How to configure Slack for OpenClaw

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OpenClaw can integrate with Slack to send and receive messages, react to updates, pin important notes, and automate workflows. This turns OpenClaw into a Slack bot or listener.

Follow the steps below or watch the full video tutorial.

Video Walkthrough

Prerequisites

A Slack workspace (free tier works)

Admin access to create and install apps (or ask your workspace admin)

OpenClaw installed and running

Basic CLI familiarity (we’ll use openclaw commands)

Step 1: Create a Slack app

Go to api.slack.com/apps and sign in.

Click Create New App → From scratch.

Name it something like OpenClaw Bot and select your workspace.

Click Create App.

Step 2: Enable Socket Mode

OpenClaw typically connects to Slack using Socket Mode, which avoids needing a public webhook server.

In your Slack app dashboard, open Socket Mode.

Turn Enable Socket Mode ON.

Go to Basic Information.

Scroll to App-Level Tokens.

Click Generate Token and Scopes.

Enter a Token Name.

Add the scope connections:write.

You’ll receive an App Token that looks like xapp-.... Save it.

Step 3: Configure bot permissions (OAuth scopes)

In your Slack app, go to OAuth & Permissions → Bot Token Scopes and add:

chat:write (send messages)

app_mentions:read (read mentions)

channels:read (access channels)

reactions:write (add emoji reactions)

pins:write (pin/unpin messages)

im:write (DM users)

users:read (member info)

im:history (respond in direct messages)

Optional:

files:write (attachments)

files:write (attachments). Note: Slack's search:read scope is user-token only and cannot be added as a Bot Token Scope; OpenClaw's recommended manifest does not require it.

Step 4: Install the app to your workspace

Go to OAuth & Permissions.

Click Install App to Workspace.

Approve the permissions.

After installation, you’ll receive a Bot User OAuth Token that looks like xoxb-.... Save it.

Step 5: Subscribe to events

In your Slack app, go to Event Subscriptions:

Enable events.

Under Subscribe to bot events, add the events you want the bot to receive.

Common choices:

app_mention

message.channels

message.groups

message.im

message.mpim

reaction_added

reaction_removed

pin_added

pin_removed

member_joined_channel

member_left_channel

channel_rename

Also enable App Home → Messages Tab for DMs, and check Allow users to send Slash commands and messages from the messages tab.

Step 6: Configure OpenClaw

Add the Slack tokens to your instance configuration.

Go to the Agent37 dashboard.

Create an instance (or open an existing one).

Open Terminal.

Edit your OpenClaw config (~/.openclaw/openclaw.json, create if missing):

{
  "channels": {
    "slack": {
      "enabled": true,
      "appToken": "xapp-your-app-token",
      "botToken": "xoxb-your-bot-token"
    }
  }
}

Alternatively, set the values via CLI:

openclaw config set channels.slack.appToken "xapp-your-app-token"
openclaw config set channels.slack.botToken "xoxb-your-bot-token"

Step 7: Restart the OpenClaw gateway

On an Agent 37 instance the gateway is already running and supervised, so there is nothing to start. To apply the new Slack config, restart the instance from the Agent 37 dashboard.

Step 8: Test the integration

In Slack, open a DM with the OpenClaw Bot.

Send Hello.

If set up correctly, the bot should reply with a pairing code.

In the instance terminal, execute the below command with pairing code.

openclaw pairing approve slack <code>

Once approved, that Slack DM is authorized and the bot will respond normally.

How to Configure Slack for OpenClaw