Slack
With the Kadu app installed in Slack, you talk to the agent in a thread: ask it to list Tasks, run one of them, follow progress, cancel or request a change. Status, to-dos, result and files of each execution arrive in the same thread.
Install​
In Settings → Slack, click Install in Slack and authorize the app in the workspace. An organization can have more than one workspace installed. A Slack workspace is linked to a single organization.
Whoever installs straight from Slack, without going through the console, gets a direct message from the bot with the Connect Kobana Account button. Signing in links Slack to your account's active organization (your role must allow editing the organization). Whoever has no organization on Kadu yet goes to sign-up. An installation not linked to any organization within 14 days is removed.
Connect your Kobana Account​
Every bot user uses their own Kobana Account. On the first message, the bot answers only to you with the Connect Kobana Account button: sign in and go back to Slack, and the bot picks up your request.
- The connection lasts 7 days. After that, the bot asks you to sign in again. On the last day, it warns you on the first message you send.
- Access is your role in the organization, the same as in the console. Without an invitation to the organization, the bot does not answer.
- To disconnect, write disconnect to the bot.
- Removed from the organization or deactivated in Slack, the connection drops by itself.
Run a Task​
Ask in natural language: "run yesterday's payment settlement in the Production environment". The bot checks the Task and the parameters and posts a confirmation card with Task, environment, reference date, parameters and missing secrets. Nothing runs until someone clicks Run. The card is valid for 15 minutes.
Whoever asked, or another member allowed to run, can confirm. If the connection of whoever clicked has expired, the click does not count: sign in and confirm again.
Cancelling an execution and requesting a change on a conversational Task also go through a card.
Input files​
A Task that takes files (spreadsheet, statement, PDF) uses the attachments of the thread itself: attach the file in the conversation and ask for the run. The card shows the files that go with it.
- Attachments of up to 100 MB. An external link (Google Drive, for example) does not count: attach the file itself.
- Only files attached in the same thread and not yet used by another execution go in. Each file goes to a single execution, as in the console.
- The attachment is stored only after your Kobana Account is connected. If you attach before connecting, the bot stores it after the connection.
What shows up in the thread​
| Message | When |
|---|---|
| Status | a pinned message, edited with the current step, the elapsed time and the open to-dos |
| Milestones | step completed, warning and error, each in its own message |
| To-do | each new to-do, with the Resolve button |
| Result | at the end: status, summary, duration and price |
| Files | the output files, as a console link or attached (see below) |
The execution goes on even if your connection expires midway: status, result and files keep arriving.
Request a change​
On a conversational Task, reply in the thread after the execution ends: "redo it considering only the bank slips". The bot posts the change card; once confirmed, the new round goes on in the same thread.
Configure​
Each installed workspace has three settings in Settings → Slack:
| Setting | Default | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Where the bot answers | direct message and private channel | also talks in group conversations, public channels and channels shared with another company (Slack Connect) |
| Output files | console link only | attaches in the thread up to the maximum size (up to 100 MB); above that, a link |
| Detail in the thread | milestones only | also a summary of the execution logs |
Public channels and Slack Connect expose results and files to more people: enable them only if the organization decided so. In a shared channel, people from another company never use the bot, even with a Kobana Account.
A Task can pin the files mode in the Playbook, in metadata.slack.files_mode
(link or upload) of the task: block.
In a channel, mention the bot (@Kadu) to start. In a thread where it has
already posted a card or an execution, there is no need to mention it again.
Usage​
Each answered message is metered and charged like an execution: tokens × price of the conversations tier, in the same monthly usage, the same credit allowance and the same cap. Without a plan, allowance or balance, the bot warns and does not answer. Each conversation has a spending limit and each person can send up to 20 messages per minute. See Plan and costs.
Remove​
Remove in Settings → Slack revokes the app in the workspace: the bot stops answering and account connections are undone. Uninstalling from Slack itself has the same effect.
The same configuration is in the API: GET, PATCH and DELETE on
/v1/organizations/{id}/slack_installations.