Find Slack messages, files, channels, and people by choosing search terms and filters. Follow relevant results into threads and surrounding conversations to understand the context, with guidance on private searches and recent messages.
Guidance for effectively searching Slack to find messages, files, channels, and people
Review the instructions the agent will receive before you install.
This skill provides guidance for effectively searching Slack to find messages, files, and information.
Apply this skill whenever you need to find information in Slack — including when a user asks you to locate messages, conversations, files, or people, or when you need to gather context before answering a question about what's happening in Slack.
| Tool | Use When |
|---|---|
slack_search_public | Searching public channels only. Does not require user consent. |
slack_search_public_and_private | Searching all channels including private, DMs, and group DMs. Requires user consent. |
slack_search_channels | Finding channels by name or description. |
slack_search_users | Finding people by name, email, or role. |
in:, from:, date ranges).project X deadline) — Best for finding specific, exact content.Don't rely on a single search. Break complex questions into smaller searches:
in:channel-name — Search within a specific channelin:<#C123456> — Search in channel by ID-in:channel-name — Exclude a channelin:<@U123456> — Search in DMs with a userfrom:<@U123456> — Messages from a specific user (by ID)from:username — Messages from a user (by Slack username)to:me — Messages sent directly to youis:thread — Only threaded messageshas:pin — Pinned messageshas:link — Messages containing linkshas:file — Messages with file attachmentshas::emoji: — Messages with a specific reactionbefore:YYYY-MM-DD — Messages before a dateafter:YYYY-MM-DD — Messages after a dateon:YYYY-MM-DD — Messages on a specific dateduring:month — Messages during a specific month (e.g., during:january)"exact phrase" — Match an exact phrase-word — Exclude messages containing a wordwild* — Wildcard matching (minimum 3 characters before *)To search for files, use the content_types="files" parameter with type filters:
type:images — Image filestype:documents — Document filestype:pdfs — PDF filestype:spreadsheets — Spreadsheet filestype:canvases — Slack CanvasesExample: content_types="files" type:pdfs budget after:2025-01-01
After finding relevant messages:
slack_read_thread to get the full thread context for any threaded message.slack_read_channel with oldest/latest timestamps to read surrounding messages for context.slack_read_user_profile to identify who a user is when their ID appears in results.AND, OR, NOT are not supported. Use spaces (implicit AND) and - for exclusion.().slack_read_channel for the most recent messages.slack_search_public_and_private when you need to include private channels, but note this requires user consent.No reviews yet. Tell others what you thought.
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