Slack Search

This skill provides guidance for effectively searching Slack to find messages, files, and information.

When to Use

Apply this skill whenever you need to find information in Slack — including when a user asks you to locate messages, conversations, files, or people, or when you need to gather context before answering a question about what's happening in Slack.

Search Tools Overview

Search Strategy

Start Broad, Then Narrow

1. Begin with a simple keyword or natural language question.
2. If too many results, add filters (in:, from:, date ranges).
3. If too few results, remove filters and try synonyms or related terms.

Choose the Right Search Mode

• Natural language questions (e.g., "What is the deadline for project X?") — Best for fuzzy, conceptual searches where you don't know exact keywords.
• Keyword search (e.g., project X deadline) — Best for finding specific, exact content.

Use Multiple Searches

Don't rely on a single search. Break complex questions into smaller searches:

• Search for the topic first
• Then search for specific people's contributions
• Then search in specific channels

Search Modifiers Reference

Location Filters

• in:channel-name — Search within a specific channel
• in:<#C123456> — Search in channel by ID
• -in:channel-name — Exclude a channel
• in:<@U123456> — Search in DMs with a user

User Filters

• from:<@U123456> — Messages from a specific user (by ID)
• from:username — Messages from a user (by Slack username)
• to:me — Messages sent directly to you

Content Filters

• is:thread — Only threaded messages
• has:pin — Pinned messages
• has:link — Messages containing links
• has:file — Messages with file attachments
• has::emoji: — Messages with a specific reaction

Date Filters

• before:YYYY-MM-DD — Messages before a date
• after:YYYY-MM-DD — Messages after a date
• on:YYYY-MM-DD — Messages on a specific date
• during:month — Messages during a specific month (e.g., during:january)

Text Matching

• "exact phrase" — Match an exact phrase
• -word — Exclude messages containing a word
• wild* — Wildcard matching (minimum 3 characters before *)

File Search

To search for files, use the content_types="files" parameter with type filters:

• type:images — Image files
• type:documents — Document files
• type:pdfs — PDF files
• type:spreadsheets — Spreadsheet files
• type:canvases — Slack Canvases

Example: content_types="files" type:pdfs budget after:2025-01-01

Following Up on Results

After finding relevant messages:

• Use slack_read_thread to get the full thread context for any threaded message.
• Use slack_read_channel with oldest/latest timestamps to read surrounding messages for context.
• Use slack_read_user_profile to identify who a user is when their ID appears in results.

Common Pitfalls

• Boolean operators don't work. AND, OR, NOT are not supported. Use spaces (implicit AND) and - for exclusion.
• Parentheses don't work. Don't try to group search terms with ().
• Search is not real-time. Very recent messages (last few seconds) may not appear in search results. Use slack_read_channel for the most recent messages.
• Private channel access. Use slack_search_public_and_private when you need to include private channels, but note this requires user consent.