Slack: bot doesn't respond in channels (but DMs work)

Symptoms

• Slack DMs to the bot work, but messages in a channel never trigger a reply.
• Slack appears connected/healthy, but nothing happens in public/private channels.

Cause

Most common causes:

• The bot/app is not a member of the target channel.
• Your config requires mentions, but you are not mentioning the bot.
• The Slack app is missing required events/scopes (or wasn’t reinstalled after changes).

For the fuller Slack operating model - workspace scope, mention posture, and where channel policy belongs - read /channels/slack with this fix page.

Fix

1) Invite the app to the channel

In Slack, invite the bot/app to the channel you want it to read.

2) Mention the bot (quick test)

Send a message that explicitly mentions the bot (this avoids “silent” configs that only activate on mentions).

3) Validate your Slack app configuration

In Slack Developer Portal:

• Ensure Events are enabled and include app_mention and message.* events.
• If you changed scopes/events, reinstall the app to the workspace.

Then restart the gateway.

Verify

• Mentioning the bot in a channel produces a reply.
• openclaw channels status --probe shows Slack healthy.

If the bot still fails before events arrive at all, continue with /troubleshooting/solutions/slack-socket-mode-auth-failed.