> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.unstructured.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Slack

<Note>
  First time creating a connector? [Read this first](/api-reference/workflow/connector-first-time-reqs).
</Note>

Ingest your files into Unstructured from Slack.

## Requirements

You will need:

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/0F1MXMgk3kY" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen />

* A Slack app. Create a Slack app by following [Step 1: Creating an app](https://api.slack.com/quickstart#creating).

* The app must have the following OAuth scopes:

  * To read messages from public channels, add the scopes `channels:join` and `channels:history`.
  * To read messages from private channels, add the scope `groups:history`.

  Add these scopes to the app by following [Step 2: Requesting scopes](https://api.slack.com/quickstart#scopes).

* The app must be installed and authorized for the target Slack workspace. Install and authorize the app by following [Step 3: Installing and authorizing the app](https://api.slack.com/quickstart#installing).

* The app's access token. Get this token by following [Step 3: Installing and authorizing the app](https://api.slack.com/quickstart#installing).

* Add the app to the target channels in the Slack workspace. To do this from the channel, open the channel's details page, click the **Integrations** tab, click **Add apps**, and follow the on-screen directions to install the app.

* The channel ID for each target channel. To get this ID, open the channel's details page, and look for the **Channel ID** field on the **About** tab.

* The starting and ending date and time range for the channels to be processed. Supported formats include:

  * `YYYY-MM-DD`
  * `YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS`
  * `YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ`
  * `YYYY-MM-DD+HH:MM:SS`
  * `YYYY-MM-DD-HH:MM:SS`

<Info>
  Slack has established API rate limits that could restrict the number and frequency of messages that can be read. To
  explore possible workarounds for these cases, see your Slack representative.
</Info>

## Examples

To create a Slack source connector, see the following examples.

For more information on working with source connectors using the Unstructured API, see [Source endpoints](/api-reference/api/source/source-apis).

<CodeGroup>
  ```python Python SDK theme={null}
  import os

  from unstructured_client import UnstructuredClient
  from unstructured_client.models.operations import CreateSourceRequest
  from unstructured_client.models.shared import CreateSourceConnector

  with UnstructuredClient(api_key_auth=os.getenv("UNSTRUCTURED_API_KEY")) as client:
      response = client.sources.create_source(
          request=CreateSourceRequest(
              create_source_connector=CreateSourceConnector(
                  name="<name>",
                  type="slack",
                  config={
                      "channels": [
                          "<channel>",
                          "<channel>"
                      ],
                      "start_date": "<start-date>",
                      "end_date": "<end-date>",
                      "token": "<token>"
                  }
              )
          )
      )

      print(response.source_connector_information)
  ```

  ```bash curl theme={null}
  curl --request 'POST' --location \
  "$UNSTRUCTURED_API_URL/sources" \
  --header 'accept: application/json' \
  --header "unstructured-api-key: $UNSTRUCTURED_API_KEY" \
  --header 'content-type: application/json' \
  --data \
  '{
      "name": "<name>",
      "type": "slack",
      "config": {
          "channels": [
              "<channel>",
              "<channel>"
          ],
          "start-date": "<start-date>",
          "end-date": "<end-date>",
          "token": "<token>"
      }
  }'
  ```
</CodeGroup>

## Configuration settings

Replace the preceding placeholders as follows:

<ParamField body="name" type="string" required>
  A unique name for this connector.
</ParamField>

<ParamField body="channels" type="string" required>
  An array of IDs of the target Slack channels from which to read messages.
</ParamField>

<ParamField body="start-date" type="string">
  The date and time, in ISO 8601 format (such as `YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ`), from which to begin reading messages. Messages created before this timestamp are ignored. By default, all messages are read unless an end date is specified.
</ParamField>

<ParamField body="end-date" type="string">
  The date and time, in ISO 8601 format (such as `YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ`), at which to stop reading messages. Messages created after this timestamp are ignored. By default, all messages are read unless a start date is specified.
</ParamField>

<ParamField body="token" type="string" required>
  The access token for the Slack app that has permission to read messages from the target Slack channels.
</ParamField>