Slack permissions,
in plain English.
When you install a Slack app, you approve a list of permissions. Slack has two kinds. Bot permissions act as the app's own bot, so its posts are labeled as the app. User permissions act as you, so anything it posts or changes looks like you did it yourself.
- Send messages
Lets the agent post, edit, schedule, and delete messages in Slack. With a bot token, messages come from the app. With a user token, they look like they came from you. - Post in any public channel
Lets the app post in public channels even if nobody added it there. Bot token only, and it only works together with chat:write. - Post under a custom name and picture
Lets the app post messages with a different display name and profile picture than its own. Bot token only, and it needs chat:write too. - Read public channel messages
Lets the agent read messages and threads in public channels. With a bot token, only channels the app was added to. With a user token, every public channel in the workspace. - Read private channel messages
Lets the agent read messages and threads in private channels. With a bot token, only private channels it was invited to. With a user token, the private channels you are in. - Read direct messages
Lets the agent read direct messages. With a bot token, that means DMs with the app. With a user token, it can read your own private DMs. - Search the whole workspace (user token)
Lets the agent search messages and files across the workspace, acting as you. User token only. Slack calls this a legacy permission and suggests narrower search permissions instead. - Search public channels
Lets an AI app search messages and files in public channels to answer questions. Works with a bot token or a user token. - View and download shared files
Lets the agent see and download files shared in the channels and conversations the app has been added to, so it can read what is inside them. - Upload, edit, and delete files
Lets the agent upload files, edit them, and delete them. With a user token it can also turn on a public link to a file. A bot token can only remove public links. - See people in the workspace
Lets the agent see the list of people in your workspace, their profile details, and whether they are online. - See everyone's email address
Lets the agent see the email address of every person in the workspace and find people by email. It must be requested together with users:read. - Create and manage public channels (bot)
Lets the app create public channels and manage the ones it has been added to, including renaming, archiving, and removing people. Bot token only. - Manage public channels as you (user token)
Lets the agent create, rename, archive, join, and leave public channels, and remove people, all acting as you. User token only. - Start direct messages
Lets the agent open a direct message conversation with people in the workspace. Posting the message itself also needs chat:write. - Workspace admin (user token)
A special admin permission. If a workspace admin who is allowed to grant it installs the app, it can see sign-in logs and which members are billable, and manage member accounts through Slack's user management (SCIM) API. User token only. Slack says this is not a complete list of what it allows.
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This page explains what a permission allows. It does not describe, test or rate any product. Permission details are summarized in our own words from the provider's documentation, linked on the page; providers change their documentation, so check the source before you rely on a detail.