Slack

Talk to Hamster directly in Slack — @mention the bot in any channel or DM to create briefs, check tasks, and get answers.

Overview

The Slack connection installs the Hamster bot in your workspace. Once connected, @mention Hamster in any channel or DM to interact with the same AI assistant you use in the web app. The bot responds in threads, keeping channel noise low while giving you full access to your briefs, tasks, and project context. Messages you send in Slack go through the same Hamster workflows as the web app — the bot can research, create briefs, answer questions, and take action on your work.

What You Can Do

Ask questions: @mention Hamster in a channel or DM to ask about your briefs, tasks, or project context. The bot responds in a thread with relevant answers.
Create briefs: Describe what you want to build and the bot walks you through the brief creation flow, asking clarifying questions before writing the brief.
Check tasks: Ask for your task list, task details, or the next task to work on. The bot reads from your active brief context.
Get research: The bot runs the same multi-source research available in the web app — searching your connected tools, documents, and team knowledge.
Receive updates: When Hamster needs your input (clarifying questions, alignment votes), the bot asks you directly in the Slack thread.
Preview briefs inline: Paste a brief link in any channel and Slack expands it into a preview. Click to open the full brief — formatted with the same headings, lists, and code blocks you wrote in the editor — in a side panel.

How to Connect

Go to Settings > Connections and find the Slack card.
Click Install Slack Bot. You'll be taken to Slack to authorize.
Select the workspace you want to connect and click Allow.
You're returned to Hamster Studio. The bot is now installed in your Slack workspace.
Verify your identity: The bot sends a verification message. Click the link to confirm which Hamster account to associate with your Slack user.

The connection appears on your team's connections page once installed.

How It Works

Channel mentions

@mention the Hamster bot in any channel. The bot responds in a thread attached to your message, keeping the channel clean. If your request triggers a detailed response, the bot moves the conversation to a dedicated thread automatically.

Direct messages

Send a DM to the Hamster bot for private interactions. The same capabilities are available — questions, brief creation, task management — without visibility to others in your workspace.

Threading

The bot uses threads for all responses. Each @mention starts a new thread, and follow-up messages in that thread continue the same conversation. The bot maintains context within a thread so you can have a multi-turn conversation without repeating yourself.

Formatting

The bot formats responses natively for Slack — lists, bold text, links, and code blocks all render as you'd expect. A small reaction appears on your message while the bot is processing.

Previewing Briefs in Slack

When you paste a brief link into any Slack conversation, Hamster turns it into a preview card. Clicking the card opens a side panel with the full brief — title, status, owner, tags, alignment, and the body itself — without leaving Slack.

The body of the brief renders with the same structure you wrote in the editor. Headings stay bold, bullet lists stay indented, code blocks keep their formatting, and links stay clickable. Teammates can skim a brief in the same channel where it was shared and react without having to switch tabs.

The preview always reflects the latest version of the brief. When a teammate edits the brief in Hamster and you reopen the panel in Slack, the new content is there — no refresh of the source message required.

When to share a brief this way

Aligning the team on a new idea: Drop the brief link in your product or founders channel so everyone sees what you're shaping before the next sync.
Asking for input without a meeting: The preview shows the current state at a glance, so reviewers can drop comments back in the thread with context already loaded.
Keeping engineering in the loop: Engineers can scan the brief — goals, constraints, acceptance — from their Slack workspace rather than waiting to be pulled into the tool.

The preview is read-only in Slack. Edits still happen in the Hamster editor, where real-time collaboration keeps everyone working on a single source of truth.

Feedback

You can submit product feedback directly from Slack using the /hamster feedback command. Describe what you'd like to see changed or improved, and Hamster creates a feedback issue with your user details and Slack context attached.

Feedback is rate-limited to 5 submissions per user per 24-hour period to prevent accidental spam.

Processing Indicators

When Hamster is working on your request in Slack, you'll see progressive status messages that update as processing continues. This replaces the static reaction indicator with real-time updates so you know Hamster is actively working and roughly where it is in the process. The status message is automatically removed once the response is ready.

Who Can Use the Bot

Each Slack user verifies their Hamster identity before the bot responds to them. Unverified users receive a verification link.
The bot uses your Hamster account permissions. It can only access briefs and tasks visible to your account.
The connection is installed per Slack workspace. If your workspace has multiple Hamster teams, each member verifies independently.

Disconnecting Slack

When you're done with Slack — for a security review, a workspace migration, or because you've moved to a different channel for AI chat — you want one click to cleanly remove access for everyone. No ghost sessions. No "the bot still replied to someone yesterday." No users stuck waiting on a dead form.

To disconnect, go to Settings > Connections, find the Slack card, and click Disconnect. That's it.

What changes the moment you disconnect

Every team member loses bot access. Verified identities are removed in one step, so no one can keep chatting with Hamster after the connection is gone.
New messages stop triggering Hamster. If someone @mentions the bot after disconnect, it doesn't run a brief, doesn't start research, doesn't do anything on your behalf.
Pending questions are closed out. If Hamster had asked someone a clarifying question in Slack, the form is removed and replaced with a message explaining the connection is gone — so nobody submits an answer into a broken flow.

What your team sees

Anyone who tries to talk to Hamster in Slack after you disconnect gets one clear reply in-thread:

The Hamster workspace connection for this Slack workspace has been disconnected. A workspace admin can re-connect at Hamster Studio under Settings > Connections.

The message links straight to the connections page, so if you later decide to re-connect, they know exactly where to send the admin. No silent failures, no cryptic errors, no support tickets asking "is the bot broken?"

If you change your mind

Re-connecting is the same as a fresh install — go to Settings > Connections, click Install Slack Bot, and run through the authorization flow. Each user re-verifies their identity the next time they message the bot. Your previous briefs, tasks, and conversations in Hamster Studio are untouched by the disconnect; only the Slack link is reset.

Tips

@mention the bot in a channel thread to keep the conversation organized. Other team members can follow along without the bot cluttering the main channel.
Use DMs for quick personal queries — "what's my next task?" or "show me the briefs I'm working on."
The bot works best with focused requests. "Create a brief for the onboarding redesign" works better than a long paragraph mixing multiple topics.
If the bot stops responding, check that your identity verification is still active. Re-verify from the connections page if needed.