Get the most out of Slack with three new code samples

We think Slack is awesome, but we wouldn’t be where we are today without the more than 1 million creative Slack developers building custom applications and integrations on our platform. As organizations become more distributed and business needs become increasingly cross-functional, we understand the need to constantly innovate for your end users. 

Over the past few months, the partner engineering team has been working on ways to improve the Slack app building experience. Today, we’re pleased to share three sample apps and code that can help you: 

• Keep end users updated of your app’s latest and greatest features
• Optimize ways you can use Slack Connect APIs to collaborate with people outside your organization
• Explore how messages can automatically be sent from an external website directly to Slack

Notify users of app updates

Real talk: sometimes the hardest part of the job isn’t building an update—it’s convincing users to install it. Our Upgrade App Manager sample demonstrates several creative ways you can notify admins and end users when app updates are available in their workspace.  

Slack currently does not provide a way for users to know when a newer version of the app is available, so you’ll need to communicate available updates to your existing users. In this sample, users can easily check for the app’s latest version using a global shortcut or slash command. Whenever a new version of an app is available, users will be notified with an alert that reminds them to upgrade their app. 

Make the most of Slack Connect

In a world that’s adopting a hybrid work environment, building deep and meaningful relationships with customers, partners and vendors can be challenging. Slack Connect lets users collaborate with external partners and customers directly in their workspace, which accelerates work and prevents emails from piling up. 

The Slack Connect sample jump-starts your understanding of how to use the Slack Connect APIs and shows you ways to manage your Slack Connect channels with automation. Learn how you can easily send Slack Connect invites to external users and accept and approve those invitations. This sample also covers how to disconnect from a shared Slack Connect channel with one click, and automate the admin approvals process by updating the Slack Connect settings in your Enterprise Grid workspace.

Reduce the number of tabs you need to get work done 

Our goal is to make Slack your digital headquarters, a place where all work happens. That includes the ability to send documents, diagrams, files or assets via Slack, so organizations can collaborate in one spot.  

The Send to Slack sample shows a simple implementation of how you can route data from a website to a Slack channel or user. It includes basic client-side code and manages user authentication using Auth0. 

We’re already seeing some of our great partners use this feature in their Slack integrations. For example, Slack users with GitHub can send data as a message to a Slack channel about pulls and deployments. Lucidchart’s integration sends Slack notifications about updates to Lucidchart documents and allows users to manage permissions and create shortcuts through Slack. And with a single click, our users with Canva can create a new Slack channel to collaborate on design work. 

Building with Slack should feel simple, fast and fun. We hope you feel the same way once you try these samples! If you have any questions or feedback, please reach out to us at feedback@slack.com.