clacks

Control Slack from your command line

Installation

Recommended - install globally with uv (best for use with coding agents like Claude Code, Cursor):

uv tool install slack-clacks

Alternative - run directly without installation:

uvx --from slack-clacks clacks

Alternative - works with pip, poetry, or any package manager:

pip install slack-clacks

Authentication

Authenticate via OAuth:

clacks auth login -c <context-name>

Authentication Modes

clacks supports three authentication modes:

clacks mode (default): Full workspace access via OAuth

clacks auth login --mode clacks

Permissions: channels, groups, DMs, MPIMs, files, search

clacks-lite mode: Secure, DM-focused access via OAuth

clacks auth login --mode clacks-lite

Permissions: DMs, MPIMs, reactions only

cookie mode: Browser session authentication

clacks auth login --mode cookie

Extract xoxc token and d cookie from browser. No OAuth app needed. See docs/cookie-auth.md for extraction instructions.

Use clacks-lite for security-conscious environments where channel access isn't needed. Use cookie mode for quick testing or when OAuth is impractical. Operations requiring unavailable scopes will fail with a clear error message and re-authentication instructions.

OAuth requires HTTPS. Generate a self-signed certificate:

clacks auth cert generate

View current authentication status:

clacks auth status

Revoke authentication:

clacks auth logout

Configuration

Multiple authentication contexts supported. Initialize configuration:

clacks config init

List available contexts:

clacks config contexts

Switch between contexts:

clacks config switch -C <context-name>

View current configuration:

clacks config info

Messaging

Send

Send to channel:

clacks send -c "#general" -m "message text"
clacks send -c "C123456" -m "message text"

Send direct message:

clacks send -u "@username" -m "message text"
clacks send -u "U123456" -m "message text"

Reply to thread:

clacks send -c "#general" -m "reply text" -t "1234567890.123456"

Read

Read messages from channel:

clacks read -c "#general"
clacks read -c "#general" -l 50

Read direct messages:

clacks read -u "@username"

Read thread:

clacks read -c "#general" -t "1234567890.123456"

Read specific message:

clacks read -c "#general" -m "1234567890.123456"

Recent

View recent messages across all conversations:

clacks recent
clacks recent -l 50

Output

All commands output JSON to stdout. Redirect to file:

clacks auth status -o output.json

Requirements

• Python >= 3.13
• Slack workspace admin approval for OAuth app installation