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integrationscreate slack canvas

dusk botintegrationsslack

turn your handover notes into a new slack canvas

give the next shift a handover they can find. a bot turns your notes into a new slack canvas, with an optional title and channel tab.

by the dusk bot team · checked · how we made this

leave out the notes to start blank. naming a channel adds a tab with write permissions. include content and placement in your review; creation doesn't wait for sending approval.

pixel art: a green cat bot and a yellow pixel bot beside the Slack mark on a white tile, a notebook and two chat bubbles, on a grassy meadow in front of sand dunes by the sea, one saying "handover in one canvas"

create slack canvas, in plain words

put the handover beside the conversation. naming a channel adds the new canvas as a tab there, with write permissions. leave the channel out to create it without that placement. ask for the canvas reference here; don't rely on a channel announcement.

title and content are optional: slack names an untitled canvas, and no content gives you a blank document. each run creates a fresh canvas rather than updating last week's.

a routine to copy

paste this into a chat with your bot

every other monday at 10:20, read the last fortnight's handover notes in #fenwick-shift. prepare a canvas titled fenwick night shift handover followed by today's date. use only instructions confirmed in those messages.

show the content and proposed #fenwick-shift channel tab here. ask me before you change anything. after i agree, create it and return its reference. never invent missing instructions or repeat an existing dated handover. create nothing when there are no new notes.
when
alternate mondays at 10:20
needs
slack read and write for channel history, lookups and canvas creation; access to the destination channel

what comes back looks like this (an example)

canvas proposal: fenwick night shift handover, 16 november

- ruxandra holds the gate checklist
- inspect the loading bay before locking up

destination: fenwick-shift channel tab, with write permissions
review the notes and channel placement together.

good jobs for it

  • hand over the next shift. turn confirmed notes into one canvas people can find.
  • prepare a workshop checklist. give the facilitator the instructions you chose.
  • keep the event run sheet nearby. add its canvas as a writable tab in the named channel.
  • start blank on purpose. create a titled canvas for someone to fill during the session.

before it runs

dusk bot counts Create Slack Canvas as a change: it alters something in Slack, and the sending setting does not cover it. a bot you allow only to read can never call it.

the permissions Slack asks for to run it: canvases:write.

how to start

  1. allow the needed slack actions. connect with read and write for channel reads, lookup and canvas creation.
  2. choose content and placement. give it a title. name a channel only when you want a tab there.
  3. ask for the proposal. review the notes and destination before creating anything.
  4. open the first canvas. find its tab and read the notes. pause the routine when the shift changes.

limits worth knowing

  • review before creation. canvas writes follow your ask-first instruction, rather than sending approval.
  • a named channel gets a writable tab. include that placement in your review.
  • missing notes mean an empty canvas. missing title means slack chooses the name.
  • each creation makes a fresh canvas. it does not update an older handover.

the details it works from

inputrequiredwhat it is
titlenoThe title of the canvas to create.
channel_idnoOptional channel ID (e.g., 'C1234567890').
document_contentnoOptional canvas content in Slack's document format.

from composio's catalog for Slack (action SLACK_CREATE_CANVAS, read 12 november 20264). your bot fills these in from what you tell it.

try it in 2 minutes

  1. pick one short handover note
  2. ask for a canvas proposal, without creating it
  3. choose whether it belongs in a channel
  4. confirm the channel placement before allowing creation

before the handover appears

  • the title names the shift and date
  • every instruction comes from a real handover note
  • the channel tab and its write access are intentional
  • this dated handover does not already exist

mistakes people make

naming a channel as casual context

say whether you want a tab there. channel placement includes write permissions.

creating a fresh copy of the same handover every fortnight

use new dated shift notes and skip handovers already saved.

questions

will a new canvas automatically become a channel tab?

only when you name a channel. that placement adds it as a tab with write permissions.

can i create just a blank canvas with a name?

yes. give the title without content. say it should stay blank so the bot does not try to fill missing notes.

sources

  1. dusk bot docs: files and apps
  2. dusk bot docs: routines
  3. dusk bot docs: a bot's computer
  4. composio, Slack toolkit (catalog version 20261101_00), checked 12 november 2026

drafted with ai help from the dusk bot docs and the sources listed on this page, then checked against them. if something here is wrong or out of date, write to [email protected].