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

Skill content