# Open-source agents in Slack, running on your runtime

> An agent in Slack answers in the thread your team already reads. The Slack app is the easy half; the runtime it acts from, with your tools, approvals and record, is the half you own. Kortix is an open-source AI Operating System: your agents, skills, company memory, and connectors in one git repo you own.

URL: https://agentsinslack.com/

Slack and Microsoft Teams, connected to a repo you own

**The open-source AI Operating System**

`A Kortix session, opened with a task, with its tool calls in the log`

```sh
kortix channels connect                    # Slack
kortix channels connect --platform teams   # Microsoft Teams
```

Source: https://kortix.com/docs/connect/channels

Slack and Microsoft Teams are live. Email is experimental, per project.

[Try Kortix](https://kortix.com) · [See what connecting takes](https://agentsinslack.com/#connect)

Approval gates you set · Self-host is free · 3,000+ apps in a click

## What connecting Slack to a Kortix project takes

Two commands, one thread rule, one held call, and a config that lives in git.

### Connect

`terminal`

```sh
kortix channels connect                    # Slack
kortix channels connect --platform teams   # Microsoft Teams
```

### First mention

`slack thread`

```
One Slack thread is one session.
In a channel, only a mention reaches the session.
```

### Held call

`approval response`

```
A held call returns 202 with status: "pending_approval", approval_url, approval_summary and execution_id. Nothing ran.
An approval covers one exact request: the same connector, action, arguments and account. A changed argument needs a new approval.
```

### Config

`kortix.yaml`

```
Connectors live in kortix.yaml under connectors:, or in a file it lists under imports:.
```

## Three places a message can start a session

Two are live for every project, and the third is experimental, per project.

- Slack (live)
- Microsoft Teams (live)
- Email (experimental, per project)

[See how channels connect](https://kortix.com/docs/connect/channels)

## What people ask before they connect Slack

### What is an AI agent in Slack?

A bot that turns a message into a Kortix session. The agent runs the task on its own cloud computer and answers in the thread, so one thread holds one piece of work and its follow-ups, with live progress while it runs.

### Do I need to build a Slack app to use an agent in Slack?

No. Kortix ships the Slack app: run `kortix channels connect`, invite the bot, send `/kortix login` once, and mention it with a task. On a host without the shared app, run `kortix channels manifest` to print the app manifest instead.

### Can a Slack agent use my company’s tools?

Yes. Agents call connectors as tools: 3,000+ apps in a click, plus MCP, OpenAPI, Postman, GraphQL and raw HTTP. Kortix holds the credential, applies the project’s policies and records every call.

### Is there an open-source way to run agents in Slack?

Yes. Kortix is an open-source AI Operating System, and Slack is one of its channels. Run it on Kortix Cloud, in your VPC, or on your own on-prem network. Self-host is free.

### Where does the agent’s configuration live?

In the project’s git repo. An agent is `agents/<name>.md` for behavior plus an `agents.<name>` block in `kortix.yaml` for governance, and connectors live in `kortix.yaml` under `connectors:`, or in a file it lists under `imports:`. The binding that ties a Slack channel to a project is live project state.

## Put an agent in the channel your team already reads.

Slack connects from a terminal, and the runtime behind the bot is a repo you own.

[Try Kortix](https://kortix.com) · [Read the docs](https://kortix.com/docs)

Approval gates you set · Self-host is free · 3,000+ apps in a click