swc-slack

Tools to streamline the use of Slack at SWC, e.g. for automating messages to course attendees.

Installation

Download and install the package using pip

git clone https://github.com/neuroinformatics-unit/swc-slack
cd swc-slack
pip install .

Set up authentication:

• Firstly, go to the Neuroinformatics Unit Slack app page (if you don't have access, contact Adam)
• Navigate to "OAuth & Permissions"
• Copy the "Bot User OAuth Token"
• Set this as an environmental variable on your machine. e.g. SLACK_BOT_TOKEN=xoxb-XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Usage

Set slack token from environmental variable

slack_token = os.environ["SLACK_BOT_TOKEN"]

Initialise Slack client

from swc_slack.utils import get_client
client = get_client(slack_token)

Search for all users that responded to a specific message with a specific reaction

channel_id = "D55JK0ABC"  # Copy a message link to find this
reaction_name = "penguin" # Can be anything

from swc_slack.messaging.read import get_message_emoji_respondents

user_list, _, _ = get_message_emoji_respondents(
    client, channel_id, text, reaction_name
)

Message a specific user

from swc_slack.messaging.write import send_message_to_user

send_message_to_user(client, UA8ABCXYZ, "Hello there!")

Message many users (with a confirmation step to prevent accidental spam)

from swc_slack.messaging.write import safe_send_message_to_users
safe_send_message_to_users(client, user_list, "Hello everyone!")
# Type "continue" at the prompt to send the message

Examples:

• Messaging all users who responded to a message with a specific reaction (e.g. as an easy way to sign up to a course).

Notes

• To find the ID of a specific channel, copy the link to a message in the channel, and the ID will be the penultimate part of the URL. e.g. https://workspace.slack.com/archives/CHANNEL_ID/xyz
• To find the ID of an individual, click on their profile within Slack, then click the three dots, and select "Copy member ID".
• Beware that Slack allows users to specify a skin tone for emojis. Therefore, an emoji with a specific skin tone will be different from the default. If relying on this, it may be easier to choose inanimate emojis.

Limitations

• I'm not currently aware of any unique message ID, so this must be searched for using text contained in the message