Management: Send, update, schedule, and delete messages, post ephemeral messages, and retrieve message permalinks.
• Channel and Conversation Management: Create, archive, rename, and delete public or private channels, join or leave conversations, and manage channel preferences.
• Search and Context: Perform real-time searches across messages and files, search for channels in Enterprise organizations, and fetch conversation history or replies.
• User and Group Management: Find users by email, invite users to channels or workspaces, retrieve user presence and profile details, and manage Slack user groups.
• Reminders and Canvas: Create, list, and delete Slack reminders, and create, edit, or delete Slack Canvases.
• Reactions and Files: Add or remove emoji reactions, star items, download files, and upload or share remote files.

Next steps

Now that you have connected the Slack MCP server, explore these guides to fully leverage your AI Workforce:

• To set up your AI agents with specific Slack capabilities, see our guide on Setting up an AI Coworker.
• To enable standard helpdesk interactions and ticket deflection in Slack, see our guide on Connect Slack and Atomicwork.
• To customize the appearance of your Slack assistant, see our guide on Set up a custom-branded Slack app for your Assistant.