slack-term — Slack Client for Your Terminal

Introduction

slack-term brings the Slack experience into the terminal for developers who prefer keyboard-driven workflows. It provides a text-based UI for reading and sending messages across Slack channels and direct messages without switching to a browser or desktop app.

What slack-term Does

• Displays Slack channels and direct messages in a terminal UI
• Sends and receives messages in real time via the Slack API
• Supports switching between channels with keyboard shortcuts
• Shows message history with timestamps and usernames
• Handles message editing and thread navigation

Architecture Overview

slack-term connects to the Slack Real Time Messaging API using a WebSocket connection for live updates. The TUI is built with the termui library, rendering a split-pane layout with a channel list on the left and message history on the right. Authentication uses a legacy Slack token or a bot token.

Self-Hosting & Configuration

• Install via go install or download a prebuilt binary
• Create a Slack app and obtain an OAuth token with required scopes
• Set the token in the SLACK_TOKEN environment variable
• Optionally configure a ~/.slack-term JSON config file for defaults
• Set sidebar_width and notify options in the config file

Key Features

• Lightweight terminal UI with minimal resource usage
• Real-time message delivery via Slack WebSocket API
• Keyboard-driven navigation between channels and threads
• Works over SSH for remote server workflows
• Single binary with no runtime dependencies

Comparison with Similar Tools

• Weechat + wee-slack — More feature-rich with multi-protocol support; slack-term is simpler and purpose-built
• Slack desktop app — Full-featured but heavy; slack-term uses a fraction of the resources
• Matterbridge — Bridges multiple chat platforms; slack-term is a dedicated Slack-only client
• Ripcord — Lightweight desktop client for Slack and Discord; slack-term runs entirely in the terminal

FAQ

Q: What Slack token do I need? A: You need a user token (xoxp-) or bot token (xoxb-) with channels:history, channels:read, chat:write, and users:read scopes.

Q: Can I use slack-term with multiple Slack workspaces? A: Not simultaneously. You can switch workspaces by changing the SLACK_TOKEN variable and restarting.

Q: Does slack-term support threads? A: Basic thread viewing is supported. Thread replies appear inline in the message stream.

Q: Will slack-term work over SSH? A: Yes. Since it runs entirely in the terminal, it works over any SSH connection without port forwarding.

Sources

• https://github.com/jpbruinsslot/slack-term
• https://github.com/jpbruinsslot/slack-term#usage