# Slackbot, Agentforce and Dust answer. An open-source agent finishes the work.

> The choice between a Slack agent, Slackbot and Agentforce comes down to who owns the machine the work runs on. Slackbot and Agentforce answer from what Slack and Salesforce let them read. Kortix is the open-source AI Operating System, and its Slack agent runs a session on a cloud computer with your connectors and your approval rules.

URL: https://agentsinslack.com/slack-agent-vs-slackbot-vs-agentforce

## Four ways to put an agent in Slack

What each one runs on, what it can reach, and where its configuration lives.

| | Kortix (recommended) | Slackbot | Agentforce | Dust |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| What it is | Open-source AI Operating System; Slack is a channel | Slack’s personal AI agent, built in | Salesforce agents, built in Agentforce Builder | Multiplayer AI platform, called from Slack |
| Where it runs | On a cloud computer, not inside Slack | Inside Slack, with no setup | On Salesforce, then installed in Slack | On Dust’s platform, called from Slack |
| What it reaches | 3,000+ apps in a click, plus MCP and raw HTTP | Messages, files and connected search sources | Salesforce records; Slack channels, canvases, DMs | Notion, GitHub, Google Drive, Salesforce, Zendesk |
| Where configuration lives | In the project’s git repo | Nowhere; there is no setup | Salesforce Agent Builder | In Dust, where you build it |
| Open source | Yes | No | No | No; SDKs and CLI only |

## The policy that holds a call

`terminal`

```sh
kortix connectors policy set --default risk --apply           # or allow_all; without --apply it edits the local kortix.yaml
kortix connectors policy add "gmail.send_*" ask --condition to='*@example.com'   # project-wide rule; k!=v negates
kortix connectors policy gmail set send_email block           # connector rule: allow, ask or block
kortix connectors sensitive gmail on                          # or off
```

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

Set the default, then hold or block the actions that matter. A held call returns 202 with status pending_approval, and nothing ran.

## Slackbot reads what Slack can see

Slackbot has become a personal AI agent. It ships inside Slack with no setup, it reads your messages and files, and it sees only what you can already see. Ask it to summarize a long thread, draft an update in your voice, or pull the numbers out of a 40-page deck, and it answers in place.

That covers reading and writing inside the product. [Slack's announcement](https://slack.com/blog/news/slackbot-context-aware-ai-agent-for-work) describes Slackbot doing catch-up, drafts and file analysis. It does not describe an agent that runs a job on a machine of yours, calls your CRM, or stops before a write to ask a person. When you want that, you are shopping for a runtime, and Slack becomes the surface you talk through.

## Agentforce needs the Salesforce side

Agentforce is Salesforce's product, and [Slack documents the split](https://slack.com/help/articles/36218109305875-Set-up-and-manage-Agentforce-in-Slack). You build an agent in Agentforce Builder. Then you connect a Salesforce organization to Slack, map accounts, and have an admin review the permissions the agent will hold before installing it. A person without a Salesforce account needs a provisional Salesforce license to use one.

The grounding is the point. An agent reads Slack conversations and Salesforce CRM records together, so a support lead gets a customer brief in the channel where the escalation is happening. A team already running Salesforce gains reach that Slackbot cannot give it. A team that is not on Salesforce now has two platforms to license. Its agent's configuration also lives in Salesforce, not in a repo the engineering team reviews.

## Dust is the shared knowledge layer

Dust is [a multiplayer AI platform](https://dust.tt/blog/slack-ai-agents): people and agents share one knowledge base, and you call an agent from Slack the same way you call it from Dust's own app. Agents pull from Notion, GitHub, Google Drive, Salesforce and Zendesk, so questions that need material outside Slack get a real answer.

You build and configure the agent in Dust. For a company whose knowledge sits across five tools, and whose team wants one governed place to ask, that model fits. The agent answers from Dust's platform, and the knowledge base it reads lives there too.

## What an agent needs beyond the chat surface

Three things decide whether the agent can finish a job. The first is a computer: a session that runs somewhere other than the thread, with a working directory, files and a terminal. In Kortix [a Slack thread is one session](https://kortix.com/docs/connect/channels), and a mention in a channel reaches it. The agent replies in the thread with live progress while it works on a cloud computer.

The second is governed reach. A connector gives a project access to one app, MCP server or API, and Kortix holds the account, applies the project's policies and records every call. A call that needs approval is [held](https://kortix.com/docs/connect/connectors): it returns 202 with `status: "pending_approval"` and the parameters the provider will receive, and nothing ran. The card posts in the Slack thread. A person approves or denies that exact request, and a changed argument needs a new approval.

The third is a way back. Session work reaches `main` through a change request. Merge is default-deny for agents, so what ran overnight is reviewable in the morning. Approval gates you set. Off until you set them, which means a new project runs open until someone turns on Ask or Block for the actions that matter.

None of this needs a Salesforce license or a second system of record. Connectors live in `kortix.yaml`, agents live in the repo, and you run it on Kortix Cloud, in your VPC, or on your own on-prem network. Self-host is free.

## When one of the others is the better pick

Buy the smaller thing when the job is smaller. A team that wants summaries, recaps and drafts inside Slack, with nothing to install or govern, should use Slackbot. It ships inside Slack and already holds the context. A Salesforce shop that wants CRM-grounded answers in the account channel should use Agentforce. The license it already pays for is the hard part. A company that wants one shared knowledge layer over Notion, Drive, GitHub and Zendesk, with agents called from Slack, should look at Dust.

Kortix earns its place when the agent has to act. Send the email, open the ticket, update the record, then land the change in a repo someone reviews. That work needs a computer, a governed credential and a record of each call. A chat surface provides none of the three.

- Read the guide: [Kortix vs QM](https://kortix.com/blog/kortix-vs-qm).

## Questions about Slack agents, answered

### Is Slackbot an AI agent?

Yes. Slackbot is Slack’s personal AI agent, built into Slack with no setup, informed by your messages and files but limited to what you can already see. It summarizes, drafts and analyzes files.

### What is the difference between Slackbot and Agentforce?

Slackbot ships with Slack and answers from Slack content. Agentforce is Salesforce’s, built in Agentforce Builder and grounded in Slack plus Salesforce CRM data, so a Salesforce organization has to be connected before an admin installs an agent.

### Can Slack AI agents use tools outside Slack?

Yes. Slackbot reads systems connected through Slack’s enterprise search, Agentforce acts on Salesforce records, and a Kortix agent calls 3,000+ apps through connectors.

### Do I need Salesforce to use Agentforce in Slack?

Yes. Agentforce runs on Salesforce: connect your Salesforce organization to Slack, map accounts, and give people without a Salesforce account a provisional license before they can use an agent.

### Is there an open-source alternative for agents in Slack?

Yes. Kortix is the open-source AI Operating System, and Slack is one channel into a project. The agent runs on a cloud computer, and its work reaches `main` through a change request.

## Put an agent in Slack

Connect Slack to a project, invite the bot, and mention it with a task.

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

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