Building Multi-Agent Slack Routing with OpenClaw

Source: Dev.to

Agent Setup in OpenClaw

The first step was creating two agents:

• main – default assistant
• nila – secondary agent with a different personality

Basic commands used during setup:

openclaw agents list
openclaw agents add nila

Once created, we configured bindings to map Slack accounts to specific agents:

openclaw agents bind --agent main --bind slack:default
openclaw agents bind --agent nila --bind slack:nila
openclaw agents bindings

Key behavior

Bindings in OpenClaw are exclusive per target:

• slack:default → main agent
• slack:nila → nila agent

A binding cannot be owned by multiple agents simultaneously. This design prevents routing conflicts and keeps conversation ownership clear.

Multi-Agent Routing Concept

With the bindings configured, OpenClaw can route messages based on the Slack account interacting with the system.

Example routing flow

Slack (default account) → main agent
Slack (nila account)    → nila agent

This approach enables different agent personalities or capabilities within the same workspace.

Slack App Configuration

During setup we encountered a common Slack DM issue:

Sending messages to this app has been turned off.

In most cases, this is caused by Slack app configuration or installation state. To enable bot DM interactions correctly, the following settings are required:

• App Home messages enabled
• Socket Mode enabled with a valid xapp- token
• Required bot scopes:
  • chat:write
  • im:read
  • im:history
  • im:write

After modifying scopes or permissions, reinstall the Slack app so the new permissions take effect.

Debugging and Diagnostics

OpenClaw provides useful commands for troubleshooting routing and connectivity issues:

openclaw channels list
openclaw channels status --json
openclaw status
openclaw logs --follow

These commands help verify:

• Channel bindings
• Slack connection status
• Agent routing
• Runtime logs

Important Behavior: Session Visibility

If the policy tools.sessions.visibility restricts visibility, agents may not be able to send messages across sessions. This is useful for enforcing isolation between agents.

Final Thoughts

OpenClaw’s routing model makes it surprisingly easy to build multi‑agent Slack assistants. With the right configuration, you can:

• Run multiple agent personalities
• Route conversations dynamically
• Isolate sessions for security
• Debug behavior through simple CLI tools

This architecture opens interesting possibilities for:

• AI team assistants
• Domain‑specific agents
• Developer copilots
• Automated workflows