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SlackCLI

Slack links and timestamps

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Anywhere the CLI takes a channel, user, canvas, or file ID, you can paste the Slack URL instead — the form “Copy link” actually gives you. Bare IDs keep working exactly as before.

Terminal window
# Equivalent
slackcli conversations read C1234567890
slackcli conversations read https://myteam.slack.com/archives/C1234567890
Pasted value Understood as
https://myteam.slack.com/archives/C1234567890 channel C1234567890
https://myteam.slack.com/archives/D0987654321 DM D0987654321
https://myteam.slack.com/team/U9876543210 user U9876543210
https://myteam.slack.com/docs/T012AB/F1234567890 canvas F1234567890
https://myteam.slack.com/files/U9876543210/F1234567890/report.txt file F1234567890
https://files.slack.com/files-pri/T012AB-F1234567890/download/report.txt file F1234567890

Channel names and user handles

Section titled “Channel names and user handles”

Channel and user arguments also take a name. SlackCLI looks it up and uses the ID, so you do not need a search channels call first:

Terminal window
slackcli messages send --recipient-id="#general" --message "Deploy done"
slackcli conversations read general --limit 20 --json
slackcli messages send --recipient-id=@alice --message "ping"
slackcli users info alice@example.com --json
Value Understood as
#general or general the channel named general (on a channel argument)
@alice or alice the user whose Slack handle is alice (on a user argument)
alice@example.com the user with that email address
C1234567890, @U9876543210, a Slack URL used as given — no lookup

Where it works: messages send and messages draft (--recipient-id), messages edit and messages react (--channel-id), conversations read, get, members list, members add, members remove, join and leave (<channel>, and <users...> for add/remove), canvas list and canvas read (--channel), users info, and the <users...> of usergroups add and usergroups remove. (<group> in usergroups already took a handle or name.)

Rules worth knowing:

  • Quote the #. In a shell, --recipient-id #general is a comment: the shell drops everything from the #. Write --recipient-id "#general" or --recipient-id=#general.
  • Exact matches only, case-insensitive. Channels match on the channel name among public and private, non-archived channels the identity can see; users match on the Slack handle, not the display or real name. There is no partial or fuzzy matching. An all-upper-case value of 7+ characters (GENERAL) has the shape of a Slack ID and is used as one, not looked up; names are lower-case in Slack, so write general.
  • Never a guess. A name that matches nothing exits 1 with not_found and a hint to run slackcli search channels <query> or search people <query>. A name that matches more than one thing exits 1 with invalid_input and lists the candidate IDs. Nothing is sent or changed in either case. A handle still held by a deactivated account loses to the active account with the same handle.
  • --recipient-id takes both. A bare name there is looked up as a channel and as a user. If both exist, the command refuses; write #name or @name.
  • Email needs a scope. users.lookupByEmail needs users:read.email on an app token; without it the command exits 1 with permission_denied. Pass the user ID or @handle instead.
  • Names cost calls; IDs do not. A channel name pages through conversations.list, a handle through users.list (1000 per page, paced by the rate limiter), so it can take a while on a large workspace. An ID or a Slack URL makes no extra call. With --json the resolved ID is in the output (channel_id, added, …), so a script can reuse it.

Timestamps

Section titled “Timestamps”

Timestamps work the same way — the permalink form is accepted wherever the dotted API form is:

Pasted value Understood as
p1234567890123456 1234567890.123456
1234567890123456 1234567890.123456
1234567890.123456 unchanged

--permalink

Section titled “--permalink”

For commands that target one specific message, --permalink replaces the channel and the timestamp in one go:

Terminal window
# Instead of this
slackcli messages react --channel-id=C1234567890 --timestamp=1234567890.123456 --emoji=heart


# Just paste the link
slackcli messages react --permalink="https://myteam.slack.com/archives/C1234567890/p1234567890123456" --emoji=heart

Available on messages send, messages react, messages edit, messages draft, conversations read, and conversations get.

Rules worth knowing:

  • Pass either --permalink or the explicit inputs, not both.
  • When the link points at a threaded reply, commands that take a --thread-ts correctly use the parent message, so a reply link makes you reply in the right thread rather than starting a new one.
  • If the pasted link’s workspace subdomain does not match the workspace the command will actually call, SlackCLI warns you up front instead of letting Slack answer with a confusing message_not_found. (This check only applies to browser-authenticated workspaces, which are the ones that store a URL.)

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