Slack Search

This skill provides guidance for effectively searching Slack to find messages, files, and information.

When to Use

Apply this skill whenever you need to find information in Slack, including when a user asks you to locate messages, conversations, files, or people, or when you need to gather context before answering a question about what's happening in Slack.

Search Tools Overview

Tool	Use When
`slack_search_public`	Searching public channels only. Does not require user consent.
`slack_search_public_and_private`	Searching all channels including private, DMs, and group DMs. Requires user consent.
`slack_search_channels`	Finding channels by name or description.
`slack_search_users`	Finding people by name, email, or role.

Search Strategy

Start Broad, Then Narrow

Begin with a simple keyword or natural language question.
If too many results, add filters (
```
in:
```
,
```
from:
```
, date ranges).
If too few results, remove filters and try synonyms or related terms.

Choose the Right Search Mode

Natural language questions (e.g., "What is the deadline for project X?"): Best for fuzzy, conceptual searches where you don't know exact keywords.
Keyword search (e.g.,
```
project X deadline
```
): Best for finding specific, exact content.

Use Multiple Searches

Don't rely on a single search. Break complex questions into smaller searches:

Search for the topic first
Then search for specific people's contributions
Then search in specific channels

Search Modifiers Reference

Location Filters

```
in:channel-name
```
: Search within a specific channel
```
in:<#C123456>
```
: Search in channel by ID
```
-in:channel-name
```
: Exclude a channel
```
in:<@U123456>
```
or
```
in:@username
```
: Search in DMs with a user

User Filters

```
from:<@U123456>
```
: Messages from a specific user (by ID)
```
from:username
```
: Messages from a user (by Slack username)
```
to:<@U123456>
```
: Messages sent to a specific user
```
to:me
```
: Messages sent directly to you
```
creator:@username
```
: Canvases created by a specific person

Content Filters

```
is:thread
```
: Only threaded messages
```
is:saved
```
: Only your saved messages
```
has:pin
```
: Pinned messages
```
has:link
```
: Messages containing links
```
has:file
```
: Messages with file attachments
```
has::emoji:
```
: Messages with a specific reaction
```
hasmy::emoji:
```
: Messages you reacted to with a specific reaction

Date Filters

```
before:YYYY-MM-DD
```
: Messages before a date
```
after:YYYY-MM-DD
```
: Messages after a date
```
on:YYYY-MM-DD
```
: Messages on a specific date
```
during:month
```
: Messages during a specific month (e.g.,
```
during:january
```
)

Text Matching

```
"exact phrase"
```
: Match an exact phrase
```
-word
```
: Exclude messages containing a word
```
wild*
```
: Wildcard matching (minimum 3 characters before
```
*
```
)

File Search

To search for files, set the

content_types="files"

parameter and use a

type:

filter in the query:

type:images

type:documents

type:pdfs

type:spreadsheets

type:presentations

type:canvases

type:lists

type:emails

type:audio

type:videos

Example:

content_types="files" type:pdfs budget after:2025-01-01

All the standard modifiers above (

in:

from:

, dates, etc.) work with file searches too.

Useful Parameters

Beyond the query string, the search tools accept parameters that materially improve results:

```
sort
```
:
```
score
```
(relevance, default) or
```
timestamp
```
(newest first); pair with
```
sort_dir
```
(
```
asc
```
/
```
desc
```
).
```
content_types
```
:
```
messages
```
(default) or
```
files
```
.
```
only_my_channels
```
: restrict to channels you're a member of.
```
limit
```
: results per page (capped at 20); paginate with the returned
```
cursor
```
.

Following Up on Results

After finding relevant messages:

Use
```
slack_read_thread
```
to get the full thread context for any threaded message.
Use
```
slack_read_channel
```
with
```
oldest
```
/
```
latest
```
timestamps to read surrounding messages for context.
Use
```
slack_read_user_profile
```
to identify who a user is when their ID appears in results.
Use
```
slack_read_file
```
to read the contents of a file surfaced by a file search.
Use
```
slack_list_channel_members
```
to see who is in a channel you found.

Common Pitfalls

Boolean operators don't work.
```
AND
```
,
```
OR
```
,
```
NOT
```
are not supported. Use spaces (implicit AND) and
```
-
```
for exclusion. (Repeating the same modifier, e.g. two
```
from:
```
, ORs those values together.)
Parentheses don't work. Don't try to group search terms with
```
()
```
.
Search is not real-time. Very recent messages (last few seconds) may not appear in search results. Use
```
slack_read_channel
```
for the most recent messages.
Private channel access. Use
```
slack_search_public_and_private
```
when you need to include private channels, but note this requires user consent.

Notes

Scope: this skill owns searching workspace content: messages, files, channels, and people inside Slack. To search and read the official Slack platform documentation at docs.slack.dev (conceptual and how-to questions about Slack features), use the
```
slack:slack-docs
```
skill instead.

slack-search

NPX Install

Tags

SKILL.md Content