This package allows integration with the Slack Real Time Messaging API for consuming and publishing messages in real time to/from Slack.

To make use of the API, you will need to setup a user account or a 'bot' (robot) user (a special kind of user account specifically designed for programatic access to APIs) and obtain an authentication token from Slack.

Once you have a user account and an authentication token you can use the API to connect to slack. Here is an example:

conn, err := slack.Connect(slackToken)
	
if err != nil {
	log.Fatal(err)
}

replier := func(msg *slack.Message) {
	msg.Respond(msg.Text)
}

slack.EventProcessor(conn, replier, nil)

The above snippet of code connects to the Slack RTM API over a web socket and starts listening for all messages directed specifically at the user account used to connect to slack (either a direct message or a message in a channel preceded by '@username:' ). It will then echo the same message back to Slack.

To also process messages not directed specifically at the connected user, a similar function can be passed as the third parameter to the EventProcessor method (either in addition to or instead of the second parameter).

This package is used by Talbot, a bot that is available to be used directly, extended or simply as an example.

Features implemented

• Processing Slack message events
• Option to respond
  • just to directed messages (those sent as private messages or preceeded by '@username:' in open channels)
  • to all messages
  • or to both directed and all messages independently.
• Sending messages to Slack
• Automatic reconnection following a lost connection
• Support for explicit web proxies (running on corporate LANs)
• Chunking of large messages into multiple smaller messages for sending to Slack
• Updating configuration based upon new member events, etc.

Still outstanding...

• Reliable message sending i.e. checking for Ack's for sent messages (especially upon reconnection)
• Processing of Slack message changed events (currently ignored)
• Processing other Slack event types