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---
name: slack-docs
description: "Search and read the official Slack platform documentation at docs.slack.dev. Use this skill to answer conceptual or how-to questions about Slack features like the Events API, OAuth, Socket Mode, app manifests, webhooks, modals, and App Home. You can also use it to look up, fetch, or summarize specific guide pages from provided docs.slack.dev links."
argument-hint: "[topic or docs.slack.dev URL]"
---

# Slack Platform Documentation

Help the developer **find** the right page on the official Slack documentation site (`https://docs.slack.dev`) and **read** it as clean markdown, so answers come from the live docs rather than memory. The site exposes three machine-readable surfaces an agent can use directly, with no authentication and no Slack workspace:

- A **search API method**: `GET https://docs.slack.dev/api/v1/search?query=<q>&category=<c>` returns ranked page hits as JSON. Scope every search with a `category` (guides, reference, a specific SDK, etc.); an uncategorized search skews heavily toward SDK pages.
- **Per-page markdown**: every page is available at its URL **+ `.md`** (e.g. `/quickstart.md`).
- **Index files**: `/llms.txt` (a curated overview) and `/llms-sitemap.md` (a list of every markdown page).

If `$0` is provided, it is either a `docs.slack.dev` URL (jump to the **Fast Path**) or a topic to search (start at **Step 1**). For a broad "how do I build X on Slack?" question rather than one specific page, read `https://docs.slack.dev/llms.txt` first; it is a curated, LLM-oriented overview of the platform and the recommended build path.

> **Critical rules:**
>
> - The docs are the **source of truth**. Do not answer a factual question about the Slack platform from memory; discover the page, fetch it, then answer from what it says.
> - Prefer the **`.md` version** of any page over the HTML version. It is cleaner for reading and quoting.
> - Every fetched markdown page begins with a `Source: <url>` line. Keep that URL so you can cite the page back to the developer.

> **DO NOT rules:**
>
> - DO NOT invent or guess documentation URLs. Get them from the search API, the sitemap, or a link the developer gave you then verify by fetching.
> - DO NOT paraphrase a page you have not actually fetched. If a fetch fails, say so rather than filling the gap from memory.
> - DO NOT assume every URL has a `.md` version. If a fetch returns an error, fall back to the search API or the sitemap (Step 1) rather than guessing another URL.

---

## Fast Path (the developer already has a URL)

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💡 (Lower priority) The "drop #anchor, append .md, WebFetch" logic is duplicated here and in Step 2. Consider making Step 2 the single home for path→.md→fetch and having the Fast Path just hand off to it

Goal is to have less to maintain

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brilliant. made it so!


If the developer pasted a `https://docs.slack.dev/...` link, skip discovery and go straight to **Step 2** to fetch and read it.

---

## Step 1: Discover the Page (search)

Use the docs **search API** to find candidate pages. WebFetch (or `curl` via the Bash tool) this URL, with the query URL-encoded and a `category` to scope the results:

```
https://docs.slack.dev/api/v1/search?query=<url-encoded query>&category=<category>&limit=5
```

**Always start with a `category`.** An uncategorized search is dominated by SDK reference pages (a query like `socket mode` or `oauth` can return a top 10 that is entirely Bolt/Node pages), which buries the conceptual and reference content most questions are actually about. Pick the starting category from the developer's intent:

- **`guides`** — the default for "how do I…", "what is…", and conceptual platform questions (Events API, OAuth, Socket Mode, manifests, modals, App Home). Start here when in doubt.
- **`reference`** — for a specific method, event, scope, object, or Block Kit element, especially an exact name like `chat.postMessage`.
- **A tool/SDK category** (`python`, `javascript`, `java`, `slack_cli`, `slack_github_action`, `deno_slack_sdk`) — only once you know the developer's tool. See **Step 3**.

So `socket mode` as a concept → `https://docs.slack.dev/api/v1/search?query=socket%20mode&category=guides&limit=5`.

The response is JSON:

```json
{

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💡 (Lower priority)

Verified live: a socket mode search actually returns SDK pages (/tools/java-slack-sdk/…, /tools/node-slack-sdk/…) above the events-api guide shown here. 🤔

Claude claims "The example oversells the ranking.", we might need to improve the search endpoint 😅

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maybe quick fix is to have it filter to guides - there is a filter param in endpoint

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jk i made a filter on site but not on endpoint hmmmm

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no longer jk, aded filter to endpoint and then told it to filter to guides

"total_results": 12,
"results": [
{ "url": "/apis/events-api/using-socket-mode", "title": "Using Socket Mode" }
],
"limit": 5
}
```

Scan `results` for the best `title`/`url` match, then read it in **Step 2**. A query is **required**; calling the endpoint with no `query` returns a `400` with an `error` field.

Full set of categories:

| Category | Scopes results to |
|----------|-------------------|
| `guides` | Conceptual and how-to guides |
| `reference` | API reference: methods, events, scopes, objects, Block Kit |
| `changelog` | Changelog and release notes |
| `python` | Python tools (Bolt for Python, Python Slack SDK) |
| `javascript` | JavaScript tools (Bolt for JS, Node Slack SDK) |
| `java` | Java tools (Bolt for Java, Java Slack SDK) |
| `slack_cli` | Slack CLI docs |
| `slack_github_action` | Slack Send GitHub Action docs |
| `deno_slack_sdk` | Deno Slack SDK docs |

If a categorized search returns no good hit, widen it: try the other likely category (`guides` ⇄ `reference`), then drop `category` entirely as a last resort. An unrecognized value returns a `400` with an `error` field listing the valid categories, so re-run with one of those or with no category.

**Fallbacks** when search does not surface a good hit, or returns a `500`/temporary error (the endpoint is rate-limited and cached ~5 minutes):

- WebFetch `https://docs.slack.dev/llms-sitemap.md`, a flat list of every documentation page's `.md` URL, and scan it for the relevant path.
- For API reference lookups, the enriched index pages are often faster: `https://docs.slack.dev/reference/methods.md`, `.../events.md`, `.../scopes.md`, `.../objects.md`, and `.../block-kit.md` each list every item with a one-line description and a `.md` link.
- If the developer has the Slack CLI, `slack docs search "<query>"` does the same discovery from the terminal (see the `slack:slack-cli` skill).

---

## Step 2: Read the Page (fetch markdown)

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🤔 slack-cli vs slack-docs overlap

Needs a boundary decision (the skill-slack-cli-socket-mode failure). We previously expected slack-cli for "Search the Slack developer documentation...", but slack-docs is arguably the better pick

slack-cli's own description still claims "searching the Slack developer documentation for any topic (socket mode, the Events API, OAuth, …)", which is now redundant with this skill.

Maybe we should move general doc-search to slack-docs and narrow the slack-cli's description to "search docs from the terminal via slack docs search". Then update the skill-slack-cli-socket-mode scenario's expected_tool to slack-docs.

Given a page reference (a `url` from Step 1, or a link the developer pasted), read its markdown:

1. Normalize the reference to its `.md` URL:
- A site-relative path from Step 1 (e.g. `/apis/events-api/using-socket-mode`): prepend `https://docs.slack.dev`.
- A full URL the developer pasted: drop any `#anchor` first.
- Append `.md`, e.g. `…/using-socket-mode` → `https://docs.slack.dev/apis/events-api/using-socket-mode.md`.
The server lowercases `.md` requests, so casing does not matter: `chat.postMessage.md` and `chat.postmessage.md` both resolve.
2. **WebFetch** it. The page opens with `Source: <original-url>`; the rest is the page body in markdown.
3. Answer the developer from the fetched content, and cite the `Source` URL.

If a page is long and the developer asked something narrow, fetch it and quote only the relevant section rather than dumping the whole page.

---

## Step 3: Tool and SDK Documentation

Implementation details differ significantly between the official tools, so **establish which one the developer is using first**, then scope your reading to that tool's doc subtree. Each lives under `https://docs.slack.dev/tools/<name>` and its pages are fetchable as `.md` like any other (e.g. `https://docs.slack.dev/tools/bolt-js/concepts.md`). If the developer has not said, ask before assuming.

| Tool | Docs path | Search `category` | Use when the developer… |
|------|-----------|-------------------|--------------------------|
| **Slack CLI** | `/tools/slack-cli` | `slack_cli` | scaffolds, runs, or manages an app from the terminal; mentions `slack` commands or app manifests |
| **Bolt for JavaScript** | `/tools/bolt-js` | `javascript` | builds an app in Node/TypeScript with the Bolt framework |
| **Bolt for Python** | `/tools/bolt-python` | `python` | builds an app in Python with the Bolt framework |
| **Bolt for Java** | `/tools/java-slack-sdk` | `java` | builds an app in Java with Bolt (Bolt for Java lives in the Java SDK docs) |
| **Node Slack SDK** | `/tools/node-slack-sdk` | `javascript` | wants lower-level Node clients (`@slack/web-api`, `@slack/socket-mode`) without the full Bolt framework |
| **Python Slack SDK** | `/tools/python-slack-sdk` | `python` | wants the lower-level Python client without Bolt |
| **Java Slack SDK** | `/tools/java-slack-sdk` | `java` | wants Java clients, or is using Bolt for Java |
| **Slack Send GitHub Action** | `/tools/slack-github-action` | `slack_github_action` | sends data to Slack from a GitHub Actions workflow |

Once you know the tool, narrow discovery with the matching `category` from Step 1, e.g. `…?query=middleware&category=javascript`. Note the languages group: both Bolt for JavaScript and the Node Slack SDK fall under `javascript` (likewise `python` and `java` each cover their Bolt framework plus lower-level SDK), so the category scopes to the language family, not a single subtree.

**Bolt** is the framework built upon the matching language **SDK**. When unsure which subtree a topic lives in, fall back to the search API (Step 1) as it indexes all of these.
2 changes: 1 addition & 1 deletion tests/config.py
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PLUGIN_NAME = json.loads(PLUGIN_MANIFEST.read_text())["name"]

# Skill inventory (single source of truth)
EXPECTED_SKILLS = ("create-slack-app", "block-kit", "slack-api", "slack-cli")
EXPECTED_SKILLS = ("create-slack-app", "block-kit", "slack-api", "slack-cli", "slack-docs")

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YESSSSSSSSS


# Ollama judge model
OLLAMA_MODEL = os.environ.get("OLLAMA_MODEL_NAME", "gemma4")
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46 changes: 46 additions & 0 deletions tests/eval/skills/test_slack_docs.py
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from deepeval import assert_test
from deepeval.metrics import ToolCorrectnessMetric
from deepeval.test_case import LLMTestCase, ToolCall

from tests.config import OLLAMA_MODEL
from tests.skill import load_skill
from tests.support.ollama import NoThinkOllamaModel

PROMPT = "How does Socket Mode work in Slack? Point me to the docs."


class TestSlackDocs:

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Praise 🙏

def setup_method(self):
self.skill = load_skill("slack-docs")
self.model = NoThinkOllamaModel(model=OLLAMA_MODEL)

def test_skill_is_usable(self):
skill_tool = ToolCall(
name=self.skill.metadata.name,
description=self.skill.metadata.description,
input_parameters={"request": PROMPT},
output=self.skill.body,
)

expected_tool = ToolCall(
name=self.skill.metadata.name,
input_parameters={"request": PROMPT},
output=self.skill.body,
)

response, _ = self.model.generate(
f"You have access to the following skill:\n\n"
f"Name: {skill_tool.name}\n"
f"Description: {skill_tool.description}\n\n"
f"User request: {PROMPT}"
)

test_case = LLMTestCase(
input=PROMPT,
actual_output=response,
tools_called=[skill_tool],
expected_tools=[expected_tool],
)

metric = ToolCorrectnessMetric(model=self.model, threshold=0.8)
assert_test(test_case, [metric])