Ship deep Slack integrations in days

Slack spreads its data across Web API methods and the Events API, with separate bot and user tokens, and every workspace has its own channels, people, and apps. With Ampersand, you can get this integration live for your customers in days.

Schedule a demo See Slack guide

Build a custom data model to handle complex configurations

No two Slack workspaces are the same. Every customer has their own channels, user groups, and apps, and decides what your app can see. AI agents need infrastructure that understands Slack at the per-tenant level.

3 / 4 customers

3 / 8 customers
  • Customer A: Channel (standard), User (standard), User Group (standard)
  • Customer B: Channel (standard), File (standard), Canvas (standard)
  • Customer C: User (standard), Bookmark (standard), List (standard)

Enable software and agents to take bi-directional action

With Ampersand, your engineers don’t need to learn Slack’s Web API methods, the Events API, or its token types. Simply declare the actions you want your agents to take: read, write, subscribe, proxy.

Example. Subscribe: “Notify me as soon as someone creates a channel.”

  1. Ampersand subscribes to channel events through your Slack app’s Events API.
  2. Channel events arrive, and Ampersand verifies each one’s Slack signature.
  3. Ampersand keeps only the new channels and drops the rest.
  4. Ampersand fetches the channel, with every field, through the Conversations API.
  5. Ampersand applies this customer’s field mappings.
  6. Ampersand sends the channel to your product.

Ensure your Slack integration is always available

  • Managed auth

    Fully offload Slack OAuth. Ampersand stores every customer’s tokens for the bot or user scopes you choose.

  • Real-time events

    Get channel, user, file, and call events from every customer’s workspace as they happen, through one Events API setup in your Slack app.

  • Bot and user tokens

    Act as your installed app with bot scopes, or on behalf of the person who connected with user scopes, from the same Slack app.

Not all Slack integrations are created equal

Slack is where many teams talk, share files, and get work done. With Ampersand, your developers can create a best-in-class Slack integration.

In-House DIY Build Unified APIs Embedded iPaaS Ampersand
Data schema that works for all customers Lots of switch statements and special casesOnly access standard objects and fieldsBuild customer-specific workflows Flexible model with mappings
Real-time data Build and host your own Events API handling for every customerNo real-time dataYou can get real-time data, but not batch data You pick between real-time data and scheduled syncs
Schema drift protection Manual incident debuggingNot supportedNot supported Get notified about schema changes
OAuth token custody You own the tokens, but you also have to manage refreshesVendor lock-inVendor lock-in Export at any time via API
Integration workflow Imperative custom codeSingle API clientDrag-and-drop, not integrated with Git Declarative manifest you can version control
Build vs. Buy Unified API vs. Ampersand

The Slack objects your agents can read and write

Ampersand reads Slack channels, users, and files, posts messages and canvases, and subscribes to channel, user, file, and call events.

Objects What’s included Read Write Subscribe
Channels
  • Conversations
Supported Supported Supported
People and files
  • Users
  • Files
Supported Not supported Supported
Calls
  • Calls
Not supported Supported Supported
Bots
  • Bots
Not supported Not supported Supported
User groups and remote files
  • User groups
  • Remote files
Supported Supported Not supported
Messages and content
  • Messages
  • Canvases
  • Channel canvases
  • Bookmarks
  • Lists
  • List items
Not supported Supported Not supported
Workspace
  • Teams
  • External teams
  • Scheduled messages
  • A user’s conversations
  • Shared channel invites
  • Slack Connect invites
Supported Not supported Not supported

Subscribe needs a one-time Events API setup in your Slack app. Admin objects, such as app approvals and information barriers, are available through the user-token connector, slackUserScope.

See every object in the docs

Questions people ask before they book a demo

  • Which Slack objects can I read and write?

    You can read and write channels, user groups, and remote files. You can read users, files, and scheduled messages, and write messages, canvases, bookmarks, lists, and calls.

  • Can I get real-time updates from Slack?

    Yes. Subscribe Actions deliver channel, user, file, call, and bot events as they happen, after a one-time Events API setup in your Slack app.

  • Should my integration use bot or user tokens?

    Ampersand has a connector for each, and both use the same Slack app. The bot connector, slack, acts as your installed app with bot token scopes. The user connector, slackUserScope, acts on behalf of the Slack user who connected and adds admin objects.

  • Does Ampersand offer a unified API?

    Ampersand doesn’t offer a unified API. It works with Slack’s own objects and fields as each customer sets them up, which differs from how a unified API works. We also give you the primitives to build your own unified data model.