slack-cli

slack-cli

Use this skill as a thin router. The Slack CLI binary contains the operational runbooks. Load the matching runbook before acting. Do not copy CLI runbooks into this skill; update the embedded slick agent guide source when details change.

The repository is matcra587/slack-cli but the installed binary is slick.

First Step

Run the matching guide command:

slick agent guide <workflow>

Use the schema only when you need command inventory or flag details:

slick agent schema --compact

Workflow Map

User task	Load this runbook
Send a channel message or DM	slick agent guide send_msg
Schedule, list, or cancel future messages	slick agent guide schedule_msg
Post a realistic PR review, incident update, release note, reactions, and thread	slick agent guide developer_review
Reply in a thread	slick agent guide reply
Add, remove, or list reactions (single or ordered multi-emoji)	slick agent guide react
Read channel history or thread replies	slick agent guide read_history
Search messages, especially by run ID	slick agent guide search_msgs
Clean up live-test messages	slick agent guide cleanup_msgs
Edit a message	slick agent guide edit_msg
Delete a message	Requires explicit user approval; then load slick agent guide delete_msg
Find channels, private channels, or DMs	slick agent guide discover_destination
Find users or presence	slick agent guide lookup_user
Send direct messages	slick agent guide send_dm
Set or clear the authenticated user's Slack status	slick agent guide set_status
Prime, refresh, or clear local Slack metadata caches	slick agent guide cache_metadata
Auth, manifests, token setup	slick agent guide auth_setup
Config preferences	slick agent guide config_prefs
Output modes, exit codes, parsing	slick agent guide core_contract
Diagnose whether Slack itself is degraded before blaming auth	slick agent guide check_health
High-impact or destructive operations	slick agent guide safe_mutation
File upload testing	slick agent guide upload_file
Command inventory	slick agent guide inspect_schema

Non-Negotiables

• Run slick agent guide <workflow> before taking action. The guide is the runbook; the schema is only command inventory.
• Keep automation on JSON output. Do not parse --plain.
• Treat stdout as command data and stderr as diagnostics or structured errors.
• Parse failures from stderr JSON: errors[0].type, errors[0].message, and errors[0].exit_code.
• Keep Slack timestamps as strings. They are scoped to a channel.
• Use exact channel + ts for replies, reactions, edits, and deletes.
• Never pass Slack tokens in argv. Use stdin, file, env-name, keychain, or a configured secret reference.
• Use real multiline stdin for multiline Slack messages. Do not type literal \n into --message when the UI should show a new line.
• Use --dry-run before high-visibility or destructive mutations.
• --schedule accepts --channel or --user. For scheduled DMs, pass the user ID, alias, or Slack-profile email with --user; real sends return the raw DM/MPIM channel ID in data.channel.
• This skill does not preapprove deletes. Treat slick message delete as an explicit-user-approval operation outside allowed-tools.
• Status set/clear mutates the authenticated user's Slack profile and requires a user token with users.profile:write. Bot-token profiles cannot use it.
• Do not duplicate attribution text in the message body. Attribution renders as a context block when enabled.
• For live tests, use realistic content and unique run IDs. Clean up with the paginated cleanup_msgs runbook.
• For search cleanup, follow meta.pagination.next_cursor until meta.pagination.has_more is false, then repeat the search after deletes until there are no matches.

Command Name Guardrails

• There is no slick dm command. Use slick message send --user.
• Immediate DM email targeting uses the user's Slack profile email. If Slack returns users_not_found, resolve the Slack-side address or use the user ID.
• There is no slick thread command. Use slick reply.
• There is no slick reaction command. Use slick react.
• --raw is an output mode. Use --blocks only when the input is raw Block Kit JSON.
• slick react add accepts one or more emoji: comma-separate (--emoji a,b,c) or repeat the flag to apply multiple in input order. Halts on first failure.
• File upload remains probationary. Use slick agent guide upload_file before testing it and prefer dry-run first.

Rate-Limit Guardrail

The CLI returns structured rate_limit errors with exit code 3. Respect retry_after_seconds.

Separate CLI processes do not share proactive throttle state. Keep shell fanout modest unless the user explicitly asks for a rate-limit test.