If you want to have your [Dashboard subscriptions][dashboard-subscriptions] sent to Slack channels (or people on Slack), an admin must first integrate your Metabase with Slack.
If you are using Slack for team communication and would like to have your Pulses be sent to Slack channels (or users) then you'll need to integrate your Metabase instance with Slack. Luckily, this is really easy!
Here's an overview of the steps for setting up Slack:
### Generating a Slack API Token
1.[Create your Slack App](#create-your-slack-app)
2.[Give Slack your app manifest](#the-app-manifest)
3.[Install your app to your workspace](#install-your-app-to-your-workspace)
4.[Get the Bot User OAuth Token](#the-bot-user-oauth-token)
5.[Create a dedicated Metabase channel in your Slack](#create-a-dedicated-metabase-channel-in-your-slack)
6.[Save your changes](#save-your-changes-in-metabase)
For Metabase to post to your Slack channels, you'll need to generate a Slack API token and make it available to Metabase.
## Create your Slack App
To start, go to the Admin Panel from the dropdown menu in the top right of Metabase, then from the Settings page, click on **Slack** in the left menu.
For Metabase to post to your Slack channels, you’ll need to create a Slack App and make it available to Metabase.
You should see this form:
From any Metabase page, go to **Admin settings** > **Settings** > **Slack**.
Click on **Open Slack Apps**. Metabase will open a new browser tab and send you over to the Slack website to create the Slack app.
Then just click on the large and conveniently placed button `Create a Slack Bot User for Metabot` which will open a new browser tab and send you over to Slack to create the Bot user account.
On the Slack website, click **Create an App**. Select **From an app manifest** and and select the Slack workspace you want Metabase to post to (you're not going to be developing an app, this is just telling Slack what workspace you want Metabase to post to).
Click over to the tab that was opened and you'll now be on the Slack Bot creation page.
## The app manifest
To get the app manifest, head back to Metabase and the Slack settings page, copy the manifest, and return to the Slack app creation page on the Slack website to paste in the manifest (the manifest is in YAML format). The manifest will take care of settings for your app and help speed things along. Once you've pasted the manifest, click the **Next** button. Then hit **Create** to set up your Slack app.
Now give the Bot user a helpful name (we suggest `Metabot`) and click the `Add bot integration` button and a bot user will be generated for you. Look for the Bot's API token in the next page. It will look like `xoxp-etc-etc-etc` and all you need to do is copy that value and head back to Metabase.
## Install your app to your workspace
Paste the value into the text box for `Slack API Token` and click the button to save your changes.
On the Slack site for your newly created app, in the **Settings** > **Basic Information** tab, under **Install your app**, click on **Install to workspace**. On the next screen, click **Allow** to give Metabase access to your Slack workspace.
Now go to Slack and create a new channel named `metabase_files`. Due to the Slack api, we'll need this to attach graphs to pulses and Metabot answers.
## The Bot User OAuth Token
That's it! Metabase will automatically run a quick test to check that the API token is working properly and if not you'll get an error message.
On the Slack site page for your Slack app, on the left in the **Features** section, click on **OAuth and Permissions** in the Slack Apps sidebar and then copy the **Bot User OAuth Token**. Return to the Slack settings page in your Metabase and paste this token in the Metabase field with the same name.
## Create a dedicated Metabase channel in your Slack
In your Slack workspace, create a public channel named whatever you want — we think something like "metabase" does just fine — then enter that channel's name in the **Slack Channel Name** field in Metabase. This channel allows your Metabase to post to your Slack workspace without having to deal with unnecessary permissions. Make sure the channel you create is the same channel that you enter in this field in Metabase (omit the "#" prefix).
## Save your changes in Metabase
In Metabase, click on the **Save changes** button and that’s it! Metabase will automatically run a quick test to check that the API token and your dedicated Slack channel are working properly. If something goes wrong, it'll give you an error message.
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## Next: configuring Metabase
There are a few other settings you configure in Metabase. [Learn how](08-configuration-settings.md).
There are a few other settings you configure in Metabase. [Learn how](08-configuration-settings).
