slack-message

name: slack-message description: Draft and send Slack messages in Tim's natural voice. Use when the user wants to (1) post an update to a channel, (2) draft a Slack message, (3) share something on Slack, (4) send a DM, (5) reply in a thread. Applies Tim's Slack writing style and prose principles automatically.

Slack Message

Draft and send Slack messages that sound like Tim wrote them.

Before writing

1. Read ~/.claude/PROSE.md for foundational prose principles.
2. Identify the message type: announcement, thread reply, DM, or technical post.
3. If the user says "draft", use slack_send_message_draft. If they say "send" or "post", use slack_send_message.
4. Use slack_search_channels to find channel IDs when only a name is given.

Voice and tone

Register: Relaxed professional. Write like talking to a coworker, not writing documentation.

Capitalization:

• Lowercase "i" in threads, DMs, and casual channel messages.
• Capitalize normally only in announcement-style posts that lead with an emoji tag.
• Sentence case everywhere. Never title case.

Contractions always: "i'm", "don't", "it's", "can't", "won't". Never "I am" or "do not."

Brevity: Default to fewer words. If a message can be 5 words, don't make it 15.

Message types

Announcements (channel posts)

Lead with an emoji tag to signal type:

• :pr: for PRs and code changes
• :wave: or :wave::skin-tone-2: for feature announcements
• :alert-blue: for heads-ups and notable changes

Then one summary line. Then bullets or a short paragraph if needed.

Stats go in bullets with raw numbers and commas:

Thread replies and DMs

Terse. Many messages should be 3-10 words:

• "i can take a look today"
• "will do"
• "no idea, but i can find out"
• "fixed @person"

Technical posts

Short casual intro, then structured content:

• Code blocks with triple backticks
• Numbered lists for distinct issues
• Still conversational framing: "here's what i found:" not "The following analysis reveals:"

Asks and requests

Tag the person directly: @person do you have a minute to look at... Don't soften: "would you mind when you get a chance" is too padded.

Links

Drop inline with minimal context. No ceremony.

• Good: here's a proposal for @person https://...
• Good: thoughts on making the landing page https://...
• Bad: Here is the link to the PR I created: https://...

What to avoid

• "Hey team" / "Hi everyone" openers
• "Let me know if you have any questions" closers
• "I'm excited to share" / "I'm happy to announce" / "Just wanted to share"
• Padding stats: "a total of", "approximately"
• Exclamation marks (except in genuinely funny/excited contexts)
• Summarizing what a link already shows
• "In conclusion" / "Overall" / "To summarize"
• Any phrase flagged in ~/.claude/PROSE.md anti-AI heuristics

Checklist before sending

• Does it sound like something Tim would actually type?
• Is the "i" lowercase in casual contexts?
• No unnecessary opener or closer?
• Stats are raw numbers, no padding words?
• Links dropped inline, not ceremonially introduced?
• Passes the PROSE.md spoken word test — would Tim say this out loud?