Install and connect

Connecting Slack takes three parts: a Slack app that points at your RyTask server, a few environment variables on the server, and one click in RyTask's settings. None of it touches your data — until Slack is configured, the integration is simply off, and RyTask runs fine without it.

Throughout this page, https://rytask.example.com stands for the public address of your RyTask API server (not the web app). Replace it with your own.

1. Create the Slack app

In Slack's app dashboard, create a new app for your workspace, then configure three URLs:

Slash command. Under Slash Commands, create /task with the request URL:

https://rytask.example.com/api/v1/integrations/slack/commands

Interactivity. Under Interactivity & Shortcuts, turn interactivity on and set the request URL (this is what delivers the guided capture form's submissions):

https://rytask.example.com/api/v1/integrations/slack/interactivity

OAuth redirect. Under OAuth & Permissions, add the redirect URL:

https://rytask.example.com/integrations/slack/oauth/callback

Note the difference: the slash-command and interactivity URLs live under /api/v1, but the OAuth callback is served at the root of the API server, without /api/v1. Slack sends a person's browser there during the approval flow, so RyTask deliberately keeps it at a plain address. If you put /api/v1 in the redirect URL, the approval flow will fail.

During installation RyTask asks Slack for five bot permissions: commands (the slash command), chat:write (posting confirmations), users:read and users:read.email (matching Slack people to RyTask people by email), and team:read (showing which workspace is connected). You will see these on Slack's approval screen.

From the app's Basic Information page, note the Client ID, Client Secret, and Signing Secret — you need them next.

2. Set the server environment

Add these variables to the RyTask API server's environment (see the environment variables reference for the full list):

Generate the encryption key with:

openssl rand -base64 32

This key is not optional. The moment Slack is configured (client ID, client secret, and signing secret all present), RyTask refuses to start unless SLACK_TOKEN_ENC_KEY is a valid base64-encoded 32-byte value — refusing to boot beats storing a bot token under a bad key. If the key is missing or the wrong size you'll see a startup error like:

Refusing to start: SLACK_TOKEN_ENC_KEY is required when Slack is configured.
Generate one with `openssl rand -base64 32`.

Restart the API (and worker) after setting the variables.

3. Connect from RyTask

In RyTask, an admin opens Settings → Integrations and clicks Connect Slack. RyTask sends the browser to Slack's approval screen; approving returns you to the Integrations page showing Connected and the workspace name.

A few things worth knowing about this flow:

• Connecting is admin-only — it requires the Owner or Admin role. Other members can see the connection status but not change it.
• The approval round-trip is protected by a signed, short-lived state value (it expires after ten minutes) that ties the approval to your organization and to the admin who started it, so a stale or forged callback is rejected.
• On success the bot token is stored encrypted with the key from step 2, and RyTask immediately tries to link every Slack person to a RyTask account by matching email addresses. Anyone without a match simply stays unlinked for now — see user mapping.

4. Pick the default project

Still on Settings → Integrations, choose the default project for Slack captures. Every /task capture lands in this project. Until one is picked, captures are politely declined with a message asking an admin to set it.

That's it — anyone in the Slack workspace can now type /task and capture a task.