---
title: Slack
icon: slack
description: Mount a Slack workspace as a virtual filesystem from Node or the browser.
---

MIRAGE ships `SlackResource` in **two runtimes**:

- `@struktoai/mirage-node`, talks to `https://slack.com/api/*` directly using a bot token (and optionally a user token for `search.messages`).
- `@struktoai/mirage-browser`, stays secret-free: a small proxy server on your backend holds the token and forwards `/api/slack/*` to `https://slack.com/api/*`. The browser only ever sees the proxy URL.

Both runtimes expose the same filesystem shape (`/slack/channels/`, `/slack/dms/`, `/slack/users/`) and the same shell commands, and both pair with the [slack CLI](/typescript/cli/slack) for acting on the workspace.

## Get a bot token

1. Visit the [Slack API basics page](https://api.slack.com/authentication/basics) and create an app for your workspace.
2. Under **OAuth & Permissions**, add the bot scopes you need. The minimum for read access is:
   - `channels:history`, `channels:read`
   - `groups:history`, `groups:read`
   - `im:history`, `im:read`
   - `users:read`
3. For posting messages, also add `chat:write`.
4. For [`search.messages`](https://api.slack.com/methods/search.messages), Slack requires a **user token** (`xoxp-…`) with `search:read`. Bot tokens (`xoxb-…`) get `not_allowed_token_type`. Provide it via the optional `searchToken` field.
5. Install the app to your workspace and copy the **Bot User OAuth Token** (`xoxb-…`).

```bash
# .env.development
SLACK_BOT_TOKEN=xoxb-...
SLACK_USER_TOKEN=xoxp-...   # optional, only needed for slack search
```

## Node (server-side)

```bash
pnpm add @struktoai/mirage-node
```

```ts
import { MountMode, SlackResource, Workspace } from '@struktoai/mirage-node'

const slack = new SlackResource({
  token: process.env.SLACK_BOT_TOKEN!,
  searchToken: process.env.SLACK_USER_TOKEN,  // optional
})

const ws = new Workspace({ '/slack': slack }, { mode: MountMode.READ })
const res = await ws.execute('ls /slack/channels/')
console.log(res.stdoutText)
```

## Browser

```bash
pnpm add @struktoai/mirage-browser
```

The browser package never sees the bot token. Instead, point it at a relative URL that your backend proxies to `https://slack.com/api/*`, attaching the `Authorization: Bearer …` header server-side.

### 1. Server: minimal proxy

```ts
import { createServer } from 'node:http'

const TOKEN = process.env.SLACK_BOT_TOKEN!
const PREFIX = '/api/slack/'

createServer(async (req, res) => {
  const url = new URL(req.url ?? '/', 'http://localhost')
  if (!url.pathname.startsWith(PREFIX)) {
    res.statusCode = 404
    res.end()
    return
  }
  const upstream = new URL(`https://slack.com/api/${url.pathname.slice(PREFIX.length)}`)
  upstream.search = url.search

  const method = (req.method ?? 'GET').toUpperCase()
  const chunks: Buffer[] = []
  if (method !== 'GET' && method !== 'HEAD') {
    for await (const chunk of req) chunks.push(chunk as Buffer)
  }
  const body = chunks.length > 0 ? Buffer.concat(chunks).toString('utf-8') : undefined

  const headers: Record<string, string> = { Authorization: `Bearer ${TOKEN}` }
  const ct = req.headers['content-type']
  if (typeof ct === 'string') headers['content-type'] = ct

  const upstreamRes = await fetch(upstream, { method, headers, ...(body !== undefined ? { body } : {}) })
  const text = await upstreamRes.text()
  res.statusCode = upstreamRes.status
  const upstreamCt = upstreamRes.headers.get('content-type')
  if (upstreamCt !== null) res.setHeader('content-type', upstreamCt)
  res.end(text)
}).listen(8901, '127.0.0.1')
```

### 2. Browser: wire it up

```ts
import { MountMode, SlackResource, Workspace } from '@struktoai/mirage-browser'

const slack = new SlackResource({
  proxyUrl: '/api/slack',
  // For multi-tenant setups, return per-request auth headers:
  // getHeaders: async () => ({ Authorization: `Bearer ${userJwt}` }),
})

const ws = new Workspace({ '/slack': slack }, { mode: MountMode.READ })
const res = await ws.execute('ls /slack/channels/')
console.log(res.stdoutText)
```

<Warning>
Calling `https://slack.com/api/*` directly from a browser fails CORS. The proxy is mandatory, Slack does not set permissive CORS headers.
</Warning>

## Filesystem layout

```text
/slack/
  channels/
    <channel-name>__<channel-id>/
      <yyyy-mm-dd>/
        chat.jsonl
        files/
          <name>__<F-id>.<ext>
  dms/
    <user-name>__<dm-id>/
      <yyyy-mm-dd>/
        chat.jsonl
        files/
          <name>__<F-id>.<ext>
  users/
    <username>__<user-id>.json
    ...
```

Each channel or DM directory contains day-partitioned directories for the last 90 days (or since channel creation). Each date directory contains `chat.jsonl` plus a `files/` directory for attachments shared that day. Each user file is the full profile JSON returned by `users.profile.get`. The Slack ID is embedded after `__` in directory and file names so you can extract it for the resource-specific commands without an extra lookup.

## Shell commands

Every standard MIRAGE shell command works on the mounted Slack tree:

| Command         | Notes                                      |
| --------------- | ------------------------------------------ |
| `ls`            | List channels, DMs, users, dates           |
| `cat`           | Read `chat.jsonl`, user `.json`, or files  |
| `head` / `tail` | First/last N lines                         |
| `grep` / `rg`   | Pattern search (file or directory level)   |
| `jq`            | Query JSON; use `.[]` prefix for JSONL     |
| `wc`            | Line/word/byte counts                      |
| `stat`          | File metadata (name, size, type)           |
| `find`          | Recursive search with `-name`, `-maxdepth` |
| `tree`          | Directory tree view                        |
| `pwd` / `cd`    | Navigate the virtual tree                  |
| `echo` (glob)   | Glob expansion via `resolve_glob`          |

Acting on Slack (sending, reacting, pins, member info, search) goes
through the [slack CLI](/typescript/cli/slack) when installed; the
mounted tree stays read-oriented.

## Troubleshooting

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="`not_allowed_token_type` on slack search / rg /slack/">
    `search.messages` requires a **user token** (`xoxp-…`) with `search:read` scope. Set `searchToken` on the `SlackConfig`:

    ```ts
    new SlackResource({
      token: process.env.SLACK_BOT_TOKEN!,
      searchToken: process.env.SLACK_USER_TOKEN,
    })
    ```

    Without it, workspace-scope `rg` and `slack search` fail; channel-scope `rg` (e.g. `rg foo /slack/channels/general__C…/`) still works since it streams the JSONL files directly.
  </Accordion>
  <Accordion title="CORS error in browser">
    The browser cannot call `https://slack.com/api/*` directly, Slack does not set permissive CORS headers. You must run the proxy server shown above (or your own equivalent) and point `proxyUrl` at it.
  </Accordion>
  <Accordion title="`rate_limited` from Slack">
    `SlackResource` uses an `IndexCacheStore` (default TTL 600s) to deduplicate channel / user / date listings, but high-volume reads of `.jsonl` files can still hit Slack's per-method rate limits. Cache hits avoid the API entirely; tune `indexTtl` if your workspace changes slowly. Per [Slack docs](https://api.slack.com/docs/rate-limits), Tier 3 methods like `conversations.history` allow ~50 requests / minute / workspace.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Examples

- [`examples/typescript/slack/slack.ts`](https://github.com/strukto-ai/mirage/blob/main/examples/typescript/slack/slack.ts), shell commands against `/slack/` (`ls`, `cat`, `grep`, `jq`, `tree`, `find`, `cd`, glob).
- [`examples/typescript/slack/slack_vfs.ts`](https://github.com/strukto-ai/mirage/blob/main/examples/typescript/slack/slack_vfs.ts), `patchNodeFs(ws)` so native `node:fs` calls route through the workspace.
- [`examples/typescript/slack/slack_fuse.ts`](https://github.com/strukto-ai/mirage/blob/main/examples/typescript/slack/slack_fuse.ts), FUSE-mount the workspace so external processes can browse `/slack/` as a real filesystem.
- [`examples/typescript/slack/slack_browser/`](https://github.com/strukto-ai/mirage/tree/main/examples/typescript/slack/slack_browser), proxy server + `@struktoai/mirage-browser` SlackResource demo.

See [Python Slack Resource](/python/resource/slack) for the equivalent Python wiring.
