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Slack is a messaging platform for teams. PlayerZero’s Slack integration lets you interact with AI Players directly from Slack — starting investigations from message threads, chatting with agents in DMs, and routing incoming work into workflows.

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What You Can Do

Once connected, you can:
  • Chat with AI Players in DMs — Send messages directly to the PlayerZero bot to ask questions about your codebase, debug issues, or investigate problems
  • @mention in channels — Mention the PlayerZero bot in any channel to start a conversation. The bot creates a Player session and responds in a thread.
  • Trigger investigations from messages — Use Slack message shortcuts to send any message thread to a PlayerZero AI Player, with full thread context automatically captured
  • Route work into workflows — Use the “Add to Backlog” shortcut to send Slack threads into a specific workflow stage for structured processing
  • Receive alerts in channels — Get real-time notifications for issue clusters, anomaly spikes, and deployments delivered to your team’s channels

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Message Shortcuts

PlayerZero adds two message shortcuts to Slack. Right-click any message (or use the ⋯ menu) to access them.

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Add to Backlog

Sends a Slack message and its thread context into a PlayerZero workflow.
  1. Select Add to Backlog from the message shortcut menu
  2. Choose a project (if you have more than one)
  3. Choose a workflow entry stage — the Player will start processing from this stage, or select Ask for a freeform conversation
  4. Add any additional context to supplement the thread content
  5. Click Create
PlayerZero automatically reads the original thread and includes it as context for the AI Player. The Player session is linked back to the Slack thread — a summary of the agent’s response appears in the thread with a Full Chat link to the complete session in PlayerZero. Messages you send in the thread are forwarded to the Player.

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Ask PlayerZero

Sends a Slack message and its thread context to a PlayerZero AI Player for a freeform conversation.
  1. Select Ask PlayerZero from the message shortcut menu
  2. Choose a project (if you have more than one)
  3. Add any additional context
  4. Click Create
This works the same as “Add to Backlog” but without workflow stage selection — the Player starts a freeform conversation using the thread context as its starting point.

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New Backlog (Global Shortcut)

Creates a new PlayerZero backlog item without message context. Access this from Slack’s global shortcuts menu.
  1. Open the global shortcuts menu
  2. Select New Backlog
  3. Choose a project and workflow entry stage
  4. Provide context describing the work
  5. Click Create
Unlike the message shortcuts, this does not capture thread context — use it when you want to create a new item from scratch.

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How Thread Context Works

When you trigger either message shortcut from a message that’s part of a thread, PlayerZero reads the parent message of that thread and includes its content alongside your additional context. This means the AI Player understands the full conversation without you needing to copy and paste.

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Scopes & Permissions

PlayerZero requests only the permissions needed for AI agents to assist with debugging, communication, and issue management. We follow the principle of least privilege — each permission directly enables a specific capability.
ScopeWhy It’s Needed
app_mentions:read@mention responses — Allows PlayerZero to detect when someone mentions the bot in a channel and respond
channels:historyThread context — Enables reading message threads to provide full context when a shortcut is triggered from a channel
channels:joinChannel access — Allows the bot to join channels where it needs to deliver alerts or respond to mentions
channels:readChannel discovery — Lets PlayerZero list available channels during setup so you can choose where to receive alerts
chat:writeResponses and alerts — Enables sending agent responses, investigation results, and alert notifications
chat:write.customizeAttributed messages — Allows the bot to send messages on behalf of team members (e.g., “Alice (via PlayerZero)”) when relaying messages from the PlayerZero UI
commandsShortcuts — Required for the “Add to Backlog” and “Ask PlayerZero” message shortcuts
files:writeFile sharing — Enables sharing files (e.g., diagrams, reports) generated by AI agents
groups:historyPrivate channel threads — Same as channels:history but for private channels
groups:readPrivate channel info — Same as channels:read but for private channels
im:historyDM conversations — Enables reading and responding to direct messages with the bot
mpim:historyGroup DM conversations — Enables participating in group direct message threads
users:readUser mapping — Allows matching Slack users to PlayerZero accounts for proper attribution
users:read.emailEmail matching — Uses email addresses to link Slack identities with PlayerZero user accounts

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Setup

Setup starts in PlayerZero — no pre-configuration in Slack is required. The Slack connection is managed under Notifications, not the Integrations page (which is used for tools like Jira and Linear).
  1. In PlayerZero, navigate to Organization Settings → Notifications
  2. Find the Slack card and toggle it on
  3. You’ll be redirected to Slack to sign in and authorize PlayerZero in your workspace
  4. After authorization, configure alert delivery:
    • At the organization level, choose a default channel for notifications
    • At the project level, go to Project Settings → Alerts, enable Slack, and select a channel and event types
Once connected, all Slack capabilities are immediately available — message shortcuts (“Add to Backlog”, “Ask PlayerZero”, and “New Backlog”), DMs with the bot, and @mention responses. No additional configuration is needed beyond the initial toggle.

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Managing Alerts

For configuring alert channels, event types, and muting rules, see Get Notifications Using Slack.

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Get Started

👉 AI Player overview 👉 Workflow overview 👉 Setup guide