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Use this overview if you are migrating your Slack connector to the new Slack connector.
If your organization has a rate-limiting exception that allows you to continue using Slack Native for indexing, this documentation does not apply to your deployment.

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High‑level guidance

  • All Glean customers who connect Slack must deploy Slack Real Time Search (RTS).
  • All customers should update their existing Slack or Slack Enterprise Grid custom instances. New customers without a custom Slack instance should setup a new Slack instance to enhance their experience.
  • Long‑term Slack indexing requires a documented exception from Slack.

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What changes on March 3, 2026

Slack is changing its API terms and rate‑limiting behavior:
  • Slack is standardizing on the RTS API as the supported way for partners to access content in real time. The RTS API is rate limited.
  • Slack is rate‑limiting non‑Marketplace custom apps and legacy Data Access APIs used for bulk indexing.
For Glean customers:
  • Legacy indexing‑only connectors will become unreliable or non‑functional after March 3, 2026.
  • You must migrate your existing Slack and Slack Enterprise Grid custom instances to maintain Glean in Slack and proactive use cases.
  • You must obtain and share a formal Slack exception to continue indexing for history or compliance needs.
If you do not migrate existing Slack instances and setup an RTS connector:
  • Slack results in Glean Search and Assistant will degrade in freshness.
  • Glean in Slack (Gleanbot) and Slack actions may stop working or return incomplete content.

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What users will see

After you set up the connectors and install the Slack apps, users experience Slack in Glean as follows.

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End‑user authorization

Each user must authorize the Glean Slack app to see permission‑aware results.
  • Before authorization, Glean shows only limited content, such as public channels.
  • After authorization, users see messages from public channels, their private channels, and their direct or group messages.
  • Glean uses the user’s Slack OAuth token for RTS calls. Users must re‑authorize if the token is revoked, scopes change, or the app is reinstalled.

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Search results and assistants

When you enable RTS and users authorize the app:
  • The Glean search results page displays a Slack results unit with live messages and threads.
  • The Slack filter allows users to focus on Slack content fetched in real time.
  • Glean Assistant and agents call Slack as a federated source to answer questions and summarize conversations.
  • Glean in Slack and Slack actions automatically migrate to use the new RTS instance once you complete the migration.
Search quality and latency depend on Slack RTS behavior and rate limits. Glean adds ranking, faceting, and cross‑app context but cannot override results returned by the RTS API.

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Next steps

To migrate your Slack connector to the new Slack connector, follow the upgrade guide.