Slack MCP Server AI Agent Template (Bolt for JavaScript)

⚠️ Beta Notice: This template demonstrates MCP functionality that is currently in beta and not yet widely available to all developers. The functionality shown here is being tested and may change before general availability.

This Bolt for JavaScript template demonstrates how to build AI Apps in Slack that leverage the Slack MCP server.

Models from OpenAI are used and can be customized for prompts of all kinds.

Setup

Before getting started, make sure you have a development workspace where you have permissions to install apps. If you don’t have one setup, go ahead and create one.

Developer Program

Join the Slack Developer Program for exclusive access to sandbox environments for building and testing your apps, tooling, and resources created to help you build and grow.

Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, and Other Coding Agents

Install the Slack MCP and Skills Plugin so your coding agent can create, run, and deploy Slack apps, look up Web API methods and scopes, and build Block Kit without guessing.

Claude Code

Run this in a Claude Code session:

/plugin install slack@claude-plugins-official

Codex

Run this in your terminal:

codex plugin marketplace add slackapi/slack-skills-plugin
codex plugin add slack@slack

Cursor

Run this in a Cursor Agent chat:

/add-plugin slack

Other agents

Install the skills with npx skills, using your agent’s identifier:

npx skills add slackapi/slack-skills-plugin -y -a 

# For example, OpenCode
npx skills add slackapi/slack-skills-plugin -y -a opencode

Installation

Create a Slack App

1. Open https://api.slack.com/apps/new and choose “From an app manifest”
2. Choose the workspace you want to install the application to
3. Copy the contents of manifest.json into the text box that says *Paste your manifest code here* (within the JSON tab) and click Next
4. Review the configuration and click Create

Clone the project

# Clone this project onto your machine
git clone https://github.com/slack-samples/bolt-js-slack-mcp-server.git

Environment Variables

Before you can run the app, you’ll need to store some environment variables.

1. Rename .env.sample to .env.
2. Open your apps setting page from this list, click Basic Information in the left hand menu, then copy the following values into your .env file:

SLACK_CLIENT_ID=YOUR_APP_CLIENT_ID
SLACK_CLIENT_SECRET=YOUR_APP_CLIENT_SECRET
SLACK_SIGNING_SECRET=YOUR_APP_SIGNING_SECRET
SLACK_STATE_SECRET='your-state-secret'