Daxiang Slack

Slack Automation

Interact with Slack workspaces to check messages, extract data, and automate common tasks.

Quick Start

Connect to an existing Slack browser session or open Slack:

# Connect to existing session on port 9222 (typical for already-open Slack)
agent-browser connect 9222
Or open Slack if not already running
agent-browser open https://app.slack.com

Then take a snapshot to see what's available:

agent-browser snapshot -i

Core Workflow

1. Connect/Navigate: Open or connect to Slack 2. Snapshot: Get interactive elements with refs (@e1, @e2, etc.) 3. Navigate: Click tabs, expand sections, or navigate to specific channels 4. Extract/Interact: Read data or perform actions 5. Screenshot: Capture evidence of findings

# Example: Check unread channels
agent-browser connect 9222
agent-browser snapshot -i
Look for "More unreads" button
agent-browser click @e21  # Ref for "More unreads" button
agent-browser screenshot slack-unreads.png

Common Tasks

Checking Unread Messages

# Connect to Slack
agent-browser connect 9222
Take snapshot to locate unreads button
agent-browser snapshot -i
Look for:
- "More unreads" button (usually near top of sidebar)
- "Unreads" toggle in Activity tab (shows unread count)
- Channel names with badges/bold text indicating unreads
Navigate to Activity tab to see all unreads in one view
agent-browser click @e14  # Activity tab (ref may vary)
agent-browser wait 1000
agent-browser screenshot activity-unreads.png
Or check DMs tab
agent-browser click @e13  # DMs tab
agent-browser screenshot dms.png
Or expand "More unreads" in sidebar
agent-browser click @e21  # More unreads button
agent-browser wait 500
agent-browser screenshot expanded-unreads.png

Navigating to a Channel

# Search for channel in sidebar or by name
agent-browser snapshot -i
Look for channel name in the list (e.g., "engineering", "product-design")
Click on the channel treeitem ref
agent-browser click @e94  # Example: engineering channel ref
agent-browser wait --load networkidle
agent-browser screenshot channel.png

Finding Messages/Threads

# Use Slack search
agent-browser snapshot -i
agent-browser click @e5  # Search button (typical ref)
agent-browser fill @e_search "keyword"
agent-browser press Enter
agent-browser wait --load networkidle
agent-browser screenshot search-results.png

Extracting Channel Information

# Get list of all visible channels
agent-browser snapshot --json > slack-snapshot.json
Parse for channel names and metadata
Look for treeitem elements with level=2 (sub-channels under sections)

Checking Channel Details

# Open a channel
agent-browser click @e_channel_ref
agent-browser wait 1000
Get channel info (members, description, etc.)
agent-browser snapshot -i
agent-browser screenshot channel-details.png
Scroll through messages
agent-browser scroll down 500
agent-browser screenshot channel-messages.png

Taking Notes/Capturing State

When you need to document findings from Slack:

# Take annotated screenshot (shows element numbers)
agent-browser screenshot --annotate slack-state.png
Take full-page screenshot
agent-browser screenshot --full slack-full.png
Get current URL for reference
agent-browser get url
Get page title
agent-browser get title

Sidebar Structure

Understanding Slack's sidebar helps you navigate efficiently:

- Threads
Huddles
Drafts & sent
Directories
[Section Headers - External connections, Starred, Channels, etc.]
  - [Channels listed as treeitems]
Direct Messages
  - [DMs listed]
Apps
  - [App shortcuts]
[More unreads] button (toggles unread channels list)

Key refs to look for:

Tabs in Slack

After clicking on a channel, you'll see tabs:

Click tab refs to switch views and get different information.

Extracting Data from Slack

Get Text Content

# Get a message or element's text
agent-browser get text @e_message_ref

Parse Accessibility Tree

# Full snapshot as JSON for programmatic parsing
agent-browser snapshot --json > output.json
Look for:
- Channel names (name field in treeitem)
- Message content (in listitem/document elements)
- User names (button elements with user info)
- Timestamps (link elements with time info)

Count Unreads

# After expanding unreads section:
agent-browser snapshot -i | grep -c "treeitem"
Each treeitem with a channel name in the unreads section is one unread

Best Practices

Limitations

Debugging

Check console for errors

agent-browser console
agent-browser errors

View raw HTML of an element

# Snapshot shows the accessibility tree. If an element isn't there,
it may not be interactive (e.g., div instead of button)
Use snapshot -i -C to include cursor-interactive divs
agent-browser snapshot -i -C

Get current page state

agent-browser get url
agent-browser get title
agent-browser screenshot page-state.png

Example: Full Unread Check

#!/bin/bash
Connect to Slack
agent-browser connect 9222
Take initial snapshot
echo "=== Checking Slack unreads ==="
agent-browser snapshot -i > snapshot.txt
Check Activity tab for unreads
agent-browser click @e14  # Activity tab
agent-browser wait 1000
agent-browser screenshot activity.png
ACTIVITY_RESULT=$(agent-browser get text @e_main_area)
echo "Activity: $ACTIVITY_RESULT"
Check DMs
agent-browser click @e13  # DMs tab
agent-browser wait 1000
agent-browser screenshot dms.png
Check unread channels in sidebar
agent-browser click @e21  # More unreads button
agent-browser wait 500
agent-browser snapshot -i > unreads-expanded.txt
agent-browser screenshot unreads.png
Summary
echo "=== Summary ==="
echo "See activity.png, dms.png, and unreads.png for full details"

References

Connect to an existing Slack browser session or open Slack:

# Connect to existing session on port 9222 (typical for already-open Slack)
agent-browser connect 9222
Or open Slack if not already running
agent-browser open https://app.slack.com

Then take a snapshot to see what's available:

agent-browser snapshot -i