slack-thread-reader - SKILL.md Agent Skill

name: slack-thread-reader description: Read and retrieve messages from Slack threads. Use when the user wants to view, analyze, or extract conversation history from a Slack thread by providing channel ID and thread timestamp, or a Slack message URL. allowed-tools: Bash model: haiku

Slack Thread Reader

This skill reads all messages from a Slack thread and outputs them as structured JSON.

Usage

Option 1: Using Slack URL

prbot slack read-thread -u "<SLACK_MESSAGE_URL>" [-l <NUMBER>]

Option 2: Using Channel ID and Timestamp

prbot slack read-thread -c <CHANNEL_ID> -t <THREAD_TS> [-l <NUMBER>]

Parameters

URL Format

-u, --url (required if not using channel+ts): Slack message URL
-l, --limit (optional): Maximum number of messages to retrieve (default: 100)

Channel/Timestamp Format

-c, --channel (required if not using url): Slack channel ID (e.g., C123456789)
-t, --ts (required if not using url): Thread timestamp (parent message timestamp)
-l, --limit (optional): Maximum number of messages to retrieve (default: 100)

Note: You must use either --url OR --channel + --ts, not both.

Output Format

Returns JSON array with each message containing:

username: Display name of the message author
text: Original Slack-formatted text
markdown: Converted markdown text (with user mentions, formatting, etc.)

Examples

# Read thread using Slack URL (easiest)
prbot slack read-thread -u "https://workspace.slack.com/archives/C123/p1234567890"

# Read thread using Slack URL with thread_ts parameter
prbot slack read-thread -u "https://workspace.slack.com/archives/C123/p1234567890?thread_ts=1234567890.123456"

# Read thread using channel ID and timestamp
prbot slack read-thread -c C07V123ABC -t 1234567890.123456

# Read first 20 messages only
prbot slack read-thread -c C07V123ABC -t 1234567890.123456 -l 20

Supported URL Formats

The tool automatically parses various Slack URL formats:

https://WORKSPACE.slack.com/archives/CHANNEL/pTIMESTAMP
https://WORKSPACE.slack.com/archives/CHANNEL/pTIMESTAMP?thread_ts=THREAD_TS
https://app.slack.com/client/TEAM/CHANNEL/TIMESTAMP

Notes

Requires channels:history or groups:history Slack OAuth scope
Automatically converts Slack formatting to markdown
Handles user mentions, channel links, URLs, and text formatting