Is this different from the community Slack MCP?

Yes, and both are listed. This is Slack's own hosted server at mcp.slack.com/mcp, authorised per user through OAuth and approved by workspace admins. The community slack-mcp-server (korotovsky, 1.8k stars) is a local stdio server you run yourself with a token — no approval step, but also no admin governance.

Does my admin have to approve it?

Yes. Slack routes MCP clients through its standard app-approval process, so a workspace admin can approve, scope and revoke each client. That is the point of this server for a company workspace, and the reason it may be blocked in one that restricts apps.

What tools are exposed?

Slack documents fifteen by capability and scope rather than by identifier: search messages/channels, search files, read files, search emoji, search users, send message, read a channel or thread, create a conversation, add reactions, canvas create/update, user profile and email, list channel members, list user channels, Lists, and upload a file. The upload is two steps — slack_get_file_upload_url, then POST the bytes, then slack_complete_file_upload — and the file is not visible until the second step completes.

The shortest path is a marketplace plugin: /plugin install slack@claude-plugins-official in Claude Code, or /add-plugin slack in Cursor — each configures the MCP server and prompts for OAuth on first use. Claude.ai and Perplexity also offer it as a built-in connector. Any other client adds https://mcp.slack.com/mcp as an HTTP server; it publishes RFC 8414 authorization-server metadata and supports PKCE for desktop clients.

Is the server open source?

No. The server is hosted by Slack. The linked repository is the MIT-licensed slack-skills-plugin that installs it into Claude Code and Cursor along with Slack developer skills — its .mcp.json is just the URL and an OAuth client ID. Treat the star count as interest in the plugin, not a readable server codebase.

Slack (official)

Name: Top MCPs — curated MCP directory
Creator: Top MCPs
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Official

Slack's own hosted MCP server — search, send messages, read threads, and manage canvases, gated by workspace admins.

Score 74(?)SlackProprietary 120Verified Sep 3, 2026Top MCPs for Communication →

Install View on GitHub

Quick answer

What it does

Exposes fifteen tools over Streamable HTTP, each mapped to specific OAuth user-token scopes: search (search:read.*), read history (channels/groups/mpim/im:history), send (chat:write), create conversations (channels/groups/im/mpim:write), reactions (reactions:write), canvases (canvases:read/write), users (users:read, users:read.email), channel members and user channels (channels/groups/im/mpim:read), Lists (lists:read/write), and file upload (files:write via slack_get_file_upload_url then slack_complete_file_upload).

Best for

Company workspaces with app-approval policies
Searching messages, files and people from an agent
Reading and replying in threads
Creating and updating canvases

Not for

Workspaces whose admins block MCP clients
Setups that need a raw bot token and no OAuth

Source: top-mcps.com/mcp/slack-mcp-server — verified Sep 2026

Setup recipe

Pick your client, then follow the three steps.

Install

claude_desktop_config.jsonjson

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "slack-mcp-server": {
      "command": "Claude",
      "args": [
        "Code:",
        "/plugin",
        "install",
        "slack@claude-plugins-official",
        "·",
        "Cursor:",
        "/add-plugin",
        "slack",
        "·",
        "or",
        "add",
        "https://mcp.slack.com/mcp",
        "as",
        "an",
        "HTTP",
        "MCP",
        "server"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Paste under mcpServers. Fully quit and reopen Claude after editing.

CLI or .mcp.jsonshell

claude mcp add slack-mcp-server -- Claude Code: /plugin install slack@claude-plugins-official · Cursor: /add-plugin slack · or add https://mcp.slack.com/mcp as an HTTP MCP server

Run from your repo. Commit .mcp.json to share with your team.

.cursor/mcp.jsonjson

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "slack-mcp-server": {
      "command": "Claude",
      "args": [
        "Code:",
        "/plugin",
        "install",
        "slack@claude-plugins-official",
        "·",
        "Cursor:",
        "/add-plugin",
        "slack",
        "·",
        "or",
        "add",
        "https://mcp.slack.com/mcp",
        "as",
        "an",
        "HTTP",
        "MCP",
        "server"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Global path: ~/.cursor/mcp.json. Reload window after editing.

.vscode/mcp.jsonjsonc

{
  "servers": {
    "slack-mcp-server": {
      "command": "Claude",
      "args": [
        "Code:",
        "/plugin",
        "install",
        "slack@claude-plugins-official",
        "·",
        "Cursor:",
        "/add-plugin",
        "slack",
        "·",
        "or",
        "add",
        "https://mcp.slack.com/mcp",
        "as",
        "an",
        "HTTP",
        "MCP",
        "server"
      ]
    }
  }
}

VS Code uses the "servers" key (not "mcpServers").

~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.jsonjson

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "slack-mcp-server": {
      "command": "Claude",
      "args": [
        "Code:",
        "/plugin",
        "install",
        "slack@claude-plugins-official",
        "·",
        "Cursor:",
        "/add-plugin",
        "slack",
        "·",
        "or",
        "add",
        "https://mcp.slack.com/mcp",
        "as",
        "an",
        "HTTP",
        "MCP",
        "server"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Open via Cascade → hammer icon → Configure.

cline_mcp_settings.jsonjson

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "slack-mcp-server": {
      "command": "Claude",
      "args": [
        "Code:",
        "/plugin",
        "install",
        "slack@claude-plugins-official",
        "·",
        "Cursor:",
        "/add-plugin",
        "slack",
        "·",
        "or",
        "add",
        "https://mcp.slack.com/mcp",
        "as",
        "an",
        "HTTP",
        "MCP",
        "server"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Open via the Cline sidebar → MCP Servers → Edit.

~/.continue/config.jsonjson

{
  "experimental": {
    "modelContextProtocolServers": [
      {
        "transport": {
          "type": "stdio",
          "command": "Claude",
          "args": [
            "Code:",
            "/plugin",
            "install",
            "slack@claude-plugins-official",
            "·",
            "Cursor:",
            "/add-plugin",
            "slack",
            "·",
            "or",
            "add",
            "https://mcp.slack.com/mcp",
            "as",
            "an",
            "HTTP",
            "MCP",
            "server"
          ]
        }
      }
    ]
  }
}

Continue uses modelContextProtocolServers with a transport block.

~/.codex/config.tomlshell

# ~/.codex/config.toml
[mcp_servers.slack-mcp-server]
command = "Claude"
args = [
  "Code:",
  "/plugin",
  "install",
  "slack@claude-plugins-official",
  "·",
  "Cursor:",
  "/add-plugin",
  "slack",
  "·",
  "or",
  "add",
  "https://mcp.slack.com/mcp",
  "as",
  "an",
  "HTTP",
  "MCP",
  "server",
]

Codex uses TOML. Each server is a [mcp_servers.<name>] subtable.

~/.config/zed/settings.jsonjsonc

{
  "context_servers": {
    "slack-mcp-server": {
      "command": {
        "path": "Claude",
        "args": [
          "Code:",
          "/plugin",
          "install",
          "slack@claude-plugins-official",
          "·",
          "Cursor:",
          "/add-plugin",
          "slack",
          "·",
          "or",
          "add",
          "https://mcp.slack.com/mcp",
          "as",
          "an",
          "HTTP",
          "MCP",
          "server"
        ]
      }
    }
  }
}

Zed calls them "context_servers". Settings live-reload on save.

ChatGPT → Settings → Connectors (remote URL)json

{
  "name": "Slack (official)",
  "transport": "http",
  "url": "https://mcp.slack.com/mcp"
}

Paste this into Settings → Connectors → Add custom connector. Requires ChatGPT Pro / Team / Enterprise / Edu with Developer mode enabled. ChatGPT supports remote HTTPS MCP servers only — stdio servers must be hosted on a public HTTPS endpoint first.

2
Set required secrets
No credentials required — this MCP runs over stdio without authentication.
3
Try a minimum working prompt
Minimum working prompt pending verification. Try any prompt from the MCP’s README once installed.

Tools & permissions

Tools list pending verification. The server exposes tools over MCP; we haven’t yet parsed its capability manifest into this page. Check the GitHub repo for the authoritative list.

Security & scope

Access scope: Network
Sandbox: Hosted endpoint at mcp.slack.com/mcp over Streamable HTTP. Authorisation is a per-user OAuth token whose scopes are enumerated per tool in Slack's docs, and the client itself must pass the workspace's app-approval process. No local process runs; the trust boundary is the approved app plus the scopes the user consented to.
Gotchas: chat:write, channels:write and files:write let an agent post, create channels and upload files as the authorising user. Consent only to the scopes the workflow needs; an agent that can send is one prompt away from sending the wrong thing to the wrong channel.
Admin approval is required and can be denied — check the workspace's app policy before promising a rollout.
File upload is two calls; the file is invisible until slack_complete_file_upload succeeds, so a half-finished upload leaves nothing behind but also nothing shared.
The linked repository is the installer plugin, not the server — the server itself is closed and hosted, so you cannot audit or self-host it.

Agent prompt pack

— copy into Claude, Cursor, or ChatGPT.

Paste into Claude, Cursor, or ChatGPT. Edit the [brackets] before sending.

Recommend the best MCP servers for [task: e.g. communication work] in [client: Claude.ai].

Constraints:
- Prefer tools that are [official | open-source | read-only] — pick what matters for my use case.
- Exclude MCPs that require [e.g. a paid plan, OAuth-only flows, remote-only transport].
- Return at most 3 picks, ranked.

For each pick include:
1. One-sentence rationale.
2. The ready-to-paste install snippet for my client.
3. Any required secrets I need to create before installing.

Cross-check the top-mcps.com listing: https://top-mcps.com/top-mcps-for-communication

Compare Slack (official) against a real alternative. Swap the second MCP in [brackets] if you want a different match.

Compare Slack (official) MCP vs [Slack (community) MCP] for the following job: [describe the job, e.g. "let an agent create GitHub issues on bug triage"].

Judge them on:
- Setup time and complexity (what a new user hits first).
- Auth model (none / API key / OAuth 2.1) and credential risk.
- Transport (stdio / Streamable HTTP / SSE) and where the server runs.
- Required secrets and the blast radius if they leak.
- Operational risk in an unattended agent loop.
- Which one is "good enough" for a weekend prototype vs. production.

End with one sentence: which should I pick for my scenario, which is: [my scenario].

References:
- https://top-mcps.com/mcp/slack-mcp-server
- top-mcps.com listing for Slack (community)

Asks the agent to install and verify. Works inside Claude Code, Cursor Agent, Codex CLI.

Install the Slack (official) MCP server for my [client: Claude.ai] at the default config path for that client.

Use the exact install snippet published at https://top-mcps.com/mcp/slack-mcp-server (fetch https://top-mcps.com/mcp/slack-mcp-server.json for the canonical server.json if you can read URLs).

Before finishing:
1. Create the required secrets () and put them in the appropriate env block — do not hard-code them.
2. Restart or reload the client so it picks up the new server.
3. Verify the server is connected (green / running state) and at least one tool is listed.
4. If anything fails, read the client's MCP logs and report the exact error — do not silently retry.

Confirm when done and list the tools the server now exposes.

Frequently asked questions

What changed

— 2 updates tracked.

Sep 3, 2026
Refreshed install snippets and fact sheet; verified for 2026.
Feb 12, 2026
Initial directory listing.

At a glance

Maintainer: Slack
Transport: Streamable HTTP
Auth model: OAuth 2.1
Required secrets: None
Supported clients: Cursor
License: Proprietary
Language: TypeScript
Latest version: remote
Last verified: Sep 3, 2026

GitHub repo Official website

Rank badge

Maintainer of Slack (official)? Embed the live badge — it re-renders with the current rank and score on every catalog refresh.

[![Ranked #3 in Communication on Top-MCPs](https://top-mcps.com/badge/slack-mcp-server.svg)](https://top-mcps.com/mcp/slack-mcp-server)

Alternatives

Slack (community) →
Read and send Slack messages, manage channels and threads — the token-based community server, no admin approval needed.
Microsoft Teams →
Read channel messages, post replies, and trigger meetings from MS Teams.
Discord →
Read and post to Discord channels — community management for AI agents.

Related guides

More Communication MCPs

Other tools in the same category worth evaluating.

Slack (community)

Read and send Slack messages, manage channels and threads — the token-based community server, no admin approval needed.

slackmessagingcommunicationautomation

10 minMedium

Discord

Read and post to Discord channels — community management for AI agents.

discordchatcommunitybot

10 minMedium

Send messages and read channel history from a Telegram bot in an agent.

communicationmessagingtelegrambot

6 minLow

Compared with Slack (official)

Side-by-side breakdowns for the choices people most often weigh against this MCP.

Slack (official)vsSlack (community)Slack (official)vsMicrosoft Teams Slack (official)vsDiscord Slack (official)vsTwilio

Exploring Top MCPs for Communication? See all Communication MCPs →