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In Slack, each assistant can have its own Slack app. Flora, Poppy, and Penny then appear as separate members of your Slack workspace, each with its own name, picture, and direct messages. Every message runs as the person who sent it, with that person’s Floral access. The same approval rules apply as in the Floral app. Some organizations still use one shared Slack app called Floral for all assistants. See Shared Floral app (older setup).

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Connect Slack for the organization

An organization administrator connects Slack once. Floral then creates a Slack app for each assistant you add. To do that, Floral needs an app configuration token from your Slack workspace.
1

Open the Channels settings

In Floral, open Settings > Assistants > Channels.
2

Generate a token in Slack

Open api.slack.com/apps and sign in to your Slack workspace. Under Your App Configuration Tokens, select Generate Token and choose your Slack workspace.
3

Paste the refresh token

Copy the refresh token, which starts with xoxe-1-, paste it into Refresh token in Floral, and select Connect Slack.
The token lets Floral create, update, and delete your assistants’ Slack apps in your Slack workspace. Slack issues configuration tokens through its own app, Slack Tooling Tokens Vendor, so you may see that name in your Slack workspace’s app list. It belongs to Slack, not to Floral. You paste the token only once. Floral stores it encrypted and refreshes it automatically. One Slack workspace connects to one Floral organization. Only organization administrators can connect Slack, add or remove assistants, and disconnect Slack. If someone else manages your Slack workspace, share For Slack administrators with them. It lists what the token and each assistant app can do.

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When Slack stops accepting the token

If Slack no longer accepts the token, Channels shows Slack no longer accepts the configuration token. Assistants already in Slack keep working, but Floral can’t add or remove Slack apps until you reconnect. Generate a new token in the same Slack workspace, paste it, and select Reconnect Slack.

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Add an assistant to Slack

1

Add the assistant

Under Assistants in Slack, select Add to Slack next to the assistant. The status shows Creating… while Floral creates the Slack app, then Ready to install.
2

Install it

Select Install in Slack and approve the app in Slack. The status then shows the assistant’s Slack name, for example Installed as @flora.
Each Slack app gets the assistant’s name. If your Slack workspace already has an assistant with that name from another Floral workspace, the new one gets the workspace name in parentheses, for example Flora (Sales). Slack may also add a number to the handle, for example @flora2. A paused assistant can’t be added. Resume it first.
If your Slack workspace requires app approval, Slack shows Awaiting admin approval instead of installing. A Slack administrator approves the app in Slack. Then select Install in Slack again.
Floral sets each assistant’s picture in Slack. If Slack doesn’t accept it, Channels links to the assistant’s Slack app settings. Upload the picture there under Basic Information > Display Information. Slack’s free plan allows 10 custom apps per Slack workspace. When you reach the limit, the status shows Failed: followed by the reason. Remove an app you no longer need in Slack, then select Retry.

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Remove an assistant or disconnect Slack

  • Remove next to an assistant deletes its Slack app. Members can no longer message that assistant in Slack.
  • Disconnect Slack deletes every assistant’s Slack app from your Slack workspace. Members’ Slack links are kept, so they don’t need to link again if you connect the same Slack workspace later.

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For Slack administrators

This section is for the person who manages your Slack workspace.

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The configuration token

  • Floral uses the token only to create, update, and delete the assistant apps it makes in your Slack workspace. The token can’t read messages or change your Slack workspace’s settings.
  • Floral stores the token encrypted and refreshes it automatically. No one needs to paste it again unless Slack stops accepting it.
  • To stop Floral from managing apps, an organization administrator first selects Disconnect Slack in Floral. That deletes every assistant app. Then revoke the token on api.slack.com/apps under Your App Configuration Tokens.
  • If you revoke the token without disconnecting, assistants already in Slack keep working, but Floral can’t add, update, or remove their apps. To remove an assistant then, delete its app in Slack.
Slack Enterprise Grid isn’t supported yet. Installing an assistant in an Enterprise Grid organization shows Couldn’t install the assistant. Slack Enterprise Grid isn’t supported yet. Install each assistant in the Slack workspace that is connected to Floral. Another Slack workspace shows Couldn’t install the assistant. Install it in the Slack workspace connected to Floral.

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What each assistant app can do

Each assistant app requests these Slack permissions: An assistant app has no slash commands, no access to files, and no access to email addresses. It can’t join channels on its own. Someone must invite it. Slack sends each app the messages in channels it’s in. The assistant reacts only to:
  • Direct messages to it.
  • Messages that mention it.
  • Follow-ups in threads it already answers in. With Private replies, that’s the asking person’s own follow-ups. With Team replies, it’s every linked member’s.
It ignores every other message.
1

Message an assistant in Slack

Send the assistant a direct message, or mention it in a channel, for example @Poppy.
2

Open your personal link

The assistant replies with a sign-in link that only you can see. The link is for you alone and expires after 30 minutes. Don’t forward it.
3

Sign in to Floral

Sign in and select Connect. There is no workspace to choose: each assistant works in the Floral workspace it was added from.
4

Ask again

Send your question again. From now on, the assistant knows who you are.
You link once per Slack workspace. The same link works for every assistant there. If you message an assistant that belongs to a Floral workspace you aren’t a member of, it says so. Ask a workspace administrator to invite you. Your linked Slack users are listed under Settings > Assistants > Channels. You can unlink yourself there. Workspace administrators can unlink any member. If your membership changes, the assistant asks you to link again.

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Direct messages

Each assistant has its own direct messages in Slack. Message Penny to talk to Penny. You don’t need to type her name. A direct message is private, just like the app. Only you see the conversation. The assistant can use your own accounts and the team accounts it is allowed to use. Conversations you start in Slack stay in Slack. The assistant’s page in Floral lists only conversations started in the Floral app. Approvals still open in Floral: select View in Floral or Review in Floral on an approval card.

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Mentions in a channel

Invite the assistant to the channel first, for example with /invite @Poppy. Then mention it. The answer depends on the assistant’s setting. An administrator chooses it for each assistant under Settings > Assistants > Channels, in the section In channels. Direct messages are always private.
Only you see the answer. Others in the channel see your question, but not the reply.
  • When you mention the assistant inside a thread, the reply appears in that thread, visible only to you. When you mention it in a new message, the reply appears in the channel, visible only to you.
  • The assistant uses your own accounts and the team accounts, as in a direct message. It knows other people are in the channel and says so when content comes from your own accounts, such as your email.
  • Select Share in thread to post the reply for everyone in the thread. It appears as Shared by your name and the assistant’s name. Read it for personal details first. Approval cards are never shared, and the conversation stays yours.
  • After you mention the assistant in a thread, your next messages in that thread reach it without a new mention. Messages from colleagues in that thread are ignored. If they mention the assistant, they get their own private conversation.
With Team replies, everyone in the Slack channel can read the answers. That can include people who aren’t members of your Floral workspace, such as Slack guests. Use Team replies only in channels where everyone may see the workspace’s shared Floral data and the team accounts’ data.
Slack can remove private replies when you reload Slack or switch device. For an answer you want to keep, ask in a direct message with the assistant, or select Share in thread.

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What each assistant can see

The rule: an assistant uses your own accounts, such as your email or calendar, only when you’re the only one who sees the answer. Team accounts work everywhere, but only those an administrator allowed for that assistant. For the Floral app and routines, see “Who sees the answer?” in Use Floral’s assistants. For the difference between the two kinds of accounts, see Your account and team accounts.

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Approve changes in Slack

When an assistant wants to change something, Slack shows an approval card with the action, the app, and the account it uses. The card says whether that is Your account or a Team account. When a team account uses one person’s login, it also says Acts as and that person’s name or email. The buttons are Approve and run, Reject, and View in Floral.
  • Only the person who asked can approve. If someone else selects a button, nothing runs.
  • A large change shows only Review in Floral. Approve it in the app, where you can see all of it.
  • After you approve, Floral posts the result, and the assistant continues with the next step. The next change needs its own approval.
  • If the result is uncertain, Floral says so. Check the connected app before you try again.

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Common questions

Not in a lasting way. The name in Slack comes from the assistant in Floral, and Floral can overwrite a name changed in Slack the next time it updates the app. If the handle is already taken in your Slack workspace, Slack may add a number, for example @flora2. The name people see stays Flora.
Yes, when they belong to the same Floral organization. Each Floral workspace adds its own assistants. When a name already exists in Slack, the new assistant gets its Floral workspace’s name in parentheses, for example Flora (Sales). Each member links their Slack user once, and the link works for every assistant in that Slack workspace. An assistant answers only members of its own Floral workspace.
The workspace’s assistants stop working for them. When they message one, it says it works in a Floral workspace they aren’t a member of. Nothing runs with their access. If they’re invited back, the assistant may ask them to link again. A workspace administrator can also unlink them under Settings > Assistants > Channels.
Your Slack workspace requires a Slack administrator to approve new apps. Slack sends them the request, and the assistant isn’t installed yet. Its status stays Ready to install. After a Slack administrator approves the app, select Install in Slack again to finish.
Remove deletes only the assistant’s Slack app. The assistant stays in Floral, and its conversations stay saved there. Messages already in Slack stay in Slack. Removing the assistant from the workspace under Settings > Assistants also deletes its Slack app. If you add the assistant to Slack again, it gets a new Slack app. Start a new direct message with it, and invite it to your channels again.

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When something goes wrong

Send the assistant a direct message to get a personal link, then follow the steps under Link your Slack user.
The assistant belongs to another Floral workspace in your organization. Ask a workspace administrator to invite you.
An administrator paused the assistant in Floral. It answers again once they resume it.
The workspace hasn’t turned on assistants, or your access doesn’t include them. Ask a workspace administrator.
Wait a minute and try again.
Open the link in the message to see the saved work in Floral. Check any saved actions before you ask again, so nothing is done twice.
In a channel, an assistant only reacts to mentions and to your own follow-ups in a thread where you already talk to it. Check that it’s in the channel, then mention it again. If a private reply disappeared, ask again in a direct message with the assistant.
Requests must be shorter than 10,000 characters.

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Shared Floral app (older setup)

Organizations that connected Slack before individual assistant apps may still reach Flora, Poppy, and Penny through one Slack app called Floral. It keeps working until an administrator disconnects it. When individual assistants are available to your organization, Channels shows a link to Switch to individual assistants. With the shared app:
  • An administrator selects Connect Slack and approves the Floral app in Slack. Disconnecting it stops every member’s Slack link until an administrator connects it again.
  • You message Floral or mention @Floral. When you link your Slack user, you choose a Floral workspace. To work in another workspace, type /floral workspace followed by the workspace’s short name from its Floral web address, for example /floral workspace sales.
  • Start a message with an assistant’s name and a colon to choose who answers, for example @Floral Poppy: draft 3 LinkedIn posts from last month's customer quotes or, in a direct message, Penny: which invoices are overdue?
  • A message without a name continues with the assistant you already talk to in that thread. With Team replies, the thread stays with the assistant that has the team conversation there. Only a new name, such as Flora:, switches assistants. Where no assistant has a conversation yet, a message without a name goes to Flora.
  • Replies start with the assistant’s name, for example Flora:, so you can see who answered.
  • If the assistant you named isn’t installed in your workspace, Floral replies with a link to the assistant settings. Ask an administrator to install it under Settings > Assistants.
Private replies, Team replies, and approvals work the same way in both setups.

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What the assistants never do

  • Change anything without your approval on the approval card.
  • Accept “yes” typed in a message as an approval, or let someone other than the requester approve.
  • Post your private reply in the channel unless you select Share in thread.
  • Use your own accounts for someone else, or in Team replies.
  • Give you more access in Floral than you already have.
  • Work in another organization or workspace than the one the assistant belongs to.
  • Send email from Gmail. Flora prepares drafts only.
  • Repeat a change on their own when the result is uncertain.
Disconnecting Slack, removing an assistant, or unlinking your user stops future access. It doesn’t delete messages that Slack already stores.