Apps in your channels

An app is a program your organization runs, such as a deploy bot, a help desk or a stand-up form. It isn’t a person or a member of your organization. It sees only the channels someone adds it to, and never direct messages.

How you recognize an app#

• Its messages show its name and picture with an APP badge after the name, in every timeline, thread, search result and notification. Apps can’t hide or restyle the badge.
• Its picture is a rounded square, so it never looks like a person’s round one.
• Select an app’s name or picture to open its card: what it does, An app, not a person, and who installed it and when. Org owners and admins also see Settings, which opens the app’s page.
• If an app is paused, turned off or deleted, its card says so: This app is paused., This app is turned off. or This app was deleted. Its messages stay, under its name.

See the apps in a channel#

Select the channel’s name at the top to open its details. The Apps section, under Members, lists each app in the channel with its badge and Added by who and when.

Add an app to a channel#

1. Open the channel’s details and select Add app in the Apps section.
2. Pick the app. Apps you can’t add are greyed out, with the reason.
3. Read the confirmation, Add Deploybot to #ops?, and select Add.

The confirmation says what the app can do in that channel, based on what your admins allowed it. For example:

• “Deploybot sees this channel’s name, topic and members.”
• “Deploybot can read this channel’s earlier messages.” In a private channel, also “Deploybot will see every new message in this channel.”
• “Deploybot sees messages that mention it.”
• “Deploybot can post here, with cards, and react.”
• “Everyone in the channel sees that you added it.”

The channel gets a line saying who added the app.

You can also add an app by mentioning it. In the composer’s @ list, apps that aren’t in the channel yet are marked Not in this channel: add it?. Pick one, confirm, and the mention goes into your message.

Who can add an app#

• Any member of the channel who isn’t a guest, unless an admin set the app to Admins only.
• Only org owners and admins add apps to org-wide channels (“Only admins add apps to org-wide channels.”).
• Apps can’t be added to direct messages, group DMs or archived channels, and guests can’t add apps.

Remove an app#

In the channel’s details, select Remove next to the app, then confirm. The app stops getting the channel’s events and can’t post there. Its messages stay.

The person who added the app, the channel’s managers and org admins can remove it.

Mention an app#

Type @ and pick the app from the list, as you would a person. The app hears about the message and can answer, for example by posting a card. Mentioning an app doesn’t notify anyone.

When an app asks to read a private channel#

When an admin lets an app read messages after it was already added to a private channel, the app doesn’t start reading at once. It waits until a member of that channel allows it:

• The channel shows Deploybot asks to read the messages here (“Until someone in this channel allows it, it can’t read the messages here.”) in a banner over the conversation and in the channel’s details.
• Select Allow to let it read the channel’s messages, earlier ones too, or Not now to refuse. Admins see that the channel refused.
• After a refusal, the details show Deploybot isn’t allowed to read the messages here, with Allow if you change your mind.