Slack Chat Integration with Novu

Connect Slack to Novu to send chat notifications through workflows using OAuth. Deliver messages to channels or DMs and manage subscriber Slack credentials.

This feature is currently in public beta, please contact us at [e-mail] to enable it for your organization.

The Slack chat integration lets your application send notifications directly to your subscribers’ Slack workspaces using their own Slack accounts and workspace permissions. With this integration, Novu can deliver messages to Slack channels, direct messages (DMs) to Slack users, and incoming webhooks. For incoming webhooks, Novu can use Slack’s native channel picker during OAuth.

Novu handles the full lifecycle of Slack connections and message delivery. You define where notifications should be delivered, and Novu automatically routes each message to the correct Slack workspace, channel, or user.

This guide walks you through setting up Slack chat, connect workspaces, and deliver notifications to the exact Slack destinations your users expect it.

Check out the agents documentation for more information on how to build agents using Slack.

Configure a Slack app

Before integrating Slack chat with Novu, you must create and configure a Slack app. The Slack app manages the OAuth permissions, bot token scopes, and redirect URLs needed for Novu to connect to your users’ workspaces securely.

Create a Slack app

First, you need to create a Slack app. This provides you with the credential you need to create a Slack integration in Novu.

1. Open the Slack API dashboard

   Sign in at the Slack API dashboard.

2. Create an app

   In Slack, click Create an App to start a new app registration.

3. Select From scratch

   Choose From scratch and enter an app name and workspace.

4. Enter app name and workspace

   Enter an app name of your choice in the App Name field. Pick a Slack workspace to develop your app in.

   
5. Create the app

   Click Create App. You’ll be directed to the Basic Application for the Slack app which contains the credentials you need for configuring Slack chat inside Novu:

   • App ID
   • Client ID
   • Client Secret

Configure scopes (Permissions)

Your app needs permission to perform actions like sending messages or reading channel lists.

1. Open OAuth & Permissions

   In the sidebar, select OAuth & Permissions.

2. Open Scopes

   Scroll down to the Scopes section.

3. Add an OAuth Scope

   Under Bot Token Scopes, click Add an OAuth Scope.

   
4. Add recommended scopes

   • chat:write
   • chat:write.public
   • channels:read
   • groups:read
   • users:read
   • users:read.email
   • (optional) incoming-webhook if you want Slack’s built-in channel picker.

These scopes are required for Novu to send messages, read channels and read users (for DMs and pickers). If you remove some of them, then certain features like channel or user selection might not work.

Set the redirect URL

This tells Slack where to send the user after they successfully authorize your app.

1. Open OAuth & Permissions

   In the sidebar, select OAuth & Permissions.

2. Open Redirect URLs

   Scroll down to the Redirect URLs section.

3. Add a redirect URL

   
4. Paste the Novu callback URL

   Paste the Novu OAuth callback URL. Add the redirect URL that matches your Novu region:

   US region

   https://api.novu.co/v1/integrations/chat/oauth/callback
   

   https://api.eu.novu.co/v1/integrations/chat/oauth/callback
   
5. Save the URLs

Configure Slack integration in Novu

Once your Slack app is set up, the next step is to configure the Slack Chat integration inside Novu.

1. Log in to the Novu dashboard

   Open the Novu Dashboard.

2. Open Integrations Store

   In the sidebar, click Integrations Store.

3. Connect a provider

   In the Integration Store, click Connect provider to begin setup.

4. Select Slack
5. Fill in credentials

   Fill in the required fields using the credentials from your Slack app:

   • Application Id: Paste your Slack app App ID.
   • Client ID: Paste your Slack App Client ID.
   • Client Secret: Paste your Slack App Client Secret.
   • Redirect URL (Optional): Enter the URL where you want users to be redirected to after they successfully connect their workspace. If there is no redirect URL, then Novu closes the tab immediately after the OAuth flow completes.
6. Create the integration

   Click Create Integration to create the Slack integration. Once saved, Novu is able to:

   • Generate OAuth (Connect Slack) URLs for your users
   • Receive Slack’s OAuth callback.
   • Store workspace tokens as connections.

You are now ready to implement the frontend flow to let users connect their workspaces.

Let users connect their Slack workspace

To send messages to Slack, your users must first authorize Novu to access one of their Slack workspaces. This authorization happens through Slack’s OAuth flow, which Novu generates and manages for you.

Generate the OAuth URL

When a user clicks Connect Slack in your application, your backend should request a unique authorization URL from Novu.

This URL is specific to the Subscriber or the Context (Tenant) it will be generated for.

The generated OAuth URL is valid for only 5 minutes. Do not cache this URL; generate it dynamically when the user initiates the flow.

Node.js

import { Novu } from '@novu/api';

const novu = new Novu({ secretKey: "<NOVU_SECRET_KEY>" });

const response = await novu.integrations.generateChatOAuthUrl({
  integrationIdentifier: 'slack',
  subscriberId: 'subscriberId',
  context: {
    "tenant": "orgId"
},
});

Python

import os
from novu_py import Novu

with Novu(secret_key=os.getenv("NOVU_SECRET_KEY", "")) as novu:
    response = novu.integrations.generate_chat_o_auth_url(generate_chat_oauth_url_request_dto={
        "integration_identifier": "slack",
        "subscriber_id": "subscriberId",
        context={
        "tenant": "orgId"
},
    })

Go

import (
    "context"
    "os"

    novugo "github.com/novuhq/novu-go"
    "github.com/novuhq/novu-go/models/components"
)

s := novugo.New(novugo.WithSecurity(os.Getenv("NOVU_SECRET_KEY")))

res, err := s.Integrations.GenerateChatOAuthURL(context.Background(), components.GenerateChatOauthURLRequestDto{
    IntegrationIdentifier: "slack",
    SubscriberID: novugo.String("subscriberId"),
}, nil)

PHP

use novu;
use novu\Models\Components;

$sdk = novu\Novu::builder()->setSecurity('<NOVU_SECRET_KEY>')->build();
$response = $sdk->integrations->generateChatOAuthUrl(
    generateChatOauthUrlRequestDto: new Components\GenerateChatOauthUrlRequestDto(
        integrationIdentifier: 'slack',
        subscriberId: 'subscriberId',
    ),
);

.NET

using Novu;
using Novu.Models.Components;

var sdk = new NovuSDK(secretKey: "<NOVU_SECRET_KEY>");
var response = await sdk.Integrations.GenerateChatOAuthUrlAsync(
    generateChatOauthUrlRequestDto: new GenerateChatOauthUrlRequestDto() {
        IntegrationIdentifier = "slack",
        SubscriberId = "subscriberId",
    });

Java

import co.novu.Novu;
import co.novu.models.components.*;

Novu novu = Novu.builder().secretKey("<NOVU_SECRET_KEY>").build();
var response = novu.integrations().generateChatOAuthUrl()
    .body(GenerateChatOauthUrlRequestDto.builder()
        .integrationIdentifier("slack")
        .subscriberId("subscriberId")
        .build())
    .call();

cURL

curl -L -X POST 'https://api.novu.co/v1/integrations/chat/oauth' \
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
-H 'Authorization: ApiKey <NOVU_SECRET_KEY>' \
-d '{
  "integrationIdentifier": "slack",
  "subscriberId": "subscriberId",
  "context": {
    "tenant": "orgId"
  }
}'

Your application can support multiple Slack workspace connections per user or per tenant by triggering separate OAuth flows.

Novu allows one connection per (integration + subscriber + context). To connect multiple workspaces, provide different combinations of subscriber or context.

Redirect the user

Once your backend returns the oauthUrl, open it in a new tab or window.

window.open(oauthUrl, '_blank');

Slack then guides the user through:

1. Review permissions

   Reviewing your app’s requested permissions

2. Approve authorization

   Approving the authorization

3. Redirect to Novu

   Redirecting back to Novu’s callback URL

After the user approves access, Novu handles the rest of the OAuth flow automatically.

1. Novu exchanges the code

   Novu stores the Slack access token for the connected workspace.

2. Novu creates a connection

   Novu creates a Slack connection for that workspace, it is referenced by connectionIdentifier when creating endpoints.You can also provider a custom connectionIdentifier to the generateChatOAuthUrl() and then connection with such identifier will be created instead of randomly generated one.

Alternative: handle OAuth yourself. Instead of generateChatOAuthUrl(), you can run the Slack OAuth flow with your own app, use the access token with Slack’s APIs directly, then register the workspace with Novu via channelConnections.create (or POST /v1/channel-connections):

await novu.channelConnections.create({
  integrationIdentifier: 'slack',
  subscriberId: 'user-123',        // provide subscriberId, context, or both — at least one is required
  context: { tenant: 'acme' },     // scope to a tenant (required when subscriberId is omitted)
  workspace: {
    id: authData.team.id,          // Slack workspace ID from OAuth
    name: authData.team.name,
  },
  auth: {
    accessToken: authData.access_token,
  },
});

Provide at least one of subscriberId or context — same as the Novu-managed OAuth flow.

Choose delivery destinations

After a workspace is connected, you or users decide where in Slack to send the messages. This can either be a Slack channel, to a user or an incoming webhook URLs. After the delivery location has been selected, a Slack endpoint is then created for that location.

Slack channel

This is the typical flow for sending notifications to public or private channels.

1. Get the channel ID

   curl -X GET "https://slack.com/api/conversations.list" \
     -H "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR_BOT_TOKEN>"
   

   To learn more about using Slack conversations API to either get public or private channels, refer Slack documentation.

2. Create the endpoint

   Node.js

   import { Novu } from '@novu/api';
   
   const novu = new Novu({ secretKey: "<NOVU_SECRET_KEY>" });
   
   await novu.channelEndpoints.create({
     subscriberId: 'user-123',
     integrationIdentifier: 'slack',
     connectionIdentifier: 'conn_slack_acme',
     context: { tenant: 'acme' },
     type: 'slack_channel',
     endpoint: { channelId: 'C012345' },
   });
   

   Python

   import os
   from novu_py import Novu
   
   with Novu(secret_key=os.getenv("NOVU_SECRET_KEY", "")) as novu:
       novu.channel_endpoints.create(request_body={
           "subscriber_id": "user-123",
           "integration_identifier": "slack",
           "connection_identifier": "conn_slack_acme",
           "context": {"tenant": "acme"},
           "type": "slack_channel",
           "endpoint": {"channel_id": "C012345"},
       })
   

   Go

   import (
       "context"
       "os"
   
       novugo "github.com/novuhq/novu-go"
       "github.com/novuhq/novu-go/models/components"
       "github.com/novuhq/novu-go/models/operations"
   )
   
   s := novugo.New(novugo.WithSecurity(os.Getenv("NOVU_SECRET_KEY")))
   
   res, err := s.ChannelEndpoints.Create(context.Background(), operations.CreateChannelEndpointsControllerCreateChannelEndpointRequestBodySlackChannel(
       components.CreateSlackChannelEndpointDto{
           SubscriberID: "user-123",
           IntegrationIdentifier: "slack",
           ConnectionIdentifier: novugo.String("conn_slack_acme"),
           Type: components.CreateSlackChannelEndpointDtoTypeSlackChannel,
           Endpoint: components.SlackChannelEndpointDto{ChannelID: "C012345"},
       },
   ), nil)
   

   PHP

   use novu;
   use novu\Models\Components;
   
   $sdk = novu\Novu::builder()->setSecurity('<NOVU_SECRET_KEY>')->build();
   $sdk->channelEndpoints->create(
       requestBody: new Components\CreateSlackChannelEndpointDto(
           subscriberId: 'user-123',
           integrationIdentifier: 'slack',
           connectionIdentifier: 'conn_slack_acme',
           type: Components\CreateSlackChannelEndpointDtoType::SlackChannel,
           endpoint: new Components\SlackChannelEndpointDto(channelId: 'C012345'),
       ),
   );
   

   .NET

   using Novu;
   using Novu.Models.Components;
   
   var sdk = new NovuSDK(secretKey: "<NOVU_SECRET_KEY>");
   await sdk.ChannelEndpoints.CreateAsync(
       requestBody: CreateSlackChannelEndpointDto.CreateSlackChannel(
           new CreateSlackChannelEndpointDto() {
               SubscriberId = "user-123",
               IntegrationIdentifier = "slack",
               ConnectionIdentifier = "conn_slack_acme",
               Type = CreateSlackChannelEndpointDtoType.SlackChannel,
               Endpoint = new SlackChannelEndpointDto() { ChannelId = "C012345" },
           }));
   

   Java

   import co.novu.Novu;
   import co.novu.models.components.*;
   
   Novu novu = Novu.builder().secretKey("<NOVU_SECRET_KEY>").build();
   novu.channelEndpoints().create()
       .requestBody(CreateSlackChannelEndpointDto.builder()
           .subscriberId("user-123")
           .integrationIdentifier("slack")
           .connectionIdentifier("conn_slack_acme")
           .type(CreateSlackChannelEndpointDtoType.SLACK_CHANNEL)
           .endpoint(SlackChannelEndpointDto.builder().channelId("C012345").build())
           .build())
       .call();
   

   cURL

   curl -L -X POST 'https://api.novu.co/v1/channel-endpoints' \
   -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
   -H 'Authorization: ApiKey <NOVU_SECRET_KEY>' \
   -d '{
     "subscriberId": "user-123",
     "integrationIdentifier": "slack",
     "connectionIdentifier": "conn_slack_acme",
     "context": {
       "tenant": "acme"
     },
     "type": "slack_channel",
     "endpoint": {
       "channelId": "C012345"
     }
   }'
   

Slack user

Use this to send personal messages and notifications directly to a specific user.

1. Get the Slack user ID

   curl -X GET "https://slack.com/api/users.list" \
     -H "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR_BOT_TOKEN>"
   

   For example, you can look up a Slack user ID by their email address, if you requested the users:read.email scope.

   To learn more about using Slack users.list method, refer Slack documentation.

2. Create the endpoint

   Node.js

   import { Novu } from '@novu/api';
   
   const novu = new Novu({ secretKey: "<NOVU_SECRET_KEY>" });
   
   await novu.channelEndpoints.create({
     type: 'slack_user',
     subscriberId: 'user-123',
     integrationIdentifier: 'slack',
     connectionIdentifier: 'conn_slack_acme',
     context: { tenant: 'acme' },
     endpoint: { userId: 'U01234567' },
   });
   

   Python

   import os
   from novu_py import Novu
   
   with Novu(secret_key=os.getenv("NOVU_SECRET_KEY", "")) as novu:
       novu.channel_endpoints.create(request_body={
           "type": "slack_user",
           "subscriber_id": "user-123",
           "integration_identifier": "slack",
           "connection_identifier": "conn_slack_acme",
           "context": {"tenant": "acme"},
           "endpoint": {"user_id": "U01234567"},
       })
   

   Go

   import (
       "context"
       "os"
   
       novugo "github.com/novuhq/novu-go"
       "github.com/novuhq/novu-go/models/components"
       "github.com/novuhq/novu-go/models/operations"
   )
   
   s := novugo.New(novugo.WithSecurity(os.Getenv("NOVU_SECRET_KEY")))
   
   res, err := s.ChannelEndpoints.Create(context.Background(), operations.CreateChannelEndpointsControllerCreateChannelEndpointRequestBodySlackUser(
       components.CreateSlackUserEndpointDto{
           SubscriberID: "user-123",
           IntegrationIdentifier: "slack",
           ConnectionIdentifier: novugo.String("conn_slack_acme"),
           Type: components.CreateSlackUserEndpointDtoTypeSlackUser,
           Endpoint: components.SlackUserEndpointDto{UserID: "U01234567"},
       },
   ), nil)
   

   PHP

   use novu;
   use novu\Models\Components;
   
   $sdk = novu\Novu::builder()->setSecurity('<NOVU_SECRET_KEY>')->build();
   $sdk->channelEndpoints->create(
       requestBody: new Components\CreateSlackUserEndpointDto(
           subscriberId: 'user-123',
           integrationIdentifier: 'slack',
           connectionIdentifier: 'conn_slack_acme',
           type: Components\CreateSlackUserEndpointDtoType::SlackUser,
           endpoint: new Components\SlackUserEndpointDto(userId: 'U01234567'),
       ),
   );
   

   .NET

   using Novu;
   using Novu.Models.Components;
   
   var sdk = new NovuSDK(secretKey: "<NOVU_SECRET_KEY>");
   await sdk.ChannelEndpoints.CreateAsync(
       requestBody: CreateSlackUserEndpointDto.CreateSlackUser(
           new CreateSlackUserEndpointDto() {
               SubscriberId = "user-123",
               IntegrationIdentifier = "slack",
               ConnectionIdentifier = "conn_slack_acme",
               Type = CreateSlackUserEndpointDtoType.SlackUser,
               Endpoint = new SlackUserEndpointDto() { UserId = "U01234567" },
           }));
   

   Java

   import co.novu.Novu;
   import co.novu.models.components.*;
   
   Novu novu = Novu.builder().secretKey("<NOVU_SECRET_KEY>").build();
   novu.channelEndpoints().create()
       .requestBody(CreateSlackUserEndpointDto.builder()
           .subscriberId("user-123")
           .integrationIdentifier("slack")
           .connectionIdentifier("conn_slack_acme")
           .type(CreateSlackUserEndpointDtoType.SLACK_USER)
           .endpoint(SlackUserEndpointDto.builder().userId("U01234567").build())
           .build())
       .call();
   

   cURL

   curl -L -X POST 'https://api.novu.co/v1/channel-endpoints' \
   -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
   -H 'Authorization: ApiKey <NOVU_SECRET_KEY>' \
   -d '{
     "type": "slack_user",
     "subscriberId": "user-123",
     "integrationIdentifier": "slack",
     "connectionIdentifier": "conn_slack_acme",
     "context": {
       "tenant": "acme"
     },
     "endpoint": {
       "userId": "U01234567"
     }
   }'
   

Incoming webhook

If incoming-webhook scope was included when configuring the OAuth and permissions scopes in Step 1.1. Slack would show its own channel picker during the OAuth flow:

1. User selects a channel

   The subscriber picks a Slack channel where notifications should be delivered.

2. Slack returns webhook URL
3. Novu creates webhook endpoint

   Novu automatically creates a webhook endpoint for that subscriber using that URL.

You don’t need to collect channelId yourself in this mode, Slack’s native channel picker handles it.

Send notifications

Once you have at least one Slack connection, and one or more Slack endpoints. You can trigger the workflow:

Node.js

import { Novu } from '@novu/api';

const novu = new Novu({ secretKey: "<NOVU_SECRET_KEY>" });

await novu.trigger({
  workflowId: "order-shipped",
  to: { subscriberId: "user-123", },
  payload: {
    "orderNumber": "ORD-12345",
    "trackingUrl": "https://acme.com/track/123"
},
  context: {
    "tenant": "acme"
},
});

Python

import os
import novu_py
from novu_py import Novu

with Novu(secret_key=os.getenv("NOVU_SECRET_KEY", "")) as novu:
    novu.trigger(trigger_event_request_dto=novu_py.TriggerEventRequestDto(
        workflow_id="order-shipped",
        to={"subscriber_id": "user-123"},
        payload={
        "orderNumber": "ORD-12345",
        "trackingUrl": "https://acme.com/track/123"
},
        context={
        "tenant": "acme"
},
    ))

Go

import (
    "context"
    "os"

    novugo "github.com/novuhq/novu-go"
    "github.com/novuhq/novu-go/models/components"
)

s := novugo.New(novugo.WithSecurity(os.Getenv("NOVU_SECRET_KEY")))

res, err := s.Trigger(context.Background(), components.TriggerEventRequestDto{
    WorkflowID: "order-shipped",
    To: components.CreateToSubscriberPayloadDto(components.SubscriberPayloadDto{
        SubscriberID: "user-123",
    }),
    Payload: map[string]any{
    "orderNumber": "ORD-12345",
    "trackingUrl": "https://acme.com/track/123"
},
    Context: map[string]any{
    "tenant": "acme"
},
}, nil)

PHP

use novu;
use novu\Models\Components;

$sdk = novu\Novu::builder()->setSecurity('<NOVU_SECRET_KEY>')->build();

$sdk->trigger(
    triggerEventRequestDto: new Components\TriggerEventRequestDto(
        workflowId: 'order-shipped',
        to: new Components\SubscriberPayloadDto(subscriberId: 'user-123'),
        payload: {
        "orderNumber": "ORD-12345",
        "trackingUrl": "https://acme.com/track/123"
},
        context: {
        "tenant": "acme"
},
    ),
);

.NET

using Novu;
using Novu.Models.Components;

var sdk = new NovuSDK(secretKey: "<NOVU_SECRET_KEY>");

await sdk.TriggerAsync(triggerEventRequestDto: new TriggerEventRequestDto() {
    WorkflowId = "order-shipped",
    To = To.CreateSubscriberPayloadDto(new SubscriberPayloadDto() { SubscriberId = "user-123" }),
    Payload = {
    "orderNumber": "ORD-12345",
    "trackingUrl": "https://acme.com/track/123"
},
    Context = {
    "tenant": "acme"
},
});

Java

import co.novu.Novu;
import co.novu.models.components.*;

Novu novu = Novu.builder().secretKey("<NOVU_SECRET_KEY>").build();

novu.trigger()
    .body(TriggerEventRequestDto.builder()
        .workflowId("order-shipped")
        .to(To2.of(SubscriberPayloadDto.builder().subscriberId("user-123").build()))
        .payload({
        "orderNumber": "ORD-12345",
        "trackingUrl": "https://acme.com/track/123"
})
        .context({
        "tenant": "acme"
})
        .build())
    .call();

cURL

curl --location 'https://api.novu.co/v1/events/trigger' \
--header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
--header 'Authorization: ApiKey <NOVU_SECRET_KEY>' \
-d '{
    "name": "order-shipped",
    "to": [
        "user-123"
    ],
    "payload": {
        "orderNumber": "ORD-12345",
        "trackingUrl": "https://acme.com/track/123"
    },
    "context": {
        "tenant": "acme"
    }
}'

When the workflow is triggered, Novu will:

1. Find Slack endpoints

   Novu looks up Slack endpoints that match the subscriber ID and context.

2. Use the workspace connection
3. Deliver messages

   Novu sends the notification to each configured Slack destination.

Using Slack with agents

Slack is a supported agent provider. Connect your Slack app to an agent so users can message in channels or DMs and get replies in the same thread — without building Slack event handling yourself.

Build agents on Slack

Learn how Novu agents work, including managed and custom code agents.

What you get

When Slack is connected to an agent:

• Users message your app in Slack and your agent responds in the same thread
• Conversations appear in the dashboard under Agent Conversations
• Supported content includes text, markdown, files, interactive cards, reactions, and typing indicators

See agent conversations for capabilities across all providers.

Agent conversations vs. workflow notifications

Use case	What happens
Agent conversation	The user messages your Slack app and your agent replies in the same thread.
Workflow notification	You trigger a workflow with a Chat step and Novu sends a one-way message to the subscriber’s linked Slack destination.

Both can use the same Slack integration. Your agent handles back-and-forth conversations while workflows send updates such as deploy alerts to the same workspace.

Related

Agents and providers

Connect Slack and other providers to an agent.