Connect Slack
Connect Slack, invite the GuruSup Brain app to channels, and understand what Brain reads, what it does not, and how to stop it.
Connect Slack so GuruSup Brain can learn from your team's conversations. Only admins can do this. Brain reads only the channels you invite the app to, and only what is posted after the app announces itself there.
Read Connectors overview first if you have not connected an app before. It explains the approval flow and what happens if the approval link expires.
Connect Slack
Open the Slack connector
In the sidebar, open Sources and click Connect source. On Connect a source, find Slack (use Search integrations if you need to) and click View integration.
Connect and approve access
Click Connect. Brain sends you to Slack. Approve access for the Slack workspace you want. Slack sends you back to the page you started from, and a message says Slack is connected.
Invite the app to your channels
Brain only reads channels the app has joined. In each channel you want it to learn from, run:
/invite @GuruSup Brain
You can also add the app from the channel's Integrations settings. Invite it to more channels whenever you like.
Look for the notice
When the app joins a channel, it posts a notice there. Brain starts reading that channel after the notice, not before. See the next section.
Private channels: the app cannot join a private channel by itself. Someone who is already in the channel has to run /invite @GuruSup Brain there.
Connect Slack in setup
In setup, and on Home before the first build, Slack is a card under Recommended sources. Click its plug button (Connect Slack) and approve access, then invite the app to your channels as above. Brain does not import history, so a Slack that is connected but has no messages yet does not hold up Continue or Build my memory. Slack content that Brain fails to prepare three times is dropped.
The notice in each channel
The first time the app is in a channel, it posts a short notice. The notice is written in Spanish for every organization:
GuruSup Brain, añadido por (your Slack workspace name), conservará los mensajes y metadatos de archivos publicados después de este aviso para incorporarlos a la memoria corporativa de esa organización.
In English: GuruSup Brain, added by your Slack workspace, will keep the messages and file details posted after this notice and add them to that organization's memory.
What this means for you:
- Reading starts after the notice. Messages posted before it are never read.
- If you do not see the notice in the channel, Brain is not reading it. The notice has to be posted before reading starts. If the app cannot join the channel, or Slack does not let it post there, the channel stays unread.
- The notice is also how people in the channel learn that Brain is there. Tell your team before you invite the app.
- If another Slack workspace is added to a channel the app is in (Slack Connect), the app posts the notice again, and Brain reads messages posted after the new notice.
Each channel is its own source
Brain creates one source per channel, named Slack #channel-name. A group message gets a source named Slack followed by the group's name, without the hash. The card appears on Sources soon after the app joins. A card does not prove Brain is reading: the notice is what starts reading. Each card has its own memories and contribution figures.
You do not connect channels one by one in Brain. Inviting the app to a channel is what adds it, and removing the app from a channel is what closes it.
What Brain reads
| Brain reads | Brain does not read |
|---|---|
| New messages in public channels, in private channels and in group messages the app has joined, after the notice | Messages posted before the notice |
| Replies inside threads. Replies that are also sent to the channel are not read. | Channels the app has not joined |
| Edits and deletions of messages it has already read | Direct messages between people |
| Messages from other apps and bots | System messages such as someone joining or leaving, or a changed channel topic or name |
| Messages that only contain a file | The app's own messages, including its notice |
| File details: name, title, type, size and link | The contents of files |
Two things about file-only messages and files: a message with no text is still read if it has a file attached, and Brain keeps the file's details, not what is inside it.
There is no way to import earlier Slack history. If a channel matters, invite the app early.
What Slack asks you to approve
The approval screen lists the permissions Brain needs: reading messages and file details in channels the app is in, reading basic information about channels and people including their email addresses, and sending messages. Sending is what lets the app post its notice and message a colleague directly. Brain also reads direct messages sent to the app itself, which is how colleagues answer questions Brain asks them. It still does not read direct messages between people. See Contacts.
Check that it worked
- In the channel, find the notice from GuruSup Brain.
- Post a short test message in the channel.
- In Brain, open Sources. A card named Slack #your-channel is there.
- Open Ingest, pick that source in the source filter and look for the message. It moves from Queued to Learning to Learned. See Follow ingestion.
Numbers on the card grow as Brain reads. New sources can take a while to show any.
Add another Slack workspace
Open Slack in Connect a source, click View integration, then click Add account. Repeat the steps above for the new workspace. Each Slack workspace can be connected to one Brain organization at a time.
Stop reading, remove or disconnect
Go to Sources and click Manage on a Slack card.
| Action | What it does |
|---|---|
| Remove source | Stops Brain reading that one channel. Click Remove source, then Confirm. What Brain already learned stays. |
| Disconnect | Removes the whole Slack connection, every channel included. Click Disconnect under Disconnect integration, then Confirm. Brain also revokes its access with Slack. What Brain already learned stays. |
| Take the app out of a channel in Slack | Closes that channel's source. |
Disconnect removes the whole Slack connection, not only the channel you opened. To stop one channel, use Remove source.
The drawer for a channel shows the same Remove source and Disconnect buttons, so check which one you click.
Manage the connection when no channel is connected yet
Channel cards only exist once the app has joined a channel. Before that, or after you removed every channel, the Slack connection has no card on Sources. To reconnect, add an account or disconnect it, go to Connect source, find Slack and click View integration. The buttons are the same.
If someone uninstalls the app in Slack
If the app is removed in Slack, or Slack revokes its access, Brain closes every channel source and marks the connection as revoked. There is no Reconnect button for a revoked connection. Open Slack in Connect a source, click View integration, click Add account and approve again, then invite the app to your channels again. What Brain learned before stays.
If it does not work
Go through this list in order.
- Is the notice in the channel? If not, the app has not started reading. Check that the app is in the channel (channel details, then Integrations). In a private channel, someone in the channel has to invite it. If it is in but there is no notice, remove the app from the channel and invite it again.
- Is there a card for the channel on Sources? Refresh the page. If there is still none, wait a moment and check again. A card without a notice in the channel means Brain is not reading yet.
- Did you post after the notice? Messages before the notice are not read.
- Is the message something Brain reads? Direct messages, system messages, the app's own messages and files' contents are not read.
- Is the source still there? If someone used Remove source on the channel, or took the app out of it, Brain stopped reading.
- Was the app uninstalled? If the connection is revoked, follow the steps in the previous section.
- Is ingestion paused or Demo Mode on? A banner on Sources says so, and Brain ignores incoming messages meanwhile.
- Is the item Paused on Ingest? Then it is saved but waiting for usage. See Follow ingestion.
- Are you looking at the right Slack workspace? If you connected more than one, each channel belongs to the workspace it was invited from.
Connect problems
| Message | What it means and what to do |
|---|---|
| "This Slack workspace is already connected to another organization." | That Slack workspace is connected to a different Brain organization. Disconnect it there first, or connect a different workspace. |
| "Organization-wide Slack Enterprise installations are not supported." | Brain supports a single Slack workspace, not an Enterprise Grid installation across the organization. Install the app in one workspace. |
| "OAuth state expired. Start the connection again." | The approval link lasts 15 minutes. Start again from Connect a source. |
| "Access to Slack wasn't granted, so nothing was connected. Start again when you're ready." | The approval was declined or cancelled. Start again and approve. |
More on failed approvals is in Connector troubleshooting. If none of this helps, contact support and send the name of the channel source, the time you posted, and any message Brain showed.