catch up on unread slack posts without posting a reply

catch up privately before you jump into the channel. the bot reads unread slack posts and tells you what needs attention here.

by the dusk bot team · checked 12 november 2026 · how we made this

unread follows your connected account's reading position. read only is enough. this list leaves out thread replies, and starts at the oldest posts if slack has no saved reading position.

pixel art: a blue pixel bot, a pink pixel bot and a coral pixel bot beside the Slack mark on a white tile, a newspaper and a pair of binoculars, on a grassy meadow in front of sand dunes by the sea, one saying "unread posts first"

what it does

get back from lunch knowing what needs you. unread follows your slack account's reading position, rather than the bot's memory. name the channel and let the bot find it. your connected account must belong to that channel, private channel or group dm.

have the bot continue through to the newest post. thread replies need a separate read; someone may already have answered the question there.

when you would use it

catch unread duty-channel announcements after lunch
skim the group conversation before the evening shift
pull out questions from status posts without replying to anyone

try it

paste this into a chat with your bot

every weekday at 13:35, read unread main-channel posts in greywick duty through my connected slack account. finish all result batches. group questions, notices and other updates here. say clearly that you have not checked thread replies. if no posts are unread, say so in one line. never post, react or change my reading position.

when: weekdays at 13:35
needs: slack read only; your connected account belongs to the duty channel

what comes back looks like this (an example)

greywick duty: unread channel posts
questions: soren asked who has the spare gate key.
notices: east entrance closed for cleaning.
updates: evening rota shared.
thread replies still to read.

set it up

connect the slack account whose unread position you want; allow read only
name the channel and have the bot find it
try one catch-up and open the threads behind questions that need you
read the next run on the schedule card; pause lunchtime catch-ups during leave

what it needs from you

input	required	what it is
`channel`	yes	The ID of the channel to fetch unread messages from.
`limit`	no	Maximum number of unread messages to return (1-1000).
`cursor`	no	Pagination cursor from response_metadata.next_cursor of a previous response.
`include_all_metadata`	no	Return all metadata associated with messages.

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

how dusk bot handles it

dusk bot counts List unread channel messages as a read: it looks and changes nothing. a bot you allow only to read can use it.

the permissions Slack asks for to run it: channels:read, groups:read, im:read, mpim:read.

where it stops

channel posts leave out thread replies. fetch the relevant threads before treating a question as unanswered.
no saved reading position can bring old posts back. ask the bot to flag that gap.
the default batch holds 25 posts. the bot should continue until it finishes.
sleep stops local catch-ups. dusk cloud keeps the scheduled routine running.

try it in 2 minutes

connect slack with read only
name one channel you belong to
ask for unread posts grouped by what needs you
read threads before acting on open questions

mistakes people make

calling a channel question unanswered

read its thread before chasing someone.

using the wrong connected account

connect the account whose unread dots you want

questions

does the summary include unread thread replies?

not with this action alone. ask for a separate thread read when a post needs more context.

why do i see posts i already remember reading?

slack starts at the oldest posts without a saved reading position. use the account whose unread dots you want and have the bot flag when that position is missing.

sources

dusk bot docs: files and apps
dusk bot docs: routines
dusk bot docs: a bot's computer
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].