Bolt for JavaScript (TypeScript) Template App

This is a generic Bolt for JavaScript (TypeScript) template app used to build out Slack apps.

Before getting started, make sure you have a development workspace where you have permissions to install apps. If you don’t have one setup, go ahead and create one.

Installation

Create a Slack App

1. Open https://api.slack.com/apps/new and choose "From an app manifest"
2. Choose the workspace you want to install the application to
3. Copy the contents of manifest.json into the text box that says *Paste your manifest code here* (within the JSON tab) and click Next
4. Review the configuration and click Create
5. Click Install to Workspace and Allow on the screen that follows. You'll then be redirected to the App Configuration dashboard.

Environment Variables

Before you can run the app, you'll need to store some environment variables.

1. Copy env.sample to .env
2. Open your apps configuration page from this list, click OAuth & Permissions in the left hand menu, then copy the Bot User OAuth Token into your .env file under SLACK_BOT_TOKEN
3. Click Basic Information from the left hand menu, scroll to App Credentials and copy the Signing Secret into your .env as SLACK_SIGNING_SECRET

Slack App Settings (HTTP Mode)

This app uses HTTP mode (not Socket Mode). After deployment, configure the following in your Slack App Settings:

1. Event Subscriptions: Enable and set Request URL to https://your-domain.com/slack/events
2. Interactivity & Shortcuts: Enable and set Request URL to https://your-domain.com/slack/events
3. Slash Commands: For each command, set the Request URL to https://your-domain.com/slack/events

Production URL: https://dk4084wg0ocg88048cgk44o4.apps.dx.tools/slack/events

Install Dependencies

pnpm install

Run Bolt Server

pnpm start

Project Structure

manifest.json

manifest.json is a configuration for Slack apps. With a manifest, you can create an app with a pre-defined configuration, or adjust the configuration of an existing app.

app.ts

app.ts is the entry point for the application and is the file you'll run to start the server. This project aims to keep this file as thin as possible, primarily using it as a way to route inbound requests.

/listeners

Every incoming request is routed to a "listener". Inside this directory, we group each listener based on the Slack Platform feature used, so /listeners/shortcuts handles incoming Shortcuts requests, /listeners/views handles View submissions and so on.

Local Development

For local development, you need a public URL to receive Slack events. Use localtunnel:

pnpm run proxy

This will output a forwarding URL like:

your url is: https://little-bananas-check.loca.lt

Then temporarily update the Request URLs in your Slack App Settings to use this tunnel URL (e.g., https://little-bananas-check.loca.lt/slack/events).