slack-gather-context

Productivity

Gather comprehensive Slack context — search messages, identify what needs attention (mentions, DMs, urgent), read channel pulse, synthesize findings

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Source SKILL.md: https://github.com/theexperiencecompany/gaia/blob/HEAD/apps/api/app/agents/skills/builtin/slack-gather-context/SKILL.md

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Slack: Gather Context & Attention Triage

When to Activate

User asks what's happening in Slack, what needs their attention, searches for specific information, or wants a summary of activity.

Step 1: Identify What the User Needs

Attention triage (what needs me?): → Go to Step 2: Attention Scan

Specific search (what did X say about Y?): → Go to Step 3: Smart Search

Channel pulse (what's happening in #channel?): → Go to Step 4: Channel Pulse

Step 2: Attention Scan

Gather everything that needs the user's attention:

DMs and mentions:

SLACK_SEARCH_MESSAGES(query="to:me", sort="timestamp", sort_dir="desc", count=20)

Urgent/important signals — search for keywords:

SLACK_SEARCH_MESSAGES(query="urgent OR ASAP OR blocked OR critical OR help after:today", sort="timestamp", sort_dir="desc", count=20)

Channels with activity — check key channels:

SLACK_FIND_CHANNELS(query="general") → channel_id
SLACK_FETCH_CONVERSATION_HISTORY(channel=channel_id, limit=10)

Synthesize into priority buckets:

URGENT (needs response now):
  - @mention from Sarah in #engineering about prod issue (2m ago)
  - DM from Mike: "Can you review my PR ASAP?"

IMPORTANT (respond today):
  - Thread in #product about Q2 planning (you were mentioned)
  - DM from Alex about meeting reschedule

FYI (can wait):
  - #announcements: New onboarding doc shared
  - #random: Team lunch poll

Step 3: Smart Search

Construct precise queries using Slack search modifiers:

Query modifiers:

in:#channel — search within specific channel
from:@user — search by sender
to:me or to:@user — messages directed to someone
before:YYYY-MM-DD / after:YYYY-MM-DD — time range
on:YYYY-MM-DD — specific date
has:link / has:file / has:reaction — content filters
is:thread — only threaded messages

Example queries:

# Find deployment discussions this week
SLACK_SEARCH_MESSAGES(query="deployment after:2025-01-20 in:#engineering", sort="timestamp", sort_dir="desc")

# Find what a specific person said
SLACK_FIND_USERS(search_query="Sarah") → get user display name
SLACK_SEARCH_MESSAGES(query="from:@sarah project update", sort="timestamp", sort_dir="desc")

Progressive search:

Start specific: "deployment error in:#production from:@ops after:today"
If no results, broaden: "deployment error after:today"
If still empty, broaden more: "deployment error"

Step 4: Channel Pulse

Read what's happening in a channel:

SLACK_FIND_CHANNELS(query="product") → channel_id
SLACK_FETCH_CONVERSATION_HISTORY(channel=channel_id, limit=30)

For threads, always expand:

SLACK_FETCH_MESSAGE_THREAD_FROM_A_CONVERSATION(channel=channel_id, thread_ts=message_ts)

Using spawn_subagent for Multiple Channels

When gathering context from multiple channels in parallel:

spawn_subagent(task="Get recent messages from #engineering channel", context="Limit: 20 messages, focus on technical discussions")
spawn_subagent(task="Get recent messages from #product channel", context="Limit: 20 messages, focus on roadmap updates")
spawn_subagent(task="Get recent messages from #general channel", context="Limit: 20 messages, focus on announcements")

This allows parallel context gathering from multiple channels.

Summarize by topic, not chronology:

#product channel — last 24h:
  Topics discussed:
  1. Q2 Roadmap (3 threads, 15 messages) — Decision: Focus on mobile
  2. Bug triage (1 thread) — 4 Critical bugs assigned to eng
  3. Customer feedback (2 threads) — NPS survey results shared
  
  Pinned: Product roadmap doc (updated yesterday)

Step 5: Synthesize & Present

Always provide:

Source: channel name + timestamp for each finding
Context: thread summary, not just individual messages
Action items: What the user should respond to
Links: Message permalinks when relevant

Anti-Patterns

Searching without using date filters (gets stale results)
Not expanding threads (miss critical context)
Dumping raw messages without synthesis
Ignoring DMs when user asks "what needs my attention"
Using sort="score" when user wants recent (use sort="timestamp")