# Capturing tasks (/docs/guides/slack/capture)



Once Slack is [connected](/docs/guides/slack/install), capturing a task is one message.

## The one-liner [#the-one-liner]

```
/task Fix the login redirect @sam #bug !high ^friday
```

Slack immediately shows you a quiet "On it — capturing…" note (only you can see it), and a
moment later RyTask replies with a confirmation: the new item's key as a link, plus its
title. The item is created in the default project an admin chose during setup.

The text after `/task` is read by the **same quick-add shorthand the web app uses** — one
grammar everywhere, so nothing new to learn:

| Token       | Meaning                                                 | Example                                |
| ----------- | ------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------- |
| `@handle`   | Assignee                                                | `@sam`                                 |
| `#label`    | Label                                                   | `#bug`                                 |
| `!priority` | Priority — `urgent`, `high`, `medium`, `low`, or `none` | `!high`                                |
| `^date`     | Due date — a date or natural phrase                     | `^friday`, `^2026-07-01`, `^in 3 days` |

Everything else becomes the title. A token only counts at the start of a word, so `C#` and
`sam@example.com` are left alone, and you can write `\#` or `\@` to mean a literal
character. There is no estimate token — estimates are set in the app. The full grammar
lives in the [fast capture guide](/docs/guides/users/fast-capture).

Capture **never blocks on missing details**. `/task Just a title` is a perfectly good
capture: it gets the first workflow status and no priority, and you can fill the rest in
later. If part of your shorthand couldn't be applied — say `@sam` matched nobody — the item
is still created and the confirmation tells you exactly which tokens couldn't be resolved,
so nothing is silently dropped.

## The guided form [#the-guided-form]

Type `/task` with **no text** and RyTask opens a small form right inside Slack instead:

* **Title** (the only required field)
* **Description** (optional)
* **Priority** (optional)
* **Due date** (optional)

The task goes to the connected default project; the form doesn't ask you to pick a project
or assignee today. Submitting with just a title still creates the item with sensible
defaults.

## Who the task belongs to [#who-the-task-belongs-to]

If your Slack account is [linked to your RyTask account](/docs/guides/slack/user-mapping),
the captured item records you as the person who raised it. If it isn't linked yet, the item
is still created — it just has no reporter, and the confirmation gently reminds you to ask
an admin to link your account.

You don't need to be a member of the default project, or even have a RyTask account, to
capture. Behind the scenes the capture runs under the context of the admin who installed
the integration, so a teammate's quick `/task` is never bounced for permissions. What does
get recorded is honest provenance: every item captured this way is stamped with the
**Slack** source and shows a "Slack" badge in the app — on the item, in lists, and in its
activity history.

## What happens behind the scenes [#what-happens-behind-the-scenes]

The slash command only does the bare minimum synchronously — Slack requires a response
within three seconds, and RyTask answers well inside that window. The actual creation runs
on RyTask's background worker a moment later, which is why the confirmation arrives as a
follow-up message rather than instantly.

This hand-off is **replay-safe**: each capture gets a deterministic job identity, so if
Slack retries a delivery (which it sometimes does), you still get exactly one task, not
two.