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TextQL’s integration for Slack allows you to seamlessly interact with Ana directly within your Slack workspace. Below you’ll find instructions on how to add Ana to your Slack, use its features, and understand its capabilities.

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Slack Plan Requirements

A paid Slack plan is required to access Ana’s AI agent in Slack’s agent/assistant container (the split-view AI panel). On free Slack plans, all other features still work: you can mention @Ana in channels, send Ana direct messages, and receive scheduled agent results in channels.

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Organization Defaults

Important for System Administrators: Slack Ana uses your organization’s default settings for data connectors and available tools. Only system administrators can view and modify these defaults in the Configuration settings. All Slack users will have access to the same default connector and tool set configured by your organization administrators.

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Add Ana to Your Slack

Only the administrators of your TextQL Organization have access to these settings.
  1. Navigate to Connectors: Go to app.textql.com/connectors (or click Connectors in the bottom-left corner of the app), then select the Slack tab.
  2. Connect to Slack: Click Connect to Slack. You’ll be redirected to Slack’s approval page asking you to allow Ana to access your Slack workspace. Click Allow. You should see a “Slack installed successfully” confirmation shortly after.
    Connect to Slack

    Pop-up requesting Ana permissions to your Slack

  3. Sync channels and users: After connecting, TextQL syncs your workspace’s channel list and active members so that you can pick delivery channels for scheduled agents and so Ana can match Slack users to their TextQL accounts. Only channel and user names are synced — no message content. If the channel list looks empty or out of date, click the Sync channels and users (refresh) button; the list updates within a few seconds.
    Sync your Slack

    Refresh button highlighted after successfully connecting Slack

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Features

Ana offers the following capabilities within Slack:
  • Answer Questions: Pose questions to Ana and receive detailed answers based on your organization’s data.
  • Send Back Datasets and Figures: Receive datasets and visualizations directly in your Slack conversations.
  • Process Uploaded Files: Attach files (CSV, Excel, PDF, images, and more) to your message and Ana will analyze them alongside your question.

Example: Ben shares a csv in slack. Matt asks Ana about it.

  • Scheduled Delivery: Schedule agents in TextQL to post their results to a Slack channel of your choice. Ana automatically joins the channel you select, and delivered messages are posted under the name and avatar of the user who scheduled them so teammates know who set up the report.

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Using Ana in Slack

Once Ana has been added to your Slack organization, you can start chats with her in the following ways:
  • In a Channel: Use @Ana in your message to start a new chat with Ana. To send follow-up messages to Ana and continue her analysis, simply reply to her in the same thread with @Ana.
Channel messages with Ana

In a channel, use @Ana in your message to start a new chat. Ana will respond in the thread, allowing you to ask followup questions.

If Ana hasn’t been added to the current channel, a popup will prompt you to invite her. Click Add to invite Ana to the channel.
  • With a Direct Message: Send a direct message to Ana to start a new chat and receive responses privately. To send follow-up messages to Ana and continue her analysis, simply reply in the direct message. To start a fresh chat, click + New Chat in the upper right corner of the Slack app.
  • In the AI Agent Panel (paid Slack plans): Open Ana from Slack’s top-bar agent entry point to chat side-by-side with whatever you’re working on.
Type help in a direct message or the agent panel (or use the /help command) at any time to see usage instructions.

Direct messages with Ana. Start a fresh chat with the new chat button in the upper right.

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Slack Channel Context

In addition to answering questions, Ana can also use channel-specific context. Channel context ensures that whenever Ana is mentioned in a specific Slack channel, she has the right background information to guide her responses. Channel context is managed through Playbooks:
  1. Create a New Playbook: Navigate to the Playbooks section in the TextQL platform and click Create Playbook.
  2. Write the Channel Context: Use the provided prompt box to write up the context document for the selected channel. This might include project details, metrics definitions, or links to relevant resources.
  3. Select a Slack Channel: Use the channel selector to choose the Slack channel you want to associate with this playbook. Click Set as Channel Context, and then hit Save.
  4. Keep the Playbook deactivated: The playbook must remain deactivated to function as channel context.
Any datasets and dashboards attached to the playbook are automatically included in the Slack conversation when channel context is applied. If an attachment fails, Ana will post a warning in the thread so you know to investigate.
Attach context with playbooksAttach context with playbooks

Attach context and special instructions to a Slack channel using an inactive playbook. Select Set as Channel Context in the channel selector.

This feature allows you to maintain different contexts across different Slack channels—for example, one channel may hold context about sales performance, while another focuses on product metrics.

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Need Help?

For further assistance or to request early access, please contact support@textql.com.

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Privacy Policy

For information about how we handle your data and protect your privacy when using TextQL’s integration for Slack, please review our Privacy Policy.