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The Slack agent template is a runnable TypeScript starter for building custom Slack bots that call external APIs through Agent Vault. Use it when you want the Slack runtime, Agent Vault wiring, and tool-registration pattern in place before adding your own service-specific tools.

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What’s included

  • Slack Socket Mode bot for app mentions and DMs
  • Thread transcript context
  • Claude Agent SDK runtime
  • Local MCP-style tool registration
  • Optional Slack email allowlist
  • Dockerfile that starts the agent through agent-vault run
  • Two starter tools: echo and a constrained read-only HTTP API example
  • Mocked tests for the included tools
The template intentionally does not ship GitHub, Linear, Notion, or write-action tools. Different agents need different access. Add only the tools your agent needs.

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Copy the template

Clone Agent Vault, then copy the example into a new project:

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Configure the agent

Edit .env:
For local development without Agent Vault, you can use throwaway development credentials. For shared, hosted, or production environments, use placeholders and store the real values in Agent Vault.

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Create the Slack app

  1. Create a Slack app from slack-app-manifest.json.
  2. Enable Socket Mode.
  3. Create an app-level token with connections:write.
  4. Install the app to your workspace.
  5. Set SLACK_BOT_TOKEN and SLACK_APP_TOKEN.
The manifest enables the App Home messages tab so people can DM the agent directly.

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Run locally

Try the CLI harness:
Run the Slack bot:

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Run through Agent Vault

For hosted deployments, store real credentials in Agent Vault and pass placeholders to the agent process:
The included Dockerfile copies the Agent Vault CLI into the image and starts:
agent-vault run configures proxy and CA environment variables for the child process. Your tools should call normal upstream URLs and let Agent Vault inject credentials at the proxy boundary.

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Add your own tools

Start from src/tools/example-api.ts, then replace it with service-specific tools. Good tools are narrow:
  • define structured inputs with Zod
  • validate IDs, paths, and enum values before making requests
  • call real upstream URLs with normal HTTP clients
  • never accept raw credentials as tool input
  • return compact Slack-readable text
  • include mocked tests
For larger integrations, group files by service:
Register new tools in src/agent.ts.

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Build with a coding agent

The template is designed to be extended agentically. Give a coding agent a concrete service, access level, and test expectation:
For write workflows, require drafts or explicit confirmation:

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Verify changes