Getting started

This guide walks through initial setup and your first interaction with the CLI.

Step 1: Create a Slack app

The easiest way to get started is to create a Slack app with all required scopes pre-configured:

slackbuzz app create

Paste an App Configuration Token when asked (from api.slack.com/apps → Your App Configuration Tokens → Generate Token). slackbuzz creates the app, then opens Slack in your browser — click Allow and both the bot and user tokens are stored automatically. Nothing else to copy.

No config token? Create the app in the browser instead — Slack’s app creator opens pre-filled, and you paste back the Client ID and Secret:

slackbuzz app create --web

No terminal prompt available (e.g. running from an AI agent’s ! shell)? Copy the config token, then:

slackbuzz app create --clipboard

Alternative: log in with existing tokens

If you already have bot and user tokens from an existing Slack app:

slackbuzz auth login

You will be prompted to paste a bot token (xoxb-...) and optionally a user token (xoxp-...).

CI / non-interactive mode

Pipe a token via stdin, or read the one you just copied:

echo "$SLACK_BOT_TOKEN" | slackbuzz auth login --with-token
slackbuzz auth login --clipboard

app create and app update also accept the config token via --with-token, --clipboard, or $SLACKBUZZ_CONFIG_TOKEN, checked in that order before any saved token. A token from $SLACKBUZZ_CONFIG_TOKEN overrides the saved one and is never written to disk.

Check authentication status

slackbuzz auth status

Re-authenticating after a slackbuzz upgrade

If a slackbuzz release adds new scope requirements (a new command whose Slack method needs a scope your existing app manifest doesn’t grant), push the latest manifest to your existing Slack app and re-auth in one flow:

slackbuzz app update

This calls apps.manifest.update with the canonical manifest, opens the reinstall page so you can approve the new scopes, then prompts for the regenerated bot + user tokens.

The manifest is generated automatically from the slackbuzz source tree (make manifest-gen), so the scope list is always exactly what the commands actually need — never more, never stale.

Step 2: Check your inbox

See what needs your attention — mentions, DMs, and threads:

slackbuzz activity

Filter by type:

slackbuzz activity --dms         # Direct messages only
slackbuzz activity --threads     # Threads you're mentioned in
slackbuzz activity --all         # Everything combined

The activity view auto-detects ClickUp task IDs and GitHub PR URLs in messages and shows actionable hints.

Step 3: Verify setup

Run the doctor to check that your tokens are valid and have the required scopes:

slackbuzz doctor

Step 4: Send a message

slackbuzz send '#general' "Hello from the terminal!"

Reply to a thread:

slackbuzz thread #general 1706000000.000000 "Looks good, merging now"

React to a message:

slackbuzz react #general 1706000000.000000 :white_check_mark:

Edit or delete a message:

slackbuzz message edit #general 1706000000.000000 "corrected text"
slackbuzz message delete #general 1706000000.000000 --confirm

Step 5: Set your status

slackbuzz status set "Coding" :computer: --until 2h

View your current status:

slackbuzz status

Clear it:

slackbuzz status clear

Next steps

• See the full Command reference for all available commands and flags.
• Learn about Cross-tool integration for ClickUp and GitHub enrichment in activity views.
• Read Using with AI agents for integrating the CLI with Claude Code, Copilot, and Cursor.