Slack Integration

Connect Slack to Obvious and the bot handles two-way communication between both tools — you can ask it questions from Slack, get agent responses in-thread, and share files without switching apps.

Prerequisites

A workspace admin needs to connect Slack once. If Slack isn't listed under Settings → Connectors, ask your admin to set it up.
On first interaction with the bot, Obvious prompts you to link your Slack account.

Connect Slack to your workspace

Open Settings → Connectors.
Find Slack and click Connect.
Authorize Obvious in the Slack permissions screen. This installs the Obvious bot in your workspace.
For private channels, add the bot manually: open channel settings → Integrations → Add apps, then search for Obvious.

This is a one-time setup for the whole workspace. Every member benefits once it's connected.

How the bot works

Each Slack channel maps to an Obvious project. Within that channel, each Slack thread maps to a single Obvious thread — so conversations stay organized and searchable in both places.

When you @mention the bot, it reads your message and responds in the Slack thread using the full context of your connected Obvious project.

Start a conversation

@mention @Obvious in any channel where the bot is present:

@Obvious what's the status of the Q4 campaign?

The bot responds in a thread. Other people in the channel can see the exchange.

You can also DM the bot directly. Open a direct message with @Obvious in Slack and start typing. DM conversations create their own Obvious threads and are useful for quick questions without pulling in the whole channel.

Continue a conversation

To keep a conversation going, @mention the bot again in the same Slack thread. It picks up exactly where things left off.

@Obvious can you pull up the latest numbers from that sheet?

Each @mention in the same thread builds on the same Obvious thread context — you're not starting over. If you want a fresh conversation, start a new Slack thread and @mention the bot there.

Attach a file to your Slack message when you @mention the bot and it imports the file automatically — no need to upload it to Obvious separately. Supported file types work the same way they do when you upload directly in Obvious.

Troubleshooting

The bot isn't responding. First, confirm it's in the channel. If it's a private channel, the bot needs to be added manually — open channel settings → Integrations → Add apps and search for Obvious. If it's a public channel and still silent, check with your workspace admin that the Slack connector is still active under Settings → Connectors.

Only the first message got a response. The bot responds to every @mention in a thread, not just the first one. If follow-up mentions aren't getting responses, try removing and re-adding the bot to the channel, or check that the Slack connector is still active under Settings → Connectors.

Next steps

Connectors — Manage your workspace integrations

Creating Tasks — Automate Slack messages on a schedule

Email Integration — Connect email alongside Slack