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Once an admin connects your Slack workspace, you can work with your organization’s agents there.

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Who answers a message

A direct message an agent sends you comes from its own Slack app when it has one in your workspace, otherwise from the xpander Slack app under the agent’s name and icon. After you @mention the app in a thread, your next replies there keep reaching your Omni for a few minutes. Everyone has their own Omni conversation, context and, where systems allow, permissions, even in a shared thread. Replies are labelled per person (“Dana’s Omni”, “Sam’s Omni”), and neither sees the other’s private data. There is no shared Omni.

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Talk to Omni

DM the xpander Slack app. If your Slack email matches your xpander account, you’re linked at once. Otherwise tap Link account. The DM is a real Omni conversation: it shows in xpander Chat’s sidebar, keeps context, uses skills and streams replies. new chat (or reset) starts fresh. Voice notes, images and files are handled automatically. Answers are the Slack message itself. A live surface comes only when you ask for a report, dashboard, scorecard or live view, or when the agent’s instructions say so. Dashboards and visual cards get a View here button that opens them in the browser without sign-in. You can also build agents from the DM. Omni asks setup questions with buttons, sends authorization links, and creates the agent when you tap Approve & build. Skills that need MCP setup are finished in xpander Chat, from a link Omni sends.

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Reply to an agent’s direct message

Reply in the message’s thread to answer the agent itself. Its answers come back in the thread, which keeps reaching the agent for 30 days after its last turn. This works only if you are the person it reached, from the same linked xpander account, you may use the agent, and your organization still owns the workspace. If you can’t continue the original conversation (it is someone else’s), your reply starts a new one that opens with the message. Anything else in the DM goes to Omni.

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Mention an agent by handle

A handle such as @account-research lets people pick an agent from Slack’s mention picker, in any public or private channel the app is in. No rule or channel list is needed. The agent must be published and shared with the organization. The sender must be a full workspace member in that channel. Guests, Slack Connect channels and DMs are not supported.
Handles need a one-time administrator authorization of the workspace, described on Slack workspace. Until then the handle controls read Not active.
1

Create the handle

In the agent’s Channels → Slack settings, under Agent handle, edit the suggested name (for example Account Research → account-research) and select Create handle. It works once its status is Active.
2

Mention the agent

Add the app to the channel if needed, then type the handle and select it from the mention picker. Plain text that looks like a handle selects nothing.
Mention several handles for separate answers, for example @account-research @sales-assistant prepare a briefing for Acme. Follow-ups without a mention stay with the same agents while the thread’s context is active. If cleanup is pending, ask the workspace admin to restore authorization, and let it finish before reusing the name.

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Route a channel to an agent

Any member can let one agent answer untagged messages in a channel. Only one agent can auto-engage per channel. Handle mentions still reach other agents.
1

Add the channel

In the agent’s settings, under Slack channels (or the channel selector under the composer), pick the channel and click Add. The app joins public channels. For private ones, /invite it.
2

Write engagement rules

Under Rules, describe in plain language when the agent should step in. It engages when any rule matches. Rules apply within a minute.
Write intents, not keywords: “When someone reports a bug, error, or outage” works. “bug, error, pricing” is too broad and triggers on most messages. The agent answers in a thread, attributed to the author, acting with their permissions where systems allow. Once engaged, it follows the conversation for a few minutes. Only top-level messages engage it, unless Also engage in thread replies is on. An @mention of the app always goes to Omni, and a handle to that agent.

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Send replies to another channel

Under Where on the channel row: Add up to 10 channels (/invite the app to private ones). A relay is a copy with a Relayed from #channel line, posted under the agent’s name, not a conversation. These channels are also the only ones the agent may post to while it works.
Only a completed answer is relayed. Errors and progress updates stay in the original channel. A direct @mention always reaches Omni in the author’s own conversation rather than the routed agent, so it is never relayed.

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Progress while an agent works

One status line updates while the agent works, then the answer arrives. Turn on Show detailed tool activity on the channel row (or for every channel in the bot’s settings) to see readable steps, with repeats folded and at most twelve rows. A channel set to post no progress stays silent until you turn this on. Changes reach a channel within a minute.

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Where conversations live

DMs appear in your xpander sidebar. Channel conversations don’t, but every run is in the organization’s Session Manager.

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Troubleshooting

Read the note beside the handle. The workspace needs a paid Slack plan with user groups and admin authorization. Wait for Active, then select the handle from the mention picker. If Slack rejects the name, pick another.
Consent doesn’t override Slack permissions. The authorizing account must be allowed to create, edit and deactivate user groups. Ask an admin with those rights to reauthorize. Allowing everyone is not required.
Check whether cleanup is pending in xpander, and restore authorization if needed. Slack may still show a deactivated entry or old messages. Removing an admin-managed mapping leaves the group unchanged on purpose.
The app must be in the channel (/invite it, always for private channels). Check that auto-engage is on and a rule matches. Thread replies need Also engage in thread replies or an @mention. Rule edits take up to a minute.
Runs stop with a billing notice when credits run out. An organization admin can top up under Settings in xpander Chat. Then send your message again.
Tighten the rules. “When someone asks a question” matches almost everything. After an engagement, follow-ups may engage for a few minutes without re-checking rules.

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Next steps

See every way work reaches an agent

All channels.

Connect the Slack workspace

For administrators.

Trigger agents from other systems

Webhooks.