Slack Application

Port's Slack app brings your developer portal experience into your team's daily communication flow — allowing you to interact with Port directly from Slack and receive real-time notifications from Port right where your team collaborates. The Slack app uses the Port AI API to provide intelligent answers about your software catalog, similar to the Port AI Assistant.

Use-cases

Manage notifications

The Slack app allows you to send messages to any Slack channel directly from Port, without the need to create a separate webhook for each channel.

This can be used to communicate important notifications to people in your organization, such as:

• A new PagerDuty incident has been created.
• A new GitHub issue has been created.
• A GitLab merge request has been merged.

Interact with AI capabilities

Another powerful use-case of the Slack app is to interact with Port's AI capabilities directly from Slack. The Slack app uses the Port AI API (similar to the Port AI Assistant) to provide intelligent answers about your software catalog.

This can be used to get quick answers to questions about your resources, such as:

• Which services had an incident in the last 30 days?
• How many open Jira tickets are there for the service 'x'?
• What is the status of the deployment 'y'?

Prerequisites

• A Port account with admin permissions.

Installation

To install the Slack app, follow these steps:

1. Go to the Builder page of your portal.

2. Click on Organization settings in the sidebar.

3. Select the Slack App tab.

4. Click on the Add to Slack button.

5. Select the workspace where you'd like to install the app, then click Allow.

6. Once installed, you will receive a Slack message from Port's bot with a summary of the app's capabilities:

   

Display channel names in catalog

Once you install the Port Slack app, Port automatically enriches any Slack channel URL in your catalog with the actual channel name. This makes it easier to understand context, ownership, and communication paths at a glance.

The feature works automatically with no additional configuration required. Install the Slack app from the Slack App tab in your organization settings (Builder → Organization Settings → Slack App), and channel names will appear wherever Slack URLs are present in your catalog.

Send notifications from Port

Slack app bot token

Once the app is installed into the Slack workspace, a new system secret will be created in your Port organization named __SLACK_APP_BOT_TOKEN_T<team_id>, where <team_id> is the ID of the Slack workspace.
You can copy it and use it in actions & automations to send messages to a specific Slack channel.

System secrets

To view your system secrets, click on your profile picture in the top right corner of your Port application, select Credentials and then click on the Secrets tab.

Usage example

The following snippet defines an automation that sends a Slack message to a specific channel when a new PagerDuty incident is created in Port, using the Slack app's bot token:

{
  "identifier": "pagerduty_incident_to_slack",
  "title": "PagerDuty incident to slack",
  "icon": "pagerduty",
  "description": "Sends a Slack message on new incident",
  "trigger": {
    "type": "automation",
    "event": {
      "type": "ENTITY_CREATED",
      "blueprintIdentifier": "pagerdutyIncident"
    }
  },
  "invocationMethod": {
    "type": "WEBHOOK",
    "url": "https://slack.com/api/chat.postMessage",
    "synchronized": true,
    "method": "POST",
    "headers": {
      "Content-Type": "application/json; charset=utf-8",
      "Authorization": "Bearer {{ .secrets.\"__SLACK_APP_BOT_TOKEN_T123\" }}"
    },
    "body": {
      "blocks": [
        {
          "type": "markdown",
          "text": "There is a new incident!\nTitle: {{ .event.diff.after.title }}\nOwner: {{ .event.diff.after.properties.assignees }}"
        }
      ],
      "channel": "C06BUh123"
    }
  },
  "publish": true
}

Customize messages

You can customize messages with blocks following the Slack formatting guidelines.

Interact with Port from Slack

New user authentication flow

When a new team member first tries to use the Slack app, a private message with a "Connect to Port" button will be sent to them:

Once the user is authenticated, they can:

• Mention @Port in any channel it's invited to.
• Start interacting with Port directly from Slack.

Slash commands

The Slack app responds to the /port slash command with these options:

• /port (or /port help) - Shows general help and available actions.

To ask the app a question, simply mention @Port and ask away, for example:

@Port is there an active incident for the service 'x'?

Use the Slack AI assistant interface

On paid Slack workspaces, you can also interact with Port through Slack's AI assistant interface, which provides enhanced features:

1. Chat history for previous interactions with Port is available when using direct messages with the app.

   

2. You can start a new conversation easily using the "New Chat" button in the top-right corner.

3. For quicker access, add Port to your Slack top bar by clicking the three dots menu and selecting "Add assistant to top bar".

   

4. Once added, you can access Port from anywhere in Slack through a side panel, without leaving your current conversation.

   

This provides a more seamless way to interact with your Port AI capabilities while working in Slack.

Security and permissions

Because each user connects their Slack identity to their Port account via OAuth, all RBAC settings are preserved across every Slack app interaction. Users can only query catalog data and trigger self-service actions they have permission to use in Port — the same controls apply whether they're working in the Port UI or from Slack.

For comprehensive security information, see AI Security and Data Controls.

Advanced configuration

Renaming the Slack Bot

You can rename the Port Slack bot in your workspace. This can be useful if you want the bot to have a name that is more recognizable to your organization, instead of the default "Port".

Follow these steps to rename the bot:

1. In your Slack workspace, find the Port app. Right-click on it and select "View app details".

   

2. In the app details view, click on the "Configuration" tab. This will open a new page in your web browser. Scroll down to the "Bot User" section.

   

3. Click on the "Edit" button next to the bot user. In the modal that appears, enter the new desired name for your bot and click "Save Changes". The change will apply immediately.

   

Limitations

• The Slack app can only operate in channels it's invited to and in private DMs with the bot.

• Users must authenticate individually.

• You can install only one Slack app, related to one Port organization, in each Slack workspace.

• When sending a message from Port to Slack, up to 50 blocks can be used, and each text value can be up to 3000 characters long.

Frequently asked questions

Are my RBAC permissions preserved when using the Slack app? (Click to expand)

Yes. The Slack app authenticates each user individually via OAuth, linking their Slack identity to their Port account. All interactions — catalog queries, AI responses, and self-service action triggers — respect that user's permissions in Port. Users can only access data and actions they are permitted to use in Port, regardless of how they access them.

For more details, see AI Security and Data Controls and Security and Permissions in the Port AI overview.

Do all users need to authenticate individually? (Click to expand)

Yes. When a team member first interacts with the Port app in Slack, they receive a private message with a "Connect to Port" button. After authenticating, their Slack identity is permanently linked to their Port account for all future interactions.

Can the Slack app trigger self-service actions? (Click to expand)

Yes. Through the AI interface (@Port), you can ask Port to help you trigger self-service actions. Because each user authenticates individually via OAuth, any actions triggered via Slack run with that user's permissions in Port — the same rules apply as in the Port UI.

What kinds of questions can I ask the Slack app? (Click to expand)

You can ask anything you would ask the Port AI Assistant, for example:

• "Which services had an incident in the last 30 days?"
• "How many open Jira tickets are there for service X?"
• "Who is on call for the payments service?"
• "Show me failed deployments from last week"

The Slack app uses the same Port AI API as the Port AI Assistant, so the same capabilities and data access apply.

Can I install the Slack app in multiple workspaces? (Click to expand)

No. Each Port organization supports one Slack workspace. If you need to send notifications to multiple workspaces, use incoming webhooks instead.

Are there usage limits for the AI capabilities in the Slack app? (Click to expand)

Yes. The Slack app uses the same limits as Port AI, including hourly rate limits and monthly quotas at the organization level.