How to Create a Slack Bot: A Beginner’s Guide
If you are looking for an efficient way to automate simple tasks or even engage your team in an active, interactive, and fun experience? Look no further than Slack bots, they have revolutionized automation and streamlined mundane tasks. With the help of Slack bots, you can easily and effectively respond to user messages, give answers to FAQs, create helpful reminders and so much more.
If you're beginner to developing a Slack bot, don't worry, it is easier than it seems. In this quick guide, we will walk you through the basics of creating a Slack bot.
Part 1: What are Slack Bots?
Slack bots are AI-powered chatbots that are very helpful in streamlining and automating workflow. They can handle a wide variety of tasks and are customizable too. They can instantly provide support to manage conversations and can complete automated tasks. Slack bots offer a user-friendly way to interact with your team and this is possible due to its ability to understand commands of natural language and respond accordingly.
You have the privilege of integrating your Slack bot with many popular services like Salesforce, Dropbox, and Zendesk. This means they can access data stored in external systems and allow users to complete routine tasks without needing to leave their chat window. What's more? Well, with the help of an advanced AI algorithm, your Slack bot can even interpret and respond to voice commands!
How do Slack Bots Work?
Now that we've understood what Slack bots are and what they are capable of, here’s how they work. Slack bots are developed in a way that they detect events initiated by users and then respond to them accordingly. When a user initiates a conversation with the Slack bot, a message or action is delivered to the bot via the Slack API.
Then, as per the defined algorithm, the bot processes the information or message and then responds appropriately. In response, the Slack bot can either send out notifications, create tasks, schedule meetings, or provide data that has been requested by the user.
Part 2: What Can I Do with a Slack Bot?
Here in this section, we're going to explore various scenarios and cases in which you can effectively make use of them after creating a Slack bot.
1. Automated notifications and reminders
With Slack bots, you can effectively schedule automated reminders and notifications to your team, eventually, keeping them efficient and productive. Moreover, this will help you to quickly deliver important information unfiltered and that too, without manual intervention.
2. Task and project management
With Slack bots, you can effectively streamline tasks and project management. Moreover, you can easily assign tasks to team members, set deadlines, manage workflows, and respond quickly to inquiries. Furthermore, you can even automatically receive progress reports or organize important files and docs.
3. Integration with external services and APIs
With Slack bots, you can effectively integrate external services and APIs, ultimately increasing efficiency in the workplace. In other words, you can program the bot as per your need be it for project management, data analysis, customer service, or other areas. For example, a bot could be used to track time spent on individual tasks and projects, etc.
4. Customized chat interactions and workflows
When it comes to chat interactions, you can even program the Slack bots for customized chat responses. With a Slack bot, you can quickly create custom actions for your team to follow and ensure that tasks are completed efficiently. For instance, you can develop a Slack bot to provide proactive help to customers and lead them through the purchase process.
Part 3: How to Create Slack Bot in 9 Steps?
1 Slack app Creation
To start with, you have to register Slackbot app. When done, head to “Settings” > “Settings & Administration” > “Manage Apps”. Look at the navigation bar and click “Build”. Hit on “Create an App” now.
2 Configure your Slackbot
Now, give a name to your app, say “Hourly Reminder” and hit “Create App”.
Then, you have to configure the app’s permissions. For that, click on “Oauth & Permissions”.
After that, look for the “Scopes” option and check the “chat: write” scope. With Scopes, you can limit the API features that the bot can employ. There are multiple scopes with Slack API but we are taking “chat: write” as an example because we are sending messages to a public chat.
As the next step, generate a new bot oauth token and copy it for later.
Now, head to “Install to workspace”. The Slackbot will appear on the workspace. Add the bot to a channel, for example, a “general” channel. For this, click “Channel” > “Settings” > “Integrations” > “Apps” > “Add apps” > Select your bot.
3 Slack API Endpoint Testing
To interact with Slack API, you need to go for an HTTP request to the API endpoint. Now, post a message to the channel you decided in the previous step. Look at the command given below and execute:
curl \
-X POST \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer " \
-d '{"channel": "general", "text": "test"}' \
Once done, set up your python web server.
4 Python web server Setup
Now, you need to host the programming logic/algorithm in a web server. This will help the bot to understand how it needs to work and what should be done.
For the demonstration, we’re making use of Napkin’s server-less platform which is free. This will help us to build and deploy the code without configuring our web server and that too, in less than a minute.
After creating an account, add a new project by hitting “New Function” followed by selecting Python as the runtime language.
Now, add a module to your Dev environment by tapping the “Modules” tab, searching for “requests” and hitting the “Download” icon.
5 Send custom responses to Slack
It’s time to do coding. Send a message to the Slack API with the help of the request library. The message will be sent in the form of an HTTP request. Three variables, ‘a bot token’, ‘the API endpoint’, and ‘a message’ are needed for this. Checkout the following:
slackbot_token = "
url = 'https://slack.com/api/chat.postMessage'
message = "sent from Napkin"
Now, combine the elements:
import requests
slackbot_token = "
url = 'https://slack.com/api/chat.postMessage'
message = "sent from Napkin"
requests.post(
URL,
headers={
"Content-Type":"application/json",
"Authorization": "Bearer " + slackbot_token
},
json={
"channel": "general",
"text": message
}
)
Now, the fact that authentication token must be sent to an Authorization header, and for that, a “Content-type” header is added. This tells Slack that the HTTP request contains JSON data. As per Slack API, you will require 2 JSON fields: a channel defined by an ID number or a name, and a text.
Next, you need to add the Slack bot to the channel to enable it to send messages. Luckily, we have already added an Hourly Reminder “in Step 2” to the general channel. Then, hit the “Run” button available on the right top corner of the Napkin to test the function.
6 Write the business logic
Now, to ensure that the reminder is being sent every hour, we must display the time along with the message. For instance: “Remember to drink water.”. For this, you need to import the “DateTime” library of Python to display the current date and time. Here’s what you need to do:
from datetime import datetime
clock = datetime.now().strftime("%d/%m/%Y %H:%M:%S")
message = “It's " + clock + ", remember to drink water."
This will bring the following results to you:
7 Set environment variables
Apart from date and time, you also need to have a secure environment variable. For that, head to the “Others” tab > “Environment Variables” and then hit on “Add”.
Then enter the following command in the environment variable. You can access it via the “os” library with the getenv method.
import os
slackbot_token = os.getenv("SLACKBOT_TOKEN")
message = "It's " + now + ", remember to drink water SECURELY."
8 Send a reminder every hour
To check if the initial objective to send the reminder every hour is being completed, you need to ensure the Cloud function is executed once every hour. Therefore, for this to happen, usually a cron job is set up to run code on a timely basis. But since we are making use of Napkin for demonstration, you can simply hit the “Schedule” button on the code editor.
9 Protecting your endpoint
Lastly, to protect your server endpoint so that Cloud functions are not run by someone else or any malicious activity, head to the “Other” tab and turn on the “API Authentication” feature.
That’s it. Now, if someone else visits the URL of your Cloud function, it will result in an error. Therefore, no untrusted request can be executed without your knowledge using your Cloud function. It will only work if your API key is added to the header of every HTTP request.
curl
$ {"message": "Unauthorized"}
Part 4: Best Tips for Customizing Slack Bot
1. Customize Slack’s Personality
In Slackbot, you can add custom characters and responses to create more fun.
Configuring Slackbot responses includes:
- Visit my.slack.com/customize/slackbot.
- Tap on + Add new response.
- Type and input in the textbox under the column When someone says.
- Type and input in the textbox under the column Slackbot responds.
- Now, just click on “Save response”.
2. Keep Your Team Engaged
While talking about the customizations, there is a “Loading messages” section that can help you enhance your Slack experience with the customized messages. These will help you build collaboration and connection across your team. To do that, simply head to “my.slack.com/customize/loading” and enter the desired message in the text box field. Now, click on “Add Message”,
3. Enhance Your Conversations
Instead of words, let your emotions and ideas shine through with the power of emojis. Slack provides a great collection of emoji using which you can have more engaging and fun conversations. To add even more personalization, create your very own custom emoji by visiting the 'my.slack.com/customize/emoji' page. Type in a name for the emoji and upload the corresponding image, then hit 'Save New Emoji'. Your custom icon is now available for teammates to use, just look under the 'Custom' tab in the emoji menu.
4. Increase Productivity
To avoid a cluttered sidebar, you can adjust the channel list settings in your Slack window. From the Team Menu, navigate to Preferences > Advanced Options and select an appropriate option from the drop-down list. Additionally, you can customize your sidebar with one of Slack's vibrant pre-made themes or a personalized color palette. Simply go to the Team Menu > Preferences > Sidebar Theme and choose an option. Once you have completed these steps, click Done to save your changes.
5. Stop Switching Between Apps
With Slack, you can effortlessly integrate apps, services, or tools with your existing workplace. This will enhance productivity among your team. With integrations, you can seamlessly pull data from beyond the walls of Slack into an easily searchable single platform. Here is how you can get started:
- Head over to your Team Menu (or visit my.slack.com/integrations).
- Select 'Configure Integrations'.
- Locate the app or service you want to connect to and click 'View'.
- Type and input in the textbox under the column Slackbot responds.
- Follow the instructions based on each app or service.
Part 5: How to Get the Most from Slackbot at Work
Tips and recommendations for creating robust and user-friendly Slack bots:
1 Tracking down the office Wi-Fi
When the requirement for an office Wi-Fi network arises, words such as 'guest Wi-Fi' or 'Wi-Fi password' often punctuate the conversation. To streamline this process and save time in these scenarios, Slackbot can be arranged to promptly convey the required information. By capitalizing on the automation potential of today's technology, users can swiftly access the relevant network with minimal effort. This solution is indeed helpful for the ones who are seeking connectivity.
2 Rarely used – yet infinitely valuable – reference materials
Teams may consider customizing Slack with distinct symbols helping users with instantaneous access to vital resources. For example, a special command could post the exact URL for one's staging server, the current layout of the office, and all approved company colors. In addition, some phone systems necessitate particular codes for making long-distance calls or retrieving messages.
3 Light reminders about workplace language
When disrespectful language is a concern, it provides a timely reminder of that too. There is an assurance that the conversations remain respectful and courteous.
When your company undertakes a rebranding exercise, Slackbot can reinforce the new terminology and keep everyone on the same page.
4 Funny and delightful responses
Slackbot offers a range of creative, interactive features that add an element of fun and surprise to any workspace. From providing instantaneous head-or-tails answers to coinflips, rolling a die, picking cards, and responding to random queries with preset responses, the possibilities are almost endless.
Wrapping Up
So, we discussed a lot about Slackbot today and understood how it helps in making communication simpler. Apart from that, it helps in automating tasks as well as connecting team members in a simplified manner. Using the guide above, you can have your own Slack bot too, and avail the benefits of a connected workplace. So let your creative side loose and build a chatbot tailored to fit the unique needs of your business.
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