Slack and Discord Integration - Workspace Bot Setup

What You'll Learn

After completing this course, you will be able to:

• Create and configure Slack Apps and Bots
• Set up Discord Bots and permissions
• Understand OAuth authorization flows
• Deploy AI assistants in your workspace

Core Concepts

Slack and Discord are both team workspace platforms, but they differ in architecture and configuration:

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│              Slack vs Discord Architecture Comparison         │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                                             │
│   Slack (Bolt Framework)         Discord (discord.js)       │
│   ┌──────────────────┐           ┌──────────────────┐       │
│   │  Slack App       │           │  Discord Bot     │       │
│   │  - Bot Token     │           │  - Bot Token     │       │
│   │  - App Token     │           │  - Gateway Intents│      │
│   │  - Socket Mode   │           │  - Permissions   │       │
│   └────────┬─────────┘           └────────┬─────────┘       │
│            │                               │                │
│            ▼                               ▼                │
│   ┌──────────────────┐           ┌──────────────────┐       │
│   │  OAuth Auth      │           │  OAuth2 Auth     │       │
│   │  - Scopes        │           │  - Permission Bits│      │
│   │  - Workspace     │           │  - Bot Invite    │       │
│   │    Install       │           │                  │       │
│   └────────┬─────────┘           └────────┬─────────┘       │
│            │                               │                │
│            └───────────────┬───────────────┘                │
│                            │                                │
│                            ▼                                │
│                 ┌────────────────────┐                     │
│                 │   OpenClaw Gateway │                     │
│                 │   Message Routing  │                     │
│                 │   & AI Processing  │                     │
│                 └────────────────────┘                     │
│                                                             │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Part 1: Slack Integration

Step 1: Create a Slack App

Why
You need to register your application on the Slack API platform to obtain credentials.

1. Visit Slack API
2. Click Create New App
3. Select From scratch
4. Enter:
   • App Name: "OpenClaw Assistant"
   • Workspace: Select your workspace

Step 2: Configure Bot Permissions

Why
You need to specify which features and data the bot can access.

1. In the left sidebar, select OAuth & Permissions
2. Scroll to the Scopes section
3. Add Bot Token Scopes:

app_mentions:read      # Read mentions
channels:history       # Read channel messages
channels:join          # Join channels
chat:write             # Send messages
files:read             # Read files
files:write            # Upload files
groups:history         # Read private channel messages
im:history             # Read DM history
mpim:history           # Read group DM history
users:read             # Read user information

Step 3: Obtain Bot Token

Why
The token is the credential for your bot to access the Slack API.

1. On the OAuth & Permissions page
2. Click Install to Workspace
3. Authorize the app
4. Copy the Bot User OAuth Token (starts with xoxb-)

Step 4: Configure OpenClaw

# Set Slack Bot Token
openclaw config set channels.slack.botToken "xoxb-your-token-here"

# Enable Socket Mode (recommended for local development)
openclaw config set channels.slack.socketMode true
openclaw config set channels.slack.appToken "xapp-your-app-token"

# Or use HTTP mode (requires public URL)
openclaw config set channels.slack.socketMode false
openclaw config set channels.slack.signingSecret "your-signing-secret"

# Enable Slack channel
openclaw config set channels.slack.enabled true

Step 5: Configure Event Subscriptions

Why
You need to subscribe to events to receive messages in real-time.

Socket Mode (Recommended for Development):

1. In the left sidebar, select Socket Mode
2. Enable Socket Mode
3. Generate an App-Level Token (add connections:write permission)

HTTP Mode (Production):

1. Enable in Event Subscriptions
2. Set Request URL: https://your-domain.com/slack/events
3. Subscribe to the following events:
   • app_mention
   • message.channels
   • message.groups
   • message.im
   • message.mpim

Part 2: Discord Integration

Step 1: Create a Discord Application

Why
Discord bots need to be associated with a Discord developer application.

1. Visit Discord Developer Portal
2. Click New Application
3. Enter application name: "OpenClaw Assistant"
4. Click Create

Step 2: Create a Bot User

Why
The bot user is the entity that represents the AI assistant in Discord.

1. In the left sidebar, select Bot
2. Click Add Bot → Yes, do it!
3. Configure bot settings:
   • Username: Modify display name
   • Icon: Upload avatar
   • Public Bot: Disable (prevent addition to other servers)

Step 3: Obtain Bot Token

1. On the Bot page, find the Token section
2. Click Reset Token (auto-generated on first creation)
3. Copy the token

Security Reminder

The token can only be viewed once! If lost, you need to regenerate it.

Step 4: Configure Permissions and Gateway Intents

Why
Discord uses permission bits and Intents to control what the bot can do.

Privileged Gateway Intents (Enable):

• ☑️ Presence Intent
• ☑️ Server Members Intent
• ☑️ Message Content Intent

Bot Permissions (Calculate permission bits):

Send Messages               0x00000800
Read Message History        0x00010000
Add Reactions               0x00000040
Attach Files                0x00008000
Embed Links                 0x00004000
Use Slash Commands          0x00800000
Mention Everyone            0x00020000

Total permission bit: 274877910080

Step 5: Invite Bot to Server

1. In OAuth2 → URL Generator:
   • Scopes: Check bot, applications.commands
   • Bot Permissions: Select the permissions above
2. Copy the generated URL
3. Open it in your browser and select the target server
4. Authorize and verify

Step 6: Configure OpenClaw

# Set Discord Bot Token
openclaw config set channels.discord.botToken "your-discord-bot-token"

# Configure Gateway Intents
openclaw config set channels.discord.intents 274877910080

# Enable Discord channel
openclaw config set channels.discord.enabled true

# Configure command prefix (optional)
openclaw config set channels.discord.prefix "!"

Part 3: Permission Management

Slack Permission Configuration

{
  "channels": {
    "slack": {
      "enabled": true,
      "botToken": "${SLACK_BOT_TOKEN}",
      "appToken": "${SLACK_APP_TOKEN}",
      "socketMode": true,
      "allowFrom": ["U1234567890"],
      "groupPolicy": "admins",
      "dmPolicy": "allow"
    }
  }
}

Discord Permission Configuration

{
  "channels": {
    "discord": {
      "enabled": true,
      "botToken": "${DISCORD_BOT_TOKEN}",
      "intents": 274877910080,
      "allowFrom": ["123456789012345678"],
      "guildPolicy": "admins",
      "dmPolicy": "allow"
    }
  }
}

Checklist ✅

Verify configuration:

# Check Slack status
openclaw channels status slack

# Check Discord status
openclaw channels status discord

# Expected output
┌─────────────────────────────────────┐
│  Slack Status                       │
├─────────────────────────────────────┤
│  Status:     ✅ Connected            │
│  Mode:       Socket Mode             │
│  Workspace:  Your Workspace          │
└─────────────────────────────────────┘

┌─────────────────────────────────────┐
│  Discord Status                     │
├─────────────────────────────────────┤
│  Status:     ✅ Connected            │
│  Gateway:    ✅ Connected            │
│  Servers:    3 connected             │
└─────────────────────────────────────┘

Troubleshooting

Common Slack Issues

1. Insufficient Token Permissions
   Symptom: missing_scope
   Solution: Add required permission scopes in Slack App settings

2. Socket Mode Connection Failed
   Symptom: Connection refused
   Solution: Ensure App Token has connections:write permission

3. Events Not Triggering
   Symptom: Not receiving message events
   Solution: Check event subscription configuration; ensure bot has joined the channel

4. Signature Verification Failed
   Symptom: Invalid signature
   Solution: Check if signingSecret configuration is correct

Common Discord Issues

1. Gateway Intents Not Enabled
   Symptom: Cannot receive message content
   Solution: Enable Message Content Intent in Bot settings

2. Insufficient Permissions
   Symptom: Missing Permissions
   Solution: Regenerate invite link with required permissions

3. Rate Limit
   Symptom: You are being rate limited
   Solution: Reduce request frequency and implement backoff strategy

4. Token Invalid
   Symptom: Authentication failed
   Solution: Check if token is correct; regenerate if necessary

Summary

In this course, you learned:

• ✅ Create Slack Apps and configure bot permissions
• ✅ Set up Socket Mode or HTTP event subscriptions
• ✅ Create Discord applications and bot users
• ✅ Configure Gateway Intents and permission bits
• ✅ Invite bots to workspaces/servers
• ✅ Understand OAuth authorization flows
• ✅ Configure OpenClaw to integrate both platforms

Next Lesson

In the next lesson, we'll explore Other Channel Configurations.

You'll learn:

• Signal, BlueBubbles, MS Teams configuration
• Extended channels like Matrix, Zalo
• Introduction to custom channel development

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Appendix: Source Code Reference

Click to expand and view source locations

Last updated: 2026-02-14

Feature	File Path	Line
Slack Implementation	src/slack/	-
Slack Config Types	src/config/types.slack.ts	-
Discord Implementation	src/discord/	-
Discord Extension	extensions/discord/	-
Slack Action Handler	src/channels/plugins/actions/slack.ts	-

Key Libraries:

• Slack: @slack/bolt - Official Bolt framework
• Discord: discord.js - Most popular Discord library