slack

Access the Slack API with managed OAuth authentication. Send messages, manage channels, list users, and automate Slack workflows.

Quick Start

# Post a message to a channel
python <<'EOF'
import urllib.request, os, json
data = json.dumps({'channel': 'C0123456789', 'text': 'Hello from Maton!'}).encode()
req = urllib.request.Request('https://gateway.maton.ai/slack/api/chat.postMessage', data=data, method='POST')
req.add_header('Authorization', f'Bearer {os.environ["MATON_API_KEY"]}')
req.add_header('Content-Type', 'application/json')
print(json.dumps(json.load(urllib.request.urlopen(req)), indent=2))
EOF

Base URL

https://gateway.maton.ai/slack/{method}

The gateway proxies requests to slack.com and automatically injects your OAuth token.

Authentication

All requests require the Maton API key in the Authorization header:

Authorization: Bearer $MATON_API_KEY

Environment Variable: Set your API key as MATON_API_KEY:

export MATON_API_KEY="YOUR_API_KEY"

Getting Your API Key

Sign in or create an account at maton.ai
Go to maton.ai/settings
Copy your API key

Connection Management

Manage your Slack OAuth connections at https://ctrl.maton.ai.

List Connections

python <<'EOF'
import urllib.request, os, json
req = urllib.request.Request('https://ctrl.maton.ai/connections?app=slack&status=ACTIVE')
req.add_header('Authorization', f'Bearer {os.environ["MATON_API_KEY"]}')
print(json.dumps(json.load(urllib.request.urlopen(req)), indent=2))
EOF

Create Connection

python <<'EOF'
import urllib.request, os, json
data = json.dumps({'app': 'slack'}).encode()
req = urllib.request.Request('https://ctrl.maton.ai/connections', data=data, method='POST')
req.add_header('Authorization', f'Bearer {os.environ["MATON_API_KEY"]}')
req.add_header('Content-Type', 'application/json')
print(json.dumps(json.load(urllib.request.urlopen(req)), indent=2))
EOF

Get Connection

python <<'EOF'
import urllib.request, os, json
req = urllib.request.Request('https://ctrl.maton.ai/connections/{connection_id}')
req.add_header('Authorization', f'Bearer {os.environ["MATON_API_KEY"]}')
print(json.dumps(json.load(urllib.request.urlopen(req)), indent=2))
EOF

Response:

{
  "connection": {
    "connection_id": "21fd90f9-5935-43cd-b6c8-bde9d915ca80",
    "status": "ACTIVE",
    "creation_time": "2025-12-08T07:20:53.488460Z",
    "last_updated_time": "2026-01-31T20:03:32.593153Z",
    "url": "https://connect.maton.ai/?session_token=...",
    "app": "slack",
    "metadata": {}
  }
}

Open the returned url in a browser to complete OAuth authorization.

Delete Connection

python <<'EOF'
import urllib.request, os, json
req = urllib.request.Request('https://ctrl.maton.ai/connections/{connection_id}', method='DELETE')
req.add_header('Authorization', f'Bearer {os.environ["MATON_API_KEY"]}')
print(json.dumps(json.load(urllib.request.urlopen(req)), indent=2))
EOF

Specifying Connection

If you have multiple Slack connections, specify which one to use with the Maton-Connection header:

python <<'EOF'
import urllib.request, os, json
data = json.dumps({'channel': 'C0123456789', 'text': 'Hello!'}).encode()
req = urllib.request.Request('https://gateway.maton.ai/slack/api/chat.postMessage', data=data, method='POST')
req.add_header('Authorization', f'Bearer {os.environ["MATON_API_KEY"]}')
req.add_header('Maton-Connection', '21fd90f9-5935-43cd-b6c8-bde9d915ca80')
req.add_header('Content-Type', 'application/json')
print(json.dumps(json.load(urllib.request.urlopen(req)), indent=2))
EOF

If omitted, the gateway uses the default (oldest) active connection.

API Reference

Post Message

POST /slack/api/chat.postMessage
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "channel": "C0123456789",
  "text": "Hello, world!"
}

With blocks:

POST /slack/api/chat.postMessage
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "channel": "C0123456789",
  "blocks": [
    {"type": "section", "text": {"type": "mrkdwn", "text": "*Bold* and _italic_"}}
  ]
}

Post Thread Reply

POST /slack/api/chat.postMessage
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "channel": "C0123456789",
  "thread_ts": "1234567890.123456",
  "text": "This is a reply in a thread"
}

Update Message

POST /slack/api/chat.update
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "channel": "C0123456789",
  "ts": "1234567890.123456",
  "text": "Updated message"
}

Delete Message

POST /slack/api/chat.delete
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "channel": "C0123456789",
  "ts": "1234567890.123456"
}

List Channels

GET /slack/api/conversations.list?types=public_channel,private_channel

Get Channel Info

GET /slack/api/conversations.info?channel=C0123456789

Get Channel Members

GET /slack/api/conversations.members?channel=C0123456789&limit=100

List Messages in Channel

GET /slack/api/conversations.history?channel=C0123456789&limit=100

Get Thread Replies

GET /slack/api/conversations.replies?channel=C0123456789&ts=1234567890.123456

List Users

GET /slack/api/users.list

Get User Info

GET /slack/api/users.info?user=U0123456789

Search Messages

GET /slack/api/search.messages?query=keyword

Open DM Conversation

POST /slack/api/conversations.open
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "users": "U0123456789"
}

Add Reaction

POST /slack/api/reactions.add
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "channel": "C0123456789",
  "name": "thumbsup",
  "timestamp": "1234567890.123456"
}

Upload File

POST /slack/api/files.upload
Content-Type: multipart/form-data

channels=C0123456789
content=file content here
filename=example.txt

Auth Test

Get current user and team info:

GET /slack/api/auth.test

Code Examples

JavaScript

const response = await fetch('https://gateway.maton.ai/slack/api/chat.postMessage', {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: {
    'Content-Type': 'application/json',
    'Authorization': `Bearer ${process.env.MATON_API_KEY}`
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({ channel: 'C0123456', text: 'Hello!' })
});

Python

import os
import requests

response = requests.post(
    'https://gateway.maton.ai/slack/api/chat.postMessage',
    headers={'Authorization': f'Bearer {os.environ["MATON_API_KEY"]}'},
    json={'channel': 'C0123456', 'text': 'Hello!'}
)

Notes

Channel IDs start with C (public), G (private/group), or D (DM)
User IDs start with U, Team IDs start with T
Message timestamps (ts) are used as unique identifiers
Use mrkdwn type for Slack-flavored markdown formatting
Thread replies use thread_ts to reference the parent message
IMPORTANT: When using curl commands, use curl -g when URLs contain brackets (fields[], sort[], records[]) to disable glob parsing
IMPORTANT: When piping curl output to jq or other commands, environment variables like $MATON_API_KEY may not expand correctly in some shell environments. You may get "Invalid API key" errors when piping.

Error Handling

Status	Meaning
400	Missing Slack connection
401	Invalid or missing Maton API key
429	Rate limited (10 req/sec per account)
4xx/5xx	Passthrough error from Slack API

Troubleshooting: API Key Issues

Check that the MATON_API_KEY environment variable is set:

echo $MATON_API_KEY

Verify the API key is valid by listing connections:

python <<'EOF'
import urllib.request, os, json
req = urllib.request.Request('https://ctrl.maton.ai/connections')
req.add_header('Authorization', f'Bearer {os.environ["MATON_API_KEY"]}')
print(json.dumps(json.load(urllib.request.urlopen(req)), indent=2))
EOF

Troubleshooting: Invalid App Name

Ensure your URL path starts with slack. For example:

Correct: https://gateway.maton.ai/slack/api/chat.postMessage
Incorrect: https://gateway.maton.ai/api/chat.postMessage