TOKEN

CHANNEL_ID

CHANNEL_ID_APP

FILE_ID

USER_ID

DOC_1

JSON_OAUTH

ACCESS_TOKEN

APP_TOKEN

USER_TOKEN

SIGNING_SECRET

Gain insights into Slack's API, discover endpoints, manage messages and channels, learn user invitations, and integrate Bolt framework into React for seamless application development.

Automations with the Slack API in JavaScript.png

bolt.tar.gz

first-bolt-app

bolt-polling

Slack is a flexible instant messaging platform for organizations. It allows you to connect with your colleagues, share documents, and organize teams through time zones and physical spaces. It also allows teams to collaborate with images, videos, voice messages, and huddles. Slack's API has allowed it to become a highly integrated productivity tool.  

In this course, you'll first get an introduction to Slack's API and the different endpoints it offers. You'll then be provided with a step-by-step guide on how to sign up for an account and retrieve the access keys. Furthermore, you'll learn how to use the API to manage messages and different channels and invite users to them. You'll also be provided with hands-on experience integrating Slack's Bolt framework into a functioning React application.

By the end of this course, you'll be equipped with the skills needed to develop your applications and integrations with Slack.

Automations with the Slack API in JavaScript

We can regularly upload and share local files on our system using Slack API calls. 

Let's look at the following endpoints in this lesson:

1. `files.upload`: This endpoint uploads or creates a file.
2. `files.list`: This endpoint list files for a team, in a channel, or from a user with applied filters.
3. `files.info`: This endpoint gets information about a file.
4. `files.delete`: This endpoint deletes a file.



# Upload a file

To upload a file, we'll access the `https://slack.com/api/files.upload` endpoint. First, we'll go over how to upload a file using the `files.upload` endpoint. We'll use the `POST` request to call this endpoint.



### Request parameters
Some important query parameters for the `files.upload` endpoint are as follows:

align-center

Upload the file and check for it in the Slack channel where the application has been added.

Let’s call the `files.upload` endpoint. Click the "Run" button to upload the `mytext.txt` file to Slack.

import fetch from "node-fetch";
import { promises as fs } from "fs";

// Defining a function to read a local file
async function readLocalFile(filename) {
  try {
    const data = await fs.readFile(filename, { encoding: "utf8" });
    return data;
  } catch (err) {
    console.log(err);
  }
}

const url = new URL("https://slack.com/api/files.upload");

const headerParameters = {
  Authorization: "Bearer {{TOKEN}}",
  "Content-Type": "application/x-www-form-urlencoded",
};

async function uploadFile() {
  try {
    const filename = "mytext.txt";
    const fileContent = await readLocalFile(filename);

    const bodyParameters = new URLSearchParams({
      channels: "{{CHANNEL_ID}}",
      content: fileContent,
      filename: filename,
      filetype: "txt",
    });

    const options = {
      method: "POST",
      headers: headerParameters,
      body: bodyParameters,
    };

    const response = await fetch(url, options);
    printResponse(response);
  } catch (error) {
    printError(error);
  }
}

uploadFile();

Let’s look at the highlighted lines in the code widget shown above:
- **Line 2:** We import the JavaScript `fs` module.
- **Lines 5–12:** We define a function `readLocalFile` to read and return the contents of a local file.
- **Lines 23–24:** We read the contents of the `mytext.txt` file using the `readLocalFile` function.
- **Lines 26–31:** We specify the necessary parameters: `channels`, `content`, `filename`, and `filetype`.


### Response fields

The response from this endpoint contains the details of the file that was uploaded.

> **Note:** Visit [this](https://www.educative.io/courses/automations-with-the-slack-api-in-javascript/details-of-response-fields#Files) lesson to view the details of the `file` object.



# Get a list of all files

To get a list of all files, we access the `https://slack.com/api/files.list` endpoint. This endpoint will respond with a list of all the uploaded files in a channel.

### Request parameters
Some important query parameters for the `files.list` endpoint are as follows:

Let's call the `files.list` endpoint. Click the "Run" button to get a list of all the files in a channel.

import fetch from "node-fetch";

const url = new URL("https://slack.com/api/files.list");

const headerParameters = {
  Authorization: "Bearer {{TOKEN}}",
  "Content-Type": "application/json; charset=UTF-8",
};

const queryParameters = new URLSearchParams({
  channel: "{{CHANNEL_ID}}",
});

const options = {
  method: "GET",
  headers: headerParameters,
};

async function getFiles() {
  try {
    url.search = queryParameters;
    const response = await fetch(url, options);
    printResponse(response);
  } catch (error) {
    printError(error);
  }
}

getFiles();

Let's look at the highlighted lines in the code widget shown above:
- **Line 3:** We specify the `files.list` endpoint. 
- **Line 11:** We specify the channel to filter only the files uploaded to that channel. 


### Response fields


The response includes the details of all the files uploaded to a certain channel.

> **Note:** Visit [this](https://www.educative.io/courses/automations-with-the-slack-api-in-javascript/details-of-response-fields#Files) lesson to view the details of each element within the `files` list.


# Get file information

To get the file information, we access the `https://slack.com/api/files.info` endpoint. Once we have a file ID, we can get the file information using the `files.info` endpoint.

### Request parameters
Some important query parameters for the `files.info` endpoint are as follows:

Let's call the `files.info` endpoint. Click the "Run" button to get the information on the already uploaded file.

import fetch from "node-fetch";

const url = new URL("https://slack.com/api/files.info");

const headerParameters = {
  Authorization: "Bearer {{TOKEN}}",
  "Content-Type": "application/json; charset=UTF-8",
};

const queryParameters = new URLSearchParams({
  file: "{{FILE_ID}}",
});

const options = {
  method: "GET",
  headers: headerParameters,
};

async function getFileInfo() {
  try {
    url.search = queryParameters;
    const response = await fetch(url, options);
    printResponse(response);
  } catch (error) {
    printError(error);
  }
}

getFileInfo();

Let's look at the highlighted lines in the code widget shown above:
- **Line 11:** We specify the `file` parameter.
- **Lines 21–22:** We provide the query parameters and call the `file.info` endpoint.


### Response fields


The response includes the full details of the file.

> **Note:** Visit [this](https://www.educative.io/courses/automations-with-the-slack-api-in-javascript/details-of-response-fields#Files) lesson to view the details of the `file` object.




# Delete a file

To delete a file, we access the `https://slack.com/api/files.delete` endpoint. We use the same file ID to delete the file from the workspace.


### Request parameters
Some important query parameters for the `files.delete` endpoint are as follows:

Let's call the `files.delete` endpoint. Click the "Run" button to delete the file we uploaded at the beginning of the lesson.

import fetch from "node-fetch";

const url = new URL("https://slack.com/api/files.delete");

const headerParameters = {
  Authorization: "Bearer {{TOKEN}}",
  "Content-Type": "application/json; charset=UTF-8",
};

const bodyParameters = JSON.stringify({
  channel: "{{CHANNEL_ID}}",
  file: "{{FILE_ID}}",
});

const options = {
  method: "POST",
  headers: headerParameters,
  body: bodyParameters,
};

async function deleteFile() {
  try {
    const response = await fetch(url, options);
    printResponse(response);
  } catch (error) {
    printError(error);
  }
}

deleteFile();

Let’s look at the highlighted lines in the code widget shown above:
- **Lines 10–13:** We specify the `channel` and `file` body parameters.
- **Line 23:** We call the `files.delete` endpoint.


### Response fields



The response from this endpoint includes only the `ok` parameter indicating whether the request was successful or not.

Learn to use Slack API calls to manipulate files in the workspace.

Introduction

Chat Using the Application

Conversations Using an App

File Management

Users

Manage Reactions

Slack's Bolt Framework

Conclusion

Appendix

Local Files