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Connect Slack to Realm in two ways:
  • Slack data source: sync Slack messages, threads, and files so they are searchable in Realm.
  • Slack app only: use Realm from Slack without syncing Slack messages into Realm knowledge.
Navigate to Settings > Data sources to connect Slack.

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Connect Slack as a data source

Use the Slack data source when you want Realm to search Slack messages and files as part of your knowledge base. Click Connect on the Slack data source page. You’ll see two connection modes: After selecting a mode, you’ll be redirected to Slack’s OAuth consent screen. Review the permissions and click Allow. The person connecting must be a Slack workspace admin.
Slack OAuth consent screen showing the permissions Realm requests

Slack OAuth consent screen

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Connect Slack without syncing knowledge

Use the Slack App option when you want people to ask Realm questions from Slack, but you do not want Realm to sync Slack messages as knowledge.
1

Open Data sources

Go to Settings > Data sources.
2

Find Other integrations

Scroll to Other integrations.
3

Install Slack App

Click Install on Slack App.
4

Approve in Slack

Review the Slack permissions and click Allow. The person installing must be a Slack workspace admin.
This installs Realm in Slack without starting Slack message sync. Team members can mention @Realm, use DMs, and use the Slack app sidebar. For usage details, see Slack app.

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What gets synced

By default, Realm syncs messages from public channels and any private channels where the Realm Slack App has been added. To add Realm to a private channel, tag @Realm in the channel.

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Permissions

Realm mirrors Slack’s permission settings. Users can only see messages from channels they have access to in Slack. You can override this by switching to “Everyone in this organization” on the data source settings page, which makes all synced Slack data visible to all Realm users.

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Slack message history

Realm syncs historical messages via the Slack API, but due to rate limits this is very slow. Uploading a Slack workspace export is the recommended way to import your full message history.

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Exporting from Slack

1

Open Slack workspace settings

As a Slack workspace admin, click Admin in the sidebar, then select Workspace settings > Security.
2

Start an export

Click Import & export data, then select the Export tab. Choose a date range and click Start export. See Slack’s export guide for details on what’s included per Slack plan.
3

Download the export

Slack will send you an email when the export is ready. Download the ZIP file.

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Uploading to Realm

On the Slack data source page, scroll to Slack Message History and upload the ZIP file. The maximum file size is 10 GB. If your export is larger, perform multiple exports with different date ranges. A progress indicator will show the upload and processing status.

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Import privacy settings

Use the Import privacy settings dropdown to control which messages are imported: Past imports are listed below with their status (synced, sync in progress, sync failed).

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Slack AI app view

To use Realm in Slack’s AI app view, you need to enable AI apps in your Slack workspace settings. See Slack’s instructions for displaying AI apps and the Slack App page for more details.
Realm app shown in the Slack assistants sidebar

Realm in the Slack assistants sidebar

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Noise reduction

Slack can be a noisy data source. To keep results relevant, Realm:
  • Ignores threads with only bot messages and no human replies
  • Ranks archived channels lower in search results
  • Ranks very short messages lower in search results

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Required scopes

im:history, im:read, im:write, chat:write, chat:write.customize, app_mentions:read, reactions:write, channels:read, groups:read, team:read, assistant:write, users:read, users:read.email
channels:history, channels:read, files:read, pins:read, reactions:read, team:read, users:read, users:read.email, im:history, im:read, chat:write, chat:write.customize, app_mentions:read, reactions:write, groups:read, assistant:write, mpim:history, mpim:read, groups:history
channels:history, channels:read, files:read, pins:read, reactions:read, team:read, users:read, users:read.email, search:read

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Using Realm in Slack

Once connected, team members can interact with Realm directly in Slack. For usage details, see the User guide: Slack app.

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Slack Connect channels

Slack Connect channels (shared with external organizations) are not synced by default. You can configure this:

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Public channel answer mode

Controls how Realm responds when mentioned in public channels (or private channels where the bot has been added): If users report that an agent answer says “Only visible to you” and must be shared manually, the workspace is using Preview mode. Switch this setting to Share to post answers directly to Slack threads.

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Restrict bot to configured channels

Slack restrict mentions toggle

Slack settings

When Restrict mentions to assistant channels is enabled, the Realm bot will only respond to mentions in Slack channels where an assistant is specifically configured. In all other channels, the bot will ignore mentions. When disabled, the bot responds to mentions in any channel it has been added to.
This setting applies to all agents in your organization. Individual agents cannot override it.