Slack & channels
Connect Slack to a project and control sessions from a channel.
A channel connects a chat platform to a project. A message in a connected channel starts a session. The agent replies in the same thread.
Live channels
Kortix supports five channel platforms today:
- Slack — connect with one click through the Kortix-managed app, or bring your own bot token.
- Microsoft Teams — connect through org admin-consent OAuth, or bring your own Azure Bot (experimental; enable it under Settings → Experimental).
- Email — an AgentMail-backed channel (experimental; enable it under Settings → Experimental).
- Inkbox — iMessage, text, email, or call the agent through your own Inkbox account (experimental). See Inkbox: iMessage, SMS, email & calls.
- Voice — a realtime voice channel on LiveKit (experimental; enable it under Settings → Experimental). A connected call is a LiveKit room; the agent speaks through the live media session.
Only Slack and Microsoft Teams connect through the CLI and dashboard. Email and voice are managed from the dashboard or SDK. This page covers Slack. Teams follows the same session, identity-linking, and credential rules.
How a channel starts a session
The first message in a Slack thread or Teams conversation creates a session. Every later message in that thread goes to the same session, even after the sandbox stops and resumes. A Slack workspace connected to more than one project shows a project picker on the first mention.
Identity linking
Kortix links each chat sender to a Kortix account before the agent runs for
them. Run /kortix login in Slack and follow the link to sign in. Teams uses
the same requirement. An unlinked sender gets a prompt to link instead of a
session run.
A sign-in link works once and expires after 10 minutes. A Slack account that is
connected to one Machine account cannot be connected to another: run
/kortix logout first. If your organization requires two-factor
authentication, Machine asks for your second factor before it connects you, and
the chat runs on the factor you connected with.
Every action runs as the linked account of the person who took it, with that account's project role. Account owners and admins count as project managers.
| Action | Who may do it |
|---|---|
| Mention the bot, reply in its thread | A linked account with access to the project, within the channel's policy |
| Stop a run | The person who sent the message being answered, or anyone approved into that session, who can still use the project |
| Change the channel's project, agent, model or policy | A project manager; in a DM with the bot, any project member |
| Act on a review | A project manager |
| Approve or deny a connector call | A project manager, or the person who started the session |
Approve someone into an owner_approval thread | The session owner |
link-bot | A project manager |
Where credentials live
A connected channel's bot token is a connector-scoped secret. It does not appear on the project's Secrets page. Kortix never injects it into a sandbox. Kortix resolves the token server-side when the agent sends or reads a chat message.
Connect Slack
From the CLI, run:
kortix channels connectOn a host with the shared Slack app configured (Kortix Cloud, for example),
this prints a one-click install link. Open the link and pick the workspace.
Click Allow. Add --wait to make the command poll until the install
lands.
From the dashboard, open the project's Channels page and connect Slack there instead. It uses the same install flow.
On a self-hosted deployment with no shared Slack app configured, kortix channels connect falls back to manual mode automatically. Run kortix channels manifest to print an app manifest. Create the app at
api.slack.com/apps from that manifest. Install the app to your workspace.
Then run:
kortix channels connect --manual --bot-token xoxb-... --signing-secret ...kortix channels statusRun kortix channels disconnect to remove the connection. See the
CLI reference for every flag.
Connecting Slack adds a channel connector entry
to kortix.yaml for you. You never write this entry by hand.
Use Slack
Mention the bot with a task, in any channel it has joined, or open a direct message. The thread keeps its session as described above. A bare mention with no task gets a reminder to add one instead of starting a session.
What the agent can read
The agent reads Slack through the project's Slack
connector (kortix_slack, or the slack command
in the sandbox). Every project connected to the same Slack workspace uses the
same bot, so Machine keeps each read inside the project's own conversations:
| Conversation | Read |
|---|---|
| A channel or DM connected to this project | Allowed |
| A thread that a session of this project started or joined, in any channel | Allowed |
| A channel, DM or thread of another project | Refused |
| A conversation no project is connected to | Allowed only while no other project is connected to the workspace |
A refused read answers 403 with the reason conversation_not_in_project and
a message that names the conversation. To read a conversation that no project
is connected to, connect it first: run /kortix switch in it and pick this
project.
- Channel history leaves out the messages of another project's thread.
get_historyandget_threadadduser_nameto each message whose author Slack can name, beside theuserid. Up to 25 people are named per read; a name Slack does not return within 2 seconds is left out.list_channelslists every public channel, and the private channels and DMs the agent may read.channel_infoanswers for any public channel. A private channel or DM follows the table above.file_infoanswers when the file is shared in a conversation the agent may read.search_messagesruns only while no other project is connected to the workspace, because a search cannot be limited to one project's conversations.list_users,user_infoandauth_testread the workspace directory and are not limited.
Writes follow their own rule, below.
What the agent can post
Posting, sending a file, editing, deleting, reacting, joining a channel and binding a thread follow one rule: the agent never acts inside another project's channel or thread.
| Target | Write |
|---|---|
| A channel of this project, or a thread one of its sessions started or joined | Allowed |
| A channel no project is connected to | Allowed. A new message starts this project's thread, so replies come back to the session |
| A direct message with a person | Allowed, also when that person's DM with the bot runs another project |
| A channel or group DM of another project | Refused |
| A thread of another project, in any conversation | Refused: no reply, edit, delete or reaction |
A refused write answers 403 with the reason conversation_not_in_project
and a message that names the conversation. slack send --file and
slack bind-thread follow the same rule.
channel must be the conversation or user id, such as C0123ABCD or
U0123ABCD, not a channel name. Slack posts to a name, and a name cannot be
checked against the rule. If Slack still posts a message anywhere but the
conversation that was checked, Machine deletes the message and refuses the post.
To post in a channel that another project runs, run /kortix switch in it and
pick this project, or post from that project.
Control a session with slash commands
Type these as /kortix <command> in Slack, or as plain text in a DM. Slash
commands do not run inside the Assistant DM pane, so Kortix parses the same
words from plain text there.
| Command | What it does |
|---|---|
login, logout | Link or unlink your Slack identity |
switch, unbind | Rebind or unbind this channel from its project |
projects | List projects you can bind to |
sessions | List recent sessions started in this workspace |
whoami | Show the channel panel: project, agent, model, policy, and your linked identity |
models | Pick the model for this channel — see Models and keys |
agent <name>, model <id> | Set the agent or model this channel uses |
policy <mode> | Set who can start sessions here |
help | List all commands |
policy accepts project_open (default — any project member who mentions
the bot gets a session), owner_approval, or owner_only. This is a
per-resource setting on one channel, not a role. It grants no permission the
role verdict denies — see
Accounts & access.
Models and keys
/kortix models lists every model you can run here, as the web picker does:
Machine models, and models you reach through a provider API key or a ChatGPT
subscription. Each one says how it is paid for. A long list is one select you
can type into. Pick one, or type /kortix model <id>; /kortix model default
goes back to the project default.
Which keys count depends on the conversation:
- A DM with the bot — your own keys and ChatGPT subscription, plus keys shared with the project. Its sessions are private to you.
- A channel or group DM — only keys shared with the whole project. Pick a model that runs on your own keys in a DM instead.
A model that runs on keys uses every key you may use for its provider, and they rotate on rate limits. The channel's model starts every new thread; a thread keeps the model it started with. A model a thread can no longer run is replaced for that message instead of failing it. See Provider keys and member access.
Channel and people names
Slack sends ids, such as C0123ABCD and U0123ABCD. Machine shows the names
people read in Slack and keeps the ids for operations.
| Where | What it shows |
|---|---|
The Channels page, kortix channels bindings | #channel for a public or private channel, the person for a DM, the members for a group DM |
| A Slack message in a session | The sender's name and #channel |
A slack send reply in a session | #channel, or the person of a DM |
| The session title | Mentions as Slack shows them: @Machine, not <@U0123ABCD> |
| The agent's prompt | Names beside ids: Sam Rivera (U0123ABCD), #general (C0123ABCD) |
| The agent's plan steps in Slack | A person as @Sam Rivera, a channel as #general. A step never notifies anyone |
| An approval card in Slack | A channel parameter as a channel link, which Slack names by your own access. A user parameter with the person's name |
A channel that Slack cannot find reads Unavailable channel and keeps its id. This happens when the channel was deleted or the bot was removed from it. A name that Slack does not return within 2 seconds is left out of that message. The prompt then carries the ids alone, and the turn does not wait.
Approvals
When an agent needs a human decision before it proceeds, it files a review item. If the session was started from this thread, the decision lands here as a card: the title, a summary, a risk level, and Approve, Request changes and Deny.
Request changes opens a box for what should change. Whatever you type is stored with the decision and passed to the agent with it, so it does not have to ask you a second time. It is optional — send it empty and the agent is told to ask. Approve and Deny stay one click.
Acting on a review needs a linked Machine account that manages the project. The decision resumes the agent whatever the thread's policy is.
Stopping a run
While the agent works, its live message carries a Stop button. It ends the run at the runtime, not just on the message — a run left open swallows the next message in the thread instead of answering it.
The person who sent the message being answered can stop it, as can anyone approved into that session, while they can still use the project. A bystander in the channel cannot; they get a private note saying so.
What does not work
- Slash commands do not fire inside the Assistant DM pane. Type
/kortix <command>as plain text there instead. - Other chat platforms, including Telegram, are not supported channels today. Only Slack and Microsoft Teams connect through the CLI and dashboard; email and voice connect through the dashboard or SDK.