Slack
Ask the Warmbly assistant from Slack, work inbox replies in a Slack channel, and route notifications to the right channels.
Warmbly for Slack brings three things into the Slack workspace your team already lives in:
- The assistant. Ask the same AI assistant you use in the dashboard from a DM, Slack's assistant pane, a channel mention, or a slash command. It acts as you, with your permissions, and asks before changing anything.
- Inbox in Slack. Replies from the Unibox land in a channel of your choice, one thread per conversation, where the team can discuss, label, draft and reply.
- Notifications. Post Warmbly notifications to a default channel, route each category to its own channel, and optionally get your own as DMs.
The app's Home tab shows whether your Slack account is linked, with buttons to link or unlink, ask Warmbly, and open Warmbly.
Connect Slack
Open Integrations > Slack and select Connect. Slack asks you to pick the Slack workspace and approve the app's permissions, then returns you to Warmbly. Connecting and changing Slack settings need the Manage settings permission.
When the connection was made before Warmbly asked for a permission it now uses, the Slack panel lists the missing permissions and a Reconnect button. Reconnecting grants them and keeps your settings and linked accounts.
Self-hosted instances need a Slack app first
On a self-hosted instance the Slack card stays unavailable until the operator creates the instance's own Slack app. See Slack app.
Link your Slack account
The assistant and the inbox buttons do things in Warmbly on your behalf, so Warmbly has to know which Warmbly member you are. Linking ties your Slack account to your Warmbly account in this workspace. Until you link, the bot can post notifications and inbox replies but will not act for you.
- Message the bot, mention it, or run
/warmbly link. The bot replies with a Link your Warmbly account button. - The button opens Warmbly. Sign in if you need to, check the workspace and Slack account it names, and confirm.
- The bot sends you a DM confirming the link.
The link button works once and expires after a few minutes; ask the bot for a new one if it lapses. You can only link to a Warmbly workspace you are a member of.
A Slack account links to one Warmbly account at a time. Linking again replaces the previous link. Unlink with /warmbly unlink, from the app's Home tab, or from Integrations > Slack in Warmbly. If your membership in the workspace ends, the link stops working and the bot asks you to link again.
The assistant
Where to ask
| Where | How |
|---|---|
| Direct message | Open the Warmbly app in Slack and write in its Messages tab |
| Assistant pane | Open Warmbly from Slack's AI apps entry to chat in a side pane next to whatever you are reading. It offers a few suggested prompts to start from |
| A channel | Mention @Warmbly with your question. It answers in a thread, and you continue by replying in that thread |
| Anywhere | /warmbly <question>. The answer arrives in your DM with Warmbly |
| On a message | Choose Ask Warmbly about this from the message's More actions menu. The assistant starts a thread with that message as context |
To use it in a channel, the bot has to be a member: invite it with /invite @Warmbly. Slack offers to add it when you mention it in a channel it is not in.
Each Slack thread is one conversation. Follow-ups in the thread continue it, with everything said before.
What it can do
Everything the dashboard assistant can: find and edit contacts, read campaign stats, draft replies, manage mailboxes, and the rest of the list in What you can ask. The reply appears as one message that updates while the assistant works, with a line for each step it takes.
It runs as your linked Warmbly account with the permissions your role has at that moment. If your role cannot do something in the dashboard, the assistant cannot do it from Slack either, and a permission removed from your role takes effect on the next message.
Approvals
Reading runs straight away. A change shows an approval card in the thread with a plain-language summary and three buttons:
- Approve runs that one action.
- Deny skips it.
- Always allow approves it and every later action of that kind, as in the dashboard.
Only the person whose conversation it is can press them. Anyone else in the channel sees the card but cannot act on it.
Sending always asks
Anything that sends mail to a real recipient needs your approval every time, and Always allow is never offered for it. The card shows the full message and the sending mailbox, and only that exact message goes out.
Credits and history
A conversation in Slack costs AI credits exactly like the same conversation in the dashboard, and needs the same things: a paid plan and the Use AI permission.
Every Slack conversation is also in your assistant history in the dashboard, and the bot's reply carries an Open in Warmbly link to it. It follows the same privacy rules as any other conversation: private to you unless the workspace turned on shared history.
Where it does not answer
- Slack Connect channels. In a channel shared with another organization the assistant declines, because people outside your company would read what it says about your workspace.
- When the workspace limits it. Under Integrations > Slack, a member with Manage settings can set the assistant to On, DMs only (it answers in DMs and the assistant pane, never in channels) or Off.
Inbox in Slack
Pick an Inbox channel under Integrations > Slack and incoming mail from the Unibox is posted there, so the team can work replies without leaving Slack. Leave it empty and nothing is posted.
Everyone in the channel reads these emails
Every member of the inbox channel can read the mail posted there, including people who have no Warmbly account or no inbox access. Pick a channel whose members you would let read your inbox.
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Inbox channel | The channel conversations are posted to, picked from the list. Empty turns the inbox off |
| What to post | Replies (the default) posts human replies only: messages that answer something and are not bounces or auto-replies such as out-of-office notices. All posts every inbound message |
The inbox channel cannot be a Slack Connect channel. For a private channel, invite the Warmbly app to it first, then pick it.
One thread per conversation
Each conversation gets one Slack thread. The first message opens it with the sender, subject and, when it answers a campaign, the campaign's name. Later messages in the same conversation land in that thread, and so do replies a teammate sends from Warmbly, shown as Sent by (or Scheduled by for a scheduled send) with their name.
The posted text has quoted history removed and is cut at 1,500 characters. Open in Warmbly shows the whole message.
Buttons
| Button | What it does |
|---|---|
| Reply | Opens a form with the recipient and subject fixed and the body editable, filled with the latest draft for the conversation. Sending goes out from the conversation's mailbox, as you, with the same permission, plan and suppression checks as replying in the dashboard |
| Draft with AI | The assistant writes a draft in the thread, as you. Review it, then use Review and send to send it through the reply form |
| Interested, Not interested | Apply the inbox labels of those names to the conversation |
| Assign to me | Marks the Slack card Handled by you, so teammates know who has it. It shows on the Slack card only; the inbox itself has no assignee |
| Open in Warmbly | Opens the conversation in the Unibox |
Every button except Open in Warmbly needs a linked Slack account and the Use unified inbox permission.
Talking in the thread
Typing in a conversation's thread is team discussion. It never sends email, and the assistant does not read it. Mention @Warmbly in the thread to ask the assistant about the conversation: it starts with that conversation as context, and still asks before sending anything.
Notifications
Warmbly posts a notification to Slack when the category is enabled for Slack in the recipient's Settings > Notifications. A notification meant for several teammates is posted once, not once per person.
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Default channel | Where every notification goes unless its category has its own channel |
| Per-category channels | Send a category to a different channel, for example replies to #sales and health alerts to #deliverability |
| Personal DMs | Each member can also get their own notifications as DMs from the bot |
The channel picker lists public channels and the private channels the bot has been invited to. To post to a private channel, invite the bot there first.
Each post carries an Open in Warmbly button. A Reply received notification also has Draft a reply, which starts the assistant in a thread on that post, for whoever pressed it, with the reply already in front of it. The draft is never sent without your approval. Pressing it needs a linked account.
Personal DMs are off until you turn them on, from Integrations > Slack in Warmbly (they need a linked account). You then get a DM for every category you have enabled for Slack in Settings > Notifications.
To work every reply in Slack rather than be pinged about it, use the inbox channel instead.
Slash commands
| Command | What it does |
|---|---|
/warmbly <question> | Ask the assistant. The answer arrives in your DM with Warmbly |
/warmbly link | Get a button to link your Slack account to Warmbly |
/warmbly unlink | Remove the link |
/warmbly help | Show what the command can do (so does /warmbly on its own) |
Permissions
| Action | Who |
|---|---|
| Connect, reconnect or disconnect Slack | Manage settings |
| Choose channels, per-category routing, the inbox channel, and the assistant setting | Manage settings |
| See every member's linked Slack account, and remove anyone's link | Manage settings |
| Link or unlink your own Slack account, and turn your personal DMs on or off | Any member |
| Use the assistant from Slack | Any linked member with Use AI |
| Reply, draft, label or assign from the inbox channel | Any linked member with Use unified inbox |
Removing a member from the workspace ends what their Slack account can do here, because everything runs as their Warmbly membership at the time.
What the bot reads
The bot acts only on messages addressed to it:
- direct messages to the bot and messages in its assistant pane
- messages that mention
@Warmbly - replies in a thread the assistant is answering
- a message you run Ask Warmbly about this on
Slack delivers other messages from channels the bot is in, including the team's discussion in inbox threads, and Warmbly ignores them. When you mention the bot inside an existing thread, or use the message shortcut, it also reads that thread's earlier messages so it knows what you are asking about. Those messages are passed to the assistant as quoted material, never as instructions, so text in a thread cannot tell the assistant to do something. The same holds for email text in the inbox channel.
Troubleshooting
| What you see | What to do |
|---|---|
| The Slack card says Slack is not available | The instance has no Slack app. On a self-hosted instance, ask the operator to follow Slack app |
Notifications post, but the bot never answers, buttons do nothing, or /warmbly fails | The Slack app is only partly configured: posting works but Slack cannot reach Warmbly. On a self-hosted instance the operator needs to set the signing secret (Slack app) |
| The Slack panel lists missing permissions | Select Reconnect. A feature needing a permission the connection lacks stays off until then |
| The bot replies with a Link your Warmbly account button | Your Slack account is not linked yet, or the link was removed. Follow the button |
| The bot does not answer in a channel | Check that it is a member of the channel, that the channel is not a Slack Connect channel, and that the assistant is not set to DMs only or Off |
| An inbox button says you need inbox access | Your role lacks Use unified inbox. Ask a workspace admin |
| The inbox channel cannot be saved | Pick it from the list. A private channel needs the Warmbly app invited first, and a Slack Connect channel is refused |
| A reply you expected is not in the inbox channel | With Replies selected, auto-replies, bounces and mail that answers nothing are left out. Switch to All to post every inbound message |
| The bot answers without the thread's earlier messages | Slack limited how often the app may read message history, so it answered with only your message. Paste the relevant text into your question, or try again in a minute |
| A notification did not reach a private channel | Invite the bot to that channel |