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

Tool	Use When
`slack_search_public`	Searching public channels only. Does not require user consent.
`slack_search_public_and_private`	Searching all channels including private, DMs, and group DMs. Requires user consent.
`slack_search_channels`	Finding channels by name or description.
`slack_search_users`	Finding people by name, email, or role.

Search Strategy

Start Broad, Then Narrow

Begin with a simple keyword or natural language question.
If too many results, add filters (
```
in:
```
,
```
from:
```
, date ranges).
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.

slack-search

NPX Install

Tags

SKILL.md Content