Use this article to connect your Slack workspace to Intercom, set up channel types, configure conversation triggers, deploy Fin in Slack, manage direct messages, and — if you share a Slack team across multiple Intercom workspaces — claim channels using multi-workspace mode. This article is for workspace admins. Some steps require admin-level permissions in Intercom.
Whether you're managing a community workspace or using a private Slack Connect channel (Slack's feature for connecting channels across different Slack organizations), new customer messages trigger Intercom conversations so Fin and your team can respond seamlessly, right from the Intercom Inbox.
Key features and use cases
The following functionality is available with Intercom's native Slack integration:
AI-powered support in Slack: Fin can respond directly in Slack conversations to resolve issues faster.
Teammate collaboration: Escalate or manage conversations using keywords, @mentions, or emojis.
Real-time sync: Messages, threads, and attachments stay perfectly mirrored between Intercom and Slack.
Notifications and broadcasts: Send alerts or outbound messages to Slack channels directly from Intercom.
Tickets in Slack: Create and manage Intercom tickets directly from Slack, with automatic status update posted back to the Slack thread.
Private and multi-workspace support: Connect multiple Slack workspaces and manage private channels.
Data privacy control: Configure Fin’s data connectors to manage access to sensitive information.
How it works
When a customer sends a message in a connected Slack channel, a new conversation is created in your Intercom Inbox. You’ll see a Slack icon indicating the source of the message.
Fin and your teammates can reply from Intercom as usual. Responses are posted back to Slack, displaying the teammate’s name and avatar, and appear as part of the same Slack thread to keep the conversation organized.
How to set up Slack as a channel
How to connect your workspace
In Intercom, go to Settings > Channels > Slack.
Authenticate your Slack workspace.
Important:
The Intercom Slack app cannot be installed in the primary workspace of a Slack Enterprise Grid account. It must be installed in the secondary workspaces instead.
If your Slack workspace was already connected, you’ll need to re-authenticate the Slack connection to get the latest Intercom Slack app experience.
If your Slack workspace is already connected to another Intercom workspace and you have multi-workspace mode enabled, any new channel you add will enter a pending state (visible in Intercom but not yet active) until an admin claims it in Settings > Channels > Slack. See the Connect multiple Intercom workspaces to one Slack workspace section of this article for details.
Tip: You can connect more than one Slack workspace to Intercom.
Once authenticated, your Slack workspace will appear in Settings > Channels > Slack along with the channels the Intercom bot has been added to. Both workspace and channel settings can be accessed from here.
How to configure workspace settings
When a conversation starts on Slack, you can customize your settings in Settings > Channels > Slack to either create a new lead or try to match the email address with an existing user in Intercom. If no match is found, a new lead will be created.
You can also configure when you want an Intercom conversation to be created. By default, every message into a connected channel will create an Intercom conversation.
To change this:
Go to Settings > Channels > Slack and click manage workspace.
In the Manage workspace panel, you can adjust:
Data connectors:
Enable Fin to access data connectors for more personalized replies. This is disabled by default to protect private data in public channels.
Conversation triggers:
Choose when to start a new Intercom conversation:
Start on every Slack message:
By default, every message posted in the connected channel will create an Intercom conversation.
Allow specific bots to trigger conversations: Toggle this on if you want automated messages from other Slack apps to open conversations in Intercom. Once toggled, click + Select bot to choose which specific bots are authorized to start conversations.
Start a conversation only on your chosen triggers:
When a specific user or bot is mentioned.
When a specific emoji reaction is added.
When a keyword is used (case-insensitive).
Note: Triggers work on both top-level messages and replies in threads. Intercom won’t create new conversations from older threads that pre-date the app connection.
How to add or remove channels
You can add or remove Slack channels at any time:
From the Intercom settings:
Go to Settings > Channels > Slack and select the Add channels option.
Search for the channel you'd like to connect, and select its checkbox.
Click Add channels to save.
In Slack, add Intercom to each channel you want to monitor.
Once added, the channel appears in Settings > Channels > Slack. If multi-workspace mode is active on your account, the channel will show a pending status until claimed — see the Connect multiple Intercom workspaces to one Slack workspace section for details.
Or, from Slack:
Open the Slack channel.
Click on Members > Integrations > Add an app.
Search for and select Intercom.
Note:
To add Intercom to private Slack channels, invite the Intercom app from within Slack. Go to the channel, click Member list > Integrations > Add an app, then select Intercom. Or, type
@INTERCOMin the channel and pressEnter.Slack’s free plan allows only 10 apps. Make sure there’s room to add Intercom.
How to set a channel as conversational or notification-only
You can define each connected Slack channel’s purpose:
Notification only: Use for alerts and updates. These channels do not create Intercom conversations.
Conversational: Use for customer interactions. Messages in these channels create synced Intercom conversations.
Note: Conversational Slack is mutually exclusive with notification channels. I.E., a single channel cannot be for both Conversations and notifications.
Connect multiple Intercom workspaces to one Slack workspace
By default, only one Intercom workspace can use the full conversational Slack integration per Slack team. If you manage multiple Intercom workspaces that share a single Slack workspace, you can request Intercom to enable multi-workspace mode — this allows each Slack channel to be explicitly claimed by one Intercom workspace.
Important: Multi-workspace mode is in beta. Contact Intercom to have it enabled for your account.
How to claim a channel (multi-workspace mode)
When Intercom enables multi-workspace Slack mode for your account, channels no longer connect automatically. Each Slack channel must be explicitly claimed by one Intercom workspace before messages route to it. Only workspace admins can claim channels. To claim a channel:
Invite the Intercom bot to the Slack channel. The channel enters a pending state — meaning it's visible in Intercom but not yet active in any workspace and won't create conversations.
In Intercom, go to Settings > Channels > Slack. The pending channel will appear in your channel list.
Click Claim channel to assign the channel to your Intercom workspace. Once claimed, the channel status changes from pending to active, and messages sent in that channel will create conversations in your Intercom workspace.
Note: A channel can only be owned by one Intercom workspace at a time. The first workspace to claim a channel wins — if a second workspace tries to claim the same channel, it will receive an error.
Requirements and limitations
Enabled by Intercom only: Multi-workspace mode must be turned on by Intercom — it's not available as a self-serve setting. Contact Intercom via the Messenger or your account team to request it.
No auto-connect: Channels must be manually claimed. Adding the Intercom bot to a channel alone isn't enough.
Direct messages (DMs) disabled: DMs to the Intercom bot are disabled when multi-workspace mode is active. Teammates cannot start direct message (DM) conversations with customers via Slack in this mode.
Channel exclusivity: Each channel belongs to exactly one Intercom workspace. The first workspace to claim a channel wins — a second workspace attempting to claim the same channel will receive an error.
Notification-only channels unaffected: Channels set to notification-only are not subject to the claiming flow and continue to work as normal.
Re-authentication affects all connected workspaces: All Intercom workspaces share a single Slack bot authorization (the Slack app permission granted to Intercom). Reinstalling or re-authenticating the integration from one Intercom workspace refreshes that authorization for all connected workspaces. This is expected behavior, not a bug.
Deploy Fin over Slack
To set Fin live for Slack:
Go to Fin AI Agent > Deploy > Chat and select Slack in the channels dropdown, or
You can also use your usual Workflows for Fin and select Slack as a channel in the trigger settings.
Note: Fin's resolutions work the same way across all channels — Messenger, Email, SMS, and Slack. If Fin answers a conversation and it isn't escalated to a teammate, it counts as a resolution regardless of the channel it came from.
How to reply to customers in Slack
When a customer sends a message in Slack, a new conversation appears in your Intercom Inbox with a Slack icon.
Fin and teammates can reply from Intercom, and messages are posted back to Slack with the teammate’s name and avatar. Customers continue chatting in Slack as usual. They see replies from your team (sent via Intercom), as well as Fin, in the same Slack thread.
Threads in Intercom mirror those in Slack, including attachments and rich formatting, keeping context clear.
For a fully joined-up experience, teammates can authenticate their own Slack account in Intercom, allowing replies to appear from the teammate's own Slack identity rather than the Intercom bot. Teammates need the Can manage workspace data permission in Intercom to authenticate their Slack account.
Note: Non-image attachments sent by an unauthenticated teammate appear from the Slack bot (Intercom), rather than from the actual sender (teammate/Fin).
Fin “thinking” messages in Slack
When Fin is preparing a reply in Slack, the Intercom Slack bot will show short loading messages so customers know a response is on the way. Once Fin sends the final response, the loading state clears automatically.
Note: These loading messages are generic (they don’t reflect what Fin is actually doing). After the last message is shown, they’ll loop back to the start.
How direct messages work in Slack
Teammates can send direct messages (DMs) to Slack users to chat privately, outside of public channels. Note: DMs are disabled when Intercom's multi-workspace Slack mode is active — a configuration where a single Slack team is shared across multiple Intercom workspaces. If you're in multi-workspace mode and need DM support, contact Intercom to discuss your options.
A single-threaded DM experience: DMs with the Intercom bot stay in one continuous chat (no separate threads to keep track of).
A dedicated History tab: Slack shows all one-to-one conversations in the Intercom app’s history, so it’s easy to pick up where you left off.
Note:
Slack DMs can only be started from the Inbox, there’s no way to switch or move an existing public-channel conversation into a private DM.
Customers can’t start a new Intercom conversation by messaging the Intercom bot in Slack.
Slack DMs are only used for 1:1 conversations started by a teammate from the Intercom Inbox. (If a customer clicks New chat in Slack, they’ll see an error message.)
Sending broadcasts
You can send one-time outbound messages to Slack channels directly from Intercom:
Messages can be sent to multiple channels from any teammate.
Support for scheduling messages for a future date.
Outbound message reporting tabs showing channels reached and replies received as well as charts for how this changed over time.
Note: Broadcasts currently support only text (no images or attachments yet). Reporting on reactions will be added soon. Learn more about sending broadcast messages on Slack.
Managing tickets in Slack
With Slack connected to your Intercom workspace, you can create and manage Intercom tickets directly from your connected channels. This allows customers to track their ticket's progress in real time, and saves your team from providing manual status updates.
A ticket can be created and tracked with the following steps:
Note: Intercom does not support creating tickets directly from Slack. A ticket can only be created from the Intercom Inbox after a Slack message has generated a conversation — there is no shortcut or form in Slack to create a ticket without first going through the Inbox.
A customer sends a message in a connected Slack channel.
A ticket can be created in three ways:
By a teammate: You can send the customer a ticket creation form from the Intercom inbox. Use the composer shortcut (⌘ K on Mac or Ctrl K on Windows) and select Send a ticket form.
The customer then clicks the Create Ticket button and fills out the form in a native Slack modal.
By a teammate: You can create a customer ticket from the Intercom inbox for the Slack conversation.
Automatically via a Workflow: You can also trigger a ticket creation form to be sent automatically using a Workflow. This is useful for situations where you want to collect structured information from a customer after a specific trigger, like a keyword mention. Simply add the "Send a ticket form" action to your Workflow and select Slack as the channel.
Once created, the ticket is automatically linked to the conversation, and a confirmation message appears in the Slack thread.
Whenever the ticket's status is changed in Intercom (either manually or via Workflows), an automatic update is posted to the Slack thread, keeping the customer informed.
Customers can click Show ticket details at any time to see the ticket's information, current status, and any attachments.
This gives customers full transparency and allows your team to focus on resolving issues instead of writing status updates.
Best practices
Use conversational triggers wisely: Avoid over-triggering by setting clear keywords and mentions.
Monitor data privacy: Enable Data connectors only when necessary for trusted or private workspaces.
Segment Slack channels: Use notification-only channels for alerts and conversational channels for customer engagement.
Limitations and known issues
You can't react to Slack messages from the Intercom Inbox.
Emoji reactions are visible in the Inbox but don’t trigger actions or store data.
Unicode emojis trigger a conversation on a reaction so custom emojis are not supported at this time.
Some Slack formatting (e.g., multi-level lists) isn’t supported in the Inbox.
AI Inbox translation and attribute collectors aren’t yet supported.
By default, each Slack workspace can connect to only one Intercom workspace conversationally. Additional Intercom workspaces are downgraded to notification-only. To connect a single Slack workspace to multiple Intercom workspaces, Intercom must enable multi-workspace mode on your account — see the Connect multiple Intercom workspaces to one Slack workspace section of this article.
Broadcast messages don't support attachments (text only for now).
Tickets cannot be created directly from Slack — they must be created from the Intercom Inbox after a Slack message generates a conversation.
Security and data considerations
Public Slack channels can expose customers data if not managed carefully.
Any Custom Data Attributes (CDAs) or sensitive attributes shared in public Slack channels are visible to all channel members.
Reply time automations will expose the customer's email address in public Slack channels, as this is the address where they will receive replies.
There is currently no way to restrict targeting for these specific messages within Slack.
Reply time expectations are configured within Simple Automations or Workflows; you can manage or disable them by following the steps in this guide.
FAQs
Can customers DM teammates directly in Slack?
Can customers DM teammates directly in Slack?
No. Customers can’t initiate direct messages into Intercom. Teammates can start a private DM with a customer, but not the other way around.
What’s the difference between Notification and Conversational channels?
What’s the difference between Notification and Conversational channels?
Notification only channels are used for alerts or updates — they don’t create Intercom conversations. Conversational channels are for active communication with customers and sync messages both ways.
Can I use Data connectors safely in Slack?
Can I use Data connectors safely in Slack?
Yes, but data connectors will be disabled by default to prevent sharing private data in public Slack channels. You can enable them in workspace settings if your use case allows.
How many Slack workspaces can I connect?
How many Slack workspaces can I connect?
You can connect multiple Slack workspaces, but each Slack workspace can only be linked to one Intercom workspace.
Which Intercom plan do I need to connect Slack as a channel?
Which Intercom plan do I need to connect Slack as a channel?
This feature is available on all Intercom pricing plans.
Note: If you’re using Slack’s free plan, you can only install up to 10 apps. Make sure there’s room to add Intercom.
Which plans include Workflows and Workflow-based notifications?
Which plans include Workflows and Workflow-based notifications?
Workflows, which enable advanced automation like sending specific Slack notifications, are available on the Advanced and Expert plans.
Can I set up automatic Slack notifications for new conversations on the Essential Plan?
Can I set up automatic Slack notifications for new conversations on the Essential Plan?
Slack notifications for new conversations on the Essential Plan are not available. Full automation for new conversation notifications (using specific triggers or keywords) relies on the Workflows feature, which is not included on the Essential plan.
Does the Slack Channel integration send an email notification like the Messenger's 3-minute email push notification?
Does the Slack Channel integration send an email notification like the Messenger's 3-minute email push notification?
No. Intercom does not send email push notifications for messages received in Slack channel conversations. Additionally, Slack does not use "seen" receipts, which are a factor in the standard Messenger email push notifications.
How do Intercom reply buttons work in Slack?
How do Intercom reply buttons work in Slack?
Reply buttons sent by the Intercom bot cannot be clicked by human users due to Slack's security checks. However, free-text replies are supported without such restrictions.
Why is my channel showing as pending?
Why is my channel showing as pending?
If your Slack team is connected to more than one Intercom workspace and multi-workspace mode is enabled, channels don't connect automatically. When the Intercom bot is added to a channel, that channel enters a pending state — it's visible in Intercom but won't create conversations until claimed. To claim it, go to Settings > Channels > Slack and click Claim channel next to the pending channel. Only workspace admins can do this.
Why can't I receive DMs from my Slack bot?
Why can't I receive DMs from my Slack bot?
Direct messages (DMs) to the Intercom bot are disabled in multi-workspace Slack mode — a configuration where a single Slack workspace is shared across multiple Intercom workspaces. In this mode, all workspaces share a single Slack bot authorization, and DMs are not supported. If you need DM support, contact Intercom via the Messenger or your account team.
What happens if two Intercom workspaces try to claim the same Slack channel?
What happens if two Intercom workspaces try to claim the same Slack channel?
The first workspace to claim the channel wins. Any subsequent workspace that attempts to claim the same channel will receive an error message. If you believe a channel has been claimed incorrectly, contact Intercom support.
My second Intercom workspace is in notification-only mode — what's happening?
My second Intercom workspace is in notification-only mode — what's happening?
This is the default behavior when a Slack team is already connected to one Intercom workspace conversationally. Without multi-workspace mode enabled, additional Intercom workspaces sharing that Slack team can only use notification-only channels. Contact Intercom via the Messenger or your account team to request multi-workspace mode.
Useful resources
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