Slack

Sync messages and threads from selected Slack channels so your agent can answer recurring questions based on past conversations.

How it works#

Runbear connects to your Slack workspace via OAuth and indexes messages from the channels you select. The agent searches this conversation history at query time, so it can answer questions that have already been discussed in Slack without anyone digging through old threads.

Runbear periodically checks for new messages and updates the index automatically.

Setup#

1. Open your agent in the Runbear dashboard and go to the Knowledge tab.
2. Select Slack.

3. Under Slack Workspace, select your workspace. If none is connected yet, click Connect Slack and authorize Runbear. To add another workspace, choose Connect new workspace.
4. Select which channels to sync. Optionally set a Start Date to limit how far back the sync goes, and an End Date to stop syncing after a given day (see End date).

5. Click Save. Runbear begins the initial sync.

What gets synced#

• Messages and threads from the channels you select
• New messages are picked up automatically on each sync cycle, up to the end date if you set one
• Deleted messages are removed from the index

End date#

An end date freezes the synced history at a point in time. Use it when the agent should answer only from conversations up to a cutoff, for example to test it against questions people asked after that day.

• Default. There is no end date, so messages keep syncing up to the present.
• What the date covers. The day you pick is included through 23:59:59 in your local time. Messages sent after it are not synced, and replies posted after it are left out even when the thread started earlier.
• Scope. The date applies to every channel in this Slack knowledge source. It must be on or after the start date.
• Status. Under the field, Runbear shows Sync will stop after the date while it is in the future, and Sync stopped after the date once it has passed.
• Changing it. Moving the end date earlier removes messages sent after the new date from the index. Moving it later, or clearing it with the delete button, syncs the messages in between.
• Mixed dates. If the channels already have different end dates, the field shows Different per channel and each channel keeps its own date unless you change the field.

Sync timing#

The initial sync time depends on the volume of messages in your selected channels. Subsequent syncs are incremental and much faster.