Reads
- Search public and private messages, channels, threads, and files your Slack account can see
- Read channel history and full threads
- Look up people and read user profiles and canvases
Claude and Slack: three ways to use them together
There are three ways to use Claude with Slack. Slack’s official connector lets Claude search, read, and send Slack messages from inside Claude. Claude Tag puts @Claude in your Slack channels on Team and Enterprise plans (public beta). Developers can also reach Slack’s MCP server from Claude Code. Each needs your Slack admin to approve the app.
Which way fits
They aren’t rivals. Most teams that use one end up using two.
| Way | How it works | Plans | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Slack connector in Claude | You work in Claude. It reaches into Slack to search, read, and post as you. | Connectors are on every Claude plan. | Pulling deal chatter into call prep, and posting an update without switching apps. |
| Claude Tag (@Claude in Slack) | You work in Slack. Tag @Claude in a channel, thread, or DM and it replies there. | Team and Enterprise, public beta. Channel work bills by usage to the organization. | Shared deal channels: turning a thread into a doc, a summary, or a customer reply. |
| Slack MCP server in Claude Code | Install Slack’s plugin with /plugin install slack, then sign in to Slack. | Anyone using Claude Code. | Ops and developers building internal tools on top of Slack. |
Set it up in five steps
These steps set up the Slack connector in Claude. Claude Tag setup is below them.
Step 1: Get admin approval
Slack admins approve MCP clients through Slack’s normal app approval. On a Claude Team or Enterprise plan, an Owner also adds Slack in Organization settings, then Connectors.
Step 2: Add Slack in Claude
Go to Customize, then Connectors, and click the plus sign. Find Slack and add it.
Step 3: Sign in to Slack
Complete Slack’s sign-in and pick your workspace. Claude acts as you, with your Slack access.
Step 4: Set Send message to Needs approval
Open Slack’s tool permissions in Claude and set the send tool to Needs approval, so nothing posts without you reading it.
Step 5: Turn it on in a chat
Click the plus sign, then Connectors, and toggle Slack on for the conversation.
What Claude can do in Slack
From Slack’s and Anthropic’s own docs, as of November 4, 2026.
Changes
- Send messages as you
- Create and update canvases
- With Claude Tag: reply in the thread, and work in channels it’s been added to
Can’t do
- Claude sees only what your Slack account can see.
- Claude Tag reads and posts only in channels it’s been added to, and in DMs. Installing the app adds it to no channels.
- In channels shared with another company, Claude Tag answers only where an Owner has turned it on, with limited access.
- Slack’s normal API rate limits apply to every tool.
Three prompts to try with Slack
Copy one, swap in your own deal, and run it with Slack turned on. The replies are examples with a made-up company, Acme.
- Prompt 1
Pull internal deal chatter into call prep
The most useful context on a deal is often what your own team said about it. Claude finds it across channels.
YouSearch Slack for everything said about Acme in the last 30 days, including #deals and any DMs I’m in. Summarize the risks, the open questions, and who on our side is involved.
ClaudeExampleAcme in Slack, last 30 days
- Risk: legal flagged their data retention clause
- Open: who owns the security review on their side
- Our side: you, Sam in solutions, Ari in legal
- Prompt 2
Post a deal update
Claude drafts the update for the channel. With send on Needs approval, you read it before it posts.
YouDraft a short update for #deal-acme: where the deal stands, what the buyer asked for on today’s call, and what I need from legal. Show me before you post it.
ClaudeExampleDraft for #deal-acme
- Acme is in Proposal, aiming for Nov 28.
- Today they asked for SSO details and a reference.
- Legal: can we review their redlines by Friday?
- Post this?
- Prompt 3
Turn a thread into a customer reply
With Claude Tag, tag Claude in the thread where your team worked out the answer.
You@Claude turn this thread into a reply to the buyer’s security questions. Keep it under 150 words and list anything we still need to confirm.
ClaudeExampleReply to Acme’s security questions
- Answers to their 6 questions, 142 words
- From the thread: SSO, retention, audit logs
- Still to confirm: their retention period
Claude with Slack vs Arrows
Claude can drive one tool when one rep asks. Arrows drives the whole team’s stack on every deal, with no prompt. Slack is where your team talks about deals. Today Arrows works the rest of the stack: the CRM, email, and call recordings. Arrows’ Slack connection is coming soon.
Questionwith the Slack connector
with the Slack connectorWho starts the workA rep types a prompt.Arrows starts on its own when something happens on a deal. No prompt.
How many dealsThe one the rep is asking about.Every deal in the pipeline.
What it followsThat rep’s prompt.Your team’s playbook and each deal’s gameplan.
Which toolsSlack, plus whatever else that rep has connected.Your team’s CRM, email, call recorder, and docs, through MCP.
Who decides what can happenEach person’s tool permissions: Always allow, Needs approval, or Blocked.Leaders set Off, Ask first, or Allow for every tool, for the whole team.
Where the work shows upIn Slack or in Claude, when someone asks for it.In the rep’s Arrows workspace, finished and waiting for approval.
Deal contextWhat’s in Slack, plus whatever else that person has connected.The CRM, email, calls, and the deal’s gameplan.
Arrows is its own product, not part of Claude. Your reps can keep using Claude alongside it.
Agent kickoff
Every tool. Every deal. No prompts.
An Agent Architect connects your stack and sets what Arrows can do in each tool. Then Arrows does the follow-through on every deal, and your reps approve what matters.
Book an agent kickoffTool permissionsExample settings
- SlackComing soon
HubSpot
Salesforce
Gmail
Gong
Granola
Slack and Claude: common questions
Does Slack have an MCP server?
Yes. Slack runs an official MCP server at https://mcp.slack.com/mcp. It can search messages and files, read channels and threads, send and schedule messages, and manage canvases. Workspace admins approve each MCP client, and only Slack Marketplace and internal apps can use it.
How do I add Claude to Slack?
With Claude Tag, on a Team or Enterprise plan. A Slack admin installs the Claude app, someone sends @Claude connect in Slack for a pairing code, and an Owner enters it at claude.ai/admin-settings/claude-tag, sets a spend limit, and adds Claude to channels. It’s in public beta.
How do I add Claude to a Slack channel?
Type /invite @Claude in the channel. Claude Tag reads and posts only in channels it’s been added to, and installing the app adds it to none. An Owner of your Claude organization can also set auto-join patterns, so Claude joins new public channels whose names match.
How do I connect Slack to Claude for the whole company safely?
Use the controls Slack and Claude already give admins. A Slack admin approves the Claude app, and an Owner decides who can tag @Claude, for example only people in your Claude organization, and sets a spend limit for channel work. Claude Tag works only in channels it’s been added to, and Slack’s audit log records each channel it joins. For the connector, have each rep set the send tool to Needs approval, so nothing posts without them reading it.
How do I use Claude in Slack?
Once Claude Tag is in a channel, mention @Claude in a message or thread and give it the task. It replies in the thread. In a one-to-one DM, Claude runs on your own Claude account.
What’s the difference between the Slack connector and Claude Tag?
The Slack connector works from inside Claude: you ask in Claude and it reaches into Slack as you. Claude Tag works from inside Slack: anyone in a channel tags @Claude and it replies there. The connector is on every Claude plan. Claude Tag needs Team or Enterprise.
Can Claude read my Slack, including private channels?
Yes, whatever it’s given access to. The connector acts as you, so it can search any channel or DM you’re a member of, private ones included. Claude Tag only reads channels it has been added to, plus its own DMs.
Do I need Claude Tag to use the Slack connector?
No. They’re separate. The connector only needs your Slack admin’s approval and a Claude account. Claude Tag is the Team and Enterprise option for @Claude inside channels.