dusk botfind the slack message behind a question
find the promise before you walk into the supplier call. give the bot a phrase, person, slack channel or date.
it searches by relevance or time and gathers more results when needed. use the match to open the thread: a later reply may have changed the deal. searching leaves slack alone.
what it does
start with the phrase you half remember. add the channel, person or month if you know them. the bot returns matching wording with its author and time. ask for oldest first to trace the first mention.
then read the conversation. search and thread reading are separate actions, and later replies can turn a promising offer into a rejected one.
when you would use it
- find the first proposal for a supplier discount
- locate the missing-adapter message in the equipment channel
- collect mentions of the old product name before a rename
- trace a delivery promise inside a known date window
try it
paste this into a chat with your bot
each wednesday at 14:35, search #vendor-terms for freight surcharges mentioned in the previous seven days. show the matches oldest first here, with author, date and exact relevant words. read matching threads separately when replies could change the meaning. report failed reads. never post a reply or call a proposed price an agreed one.- when
- wednesdays at 14:35
- needs
- slack with read only for message search and thread reading
what comes back looks like this (an example)
freight surcharge discussion
- ren, hollow pine supply, monday: proposed a winter surcharge
- leonie, tuesday: asked whether it covers returns
replies returned: still discussing it; no agreement found.set it up
- connect slack and give the search bot read only.
- give a phrase plus a channel or person. see whether the first matches fit.
- choose relevance or date order. ask for more results if the first batch leaves gaps.
- schedule the recurring search and read its next runs on the routine card.
what it needs from you
| input | required | what it is |
|---|---|---|
query | yes | Search query supporting various modifiers for precise filtering: **Location Modifiers:** - `in:#channel-name` - Messages in specific channel - `in:@username` - Direct messages with user **User Modifiers:** - `from:@username` - Messages from specific user |
page | no | Page number for manual pagination control. |
sort | no | Sort results by `score` (relevance) or `timestamp` (chronological). |
count | no | Without auto_paginate: Number of messages per page (max 100). |
cursor | no | Cursor for cursor-mark pagination. |
team_id | no | ID of the Slack workspace (team) to operate on, e.g. |
from composio's catalog for Slack (action SLACK_SEARCH_MESSAGES, read 12 november 20264). your bot fills these in from what you tell it.
how dusk bot handles it
dusk bot counts Search 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: search:read.
where it stops
- the first batch may be incomplete. ask for all matches when the count matters.
- connect the account that can see the conversation. search cannot reveal private messages outside its access.
- a sleeping laptop cannot start the search. leave dusk running on an awake machine or use dusk cloud.
what it looks like
an invented example, with made-up names.
before
in #vendor-terms, falk proposes a freight surcharge.
a search for "surcharge" finds that message.after the bot
search result: falk proposed a surcharge.
later reply: rejected.
the returned conversation contains no agreed surcharge.an illustration with made-up names and numbers.
try it in 2 minutes
- connect slack with read only access
- ask for one phrase in a named channel during the last week
- open the matching thread before treating the message as an answer
mistakes people make
quoting the proposal as the final price
read the replies. later messages may change or reject it.
asking for the oldest mention but accepting relevance order
say "oldest first" and compare the dates.
questions
can i search only messages from one person?
yes. name the person and the bot can narrow by sender. it can also narrow by channel and dates.
can it find the oldest mention instead of the best match?
yes, ask for oldest first. sorting by relevance can put a newer message at the top.
does searching slack tell me whether the question was answered?
follow the match into its thread. the replies tell you whether anyone answered the question.
sources
read next
let a bot acknowledge a slack message with a reactionan acknowledgement with an agreed meaning.
a slack assistant that finds the decision in the threadcatch up without losing the thread.
claude code from telegram, discord or slackthree different reasons to connect a chat.
an end-of-day digest of the slack channels you chooseread the decisions, then follow the thread.
turn a request into a slack remindera reminder with a clear recipient.
put a new row in the slack list you choseone request, placed in its list.
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].