Search Slack messages, channels and people

slackcli search covers messages, channels, and people. Every subcommand accepts --workspace <id|name> and --json; with --json, --fields trims each result to the fields you name (--fields ts,user,text,channel.name,permalink).

search messages

slackcli search messages "deployment failed"
slackcli search messages "release" --in=engineering --from=rafael
slackcli search messages "incident" --limit=50 --sort=score
slackcli search messages "after:2026-07-01 has:link" --json
slackcli search messages --from=rafael --sort=timestamp --limit=1

Option	Default	Purpose
--in <channel>	—	Shorthand for the in: operator
--from <user>	—	Shorthand for the from: operator
--limit <number>	20	Results per page
--page <number>	1	Which page
--sort <field>	timestamp	score or timestamp
--sort-dir <dir>	desc	asc or desc

The query is passed to Slack, so all of its search operators work: in:, from:, before:, after:, on:, during:, has:, is:, with:. --in and --from are just conveniences appended to the query.

The positional query is optional when at least one of --in/--from is given, so you can search by filter alone (search messages --from=rafael). A call with neither a query nor a filter fails with invalid_input.

When more pages exist, the next-page command is printed. In --json mode the page and pages fields carry the same information. The JSON query field is the full query sent to Slack, including any in:/from: operators appended from --in/--from.

In all three subcommands, a search with no results prints nothing on stdout, even with --json, and exits 0.

Standard bot tokens (xoxb-*) cannot call search.messages at all — Slack restricts it to user tokens. Use a xoxp-* token or browser auth.

search channels

slackcli search channels platform
slackcli search channels incident --limit=50 --json

With browser auth this calls Slack’s own search backend (search.modules), which ranks the results; total is Slack’s match count and can exceed the channels returned. With a standard token there is no equivalent API, so SlackCLI lists up to 1000 non-archived channels the token can see (one conversations.list call) and keeps those whose name, topic, or purpose contains the query (case-insensitive) — correct, but slower on large workspaces, capped at that 1000, and total is just the number returned.

search people

slackcli search people rafael
slackcli search people "@example.com" --limit=50
slackcli search people rafael --resolve-fields --json

The same auth-type split applies: browser auth uses Slack’s search backend (search.modules); standard auth lists the first 1000 users (one users.list call) and keeps those whose username, real name, display name, or email contains the query (case-insensitive), skipping deactivated accounts and bots.

--resolve-fields labels each result’s custom profile fields (Xf… ID → human label) via one cached team.profile.get call — the same shared resolver used by users info and users list. Labels only: field values that are user IDs (Manager, Direct Reports) stay as U… IDs.