How to Host Slack Bots

Introduction

This guide covers creating and deploying Slack bots on Shard Cloud.

Creating a Slack App

Create App

Go to Slack API - Your Apps and click “Create New App”.

Choose Creation Method

Select “From scratch”, name your app, and select your workspace.

Get Credentials

In “Basic Information”, note your Signing Secret. In “OAuth & Permissions”, add scopes like chat:write, app_mentions:read, commands.

Install to Workspace

Click “Install to Workspace” and copy the Bot Token (starts with xoxb-).

Security: Never expose your Signing Secret or Bot Token publicly.

Creating Your Bot

Node.js (@slack/bolt)
Python (slack_bolt)

Setup

npm init -y
npm install @slack/bolt

Basic Bot Code

index.js

const { App } = require('@slack/bolt');

const app = new App({
  signingSecret: process.env.SLACK_SIGNING_SECRET,
  token: process.env.SLACK_BOT_TOKEN,
});

// Respond to mentions
app.event('app_mention', async ({ event, say }) => {
  await say(`<@${event.user}> Thanks for mentioning me!`);
});

// Slash command
app.command('/ping', async ({ ack, respond }) => {
  await ack();
  await respond('Pong!');
});

(async () => {
  await app.start(process.env.PORT || 80);
  console.log('⚡️ Slack bot is running!');
})();

Package.json

package.json

{
  "name": "slack-bot",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "main": "index.js",
  "dependencies": {
    "@slack/bolt": "^3.0.0"
  }
}

Setup

pip install slack_bolt

Basic Bot Code

main.py

import os
from slack_bolt import App

app = App(
    signing_secret=os.environ.get('SLACK_SIGNING_SECRET'),
    token=os.environ.get('SLACK_BOT_TOKEN')
)

@app.event('app_mention')
def handle_mention(event, say):
    user = event.get('user')
    say(f'<@{user}> Thanks for mentioning me!')

@app.command('/ping')
def ping_command(ack, respond):
    ack()
    respond('Pong!')

if __name__ == '__main__':
    app.start(port=int(os.environ.get('PORT', 80)))

Requirements.txt

requirements.txt

slack_bolt

Environment Variables

Set these in the Shard Cloud dashboard:

SLACK_SIGNING_SECRET: Your app’s signing secret
SLACK_BOT_TOKEN: Your bot’s OAuth token

Shard Cloud Configuration

.shardcloud

DISPLAY_NAME=Slack Bot
DESCRIPTION=My Slack Bot
MAIN=index.js
MEMORY=512
VERSION=recommended
SUBDOMAIN=my-slack-bot

The SUBDOMAIN is required for Slack to send events to your bot via webhooks.

Configuring Slack Events

After deployment, configure your Request URLs in Slack:

Event Subscriptions: Enable and set URL to https://my-slack-bot.shardweb.app/slack/events
Slash Commands: Set URL to https://my-slack-bot.shardweb.app/slack/events

Deploying

Prepare Your Files

Ensure you have: - Your bot code file - package.json or requirements.txt

.shardcloud

Set Environment Variables

Configure SLACK_SIGNING_SECRET and SLACK_BOT_TOKEN in the dashboard.

Create ZIP Archive

Compress your project folder (excluding node_modules/).

Upload to Shard Cloud

Go to Shard Cloud Dashboard and upload.

Configure Slack URLs

Update Event Subscriptions and Slash Command URLs in your Slack app settings.

Additional Resources

Troubleshooting

Events not received

Verify your Request URL is correct - Ensure your app is running and accessible - Check that the signing secret matches

URL verification failed

Make sure your bot is running before verifying the URL in Slack.

Introduction

Platform Features

Bot Platforms

API Frameworks

Website Frameworks

How to Host Slack Bots

Introduction

Creating a Slack App

Creating Your Bot

Setup

Basic Bot Code

Package.json

Setup

Basic Bot Code

Requirements.txt

Environment Variables

Shard Cloud Configuration

Configuring Slack Events

Deploying

Additional Resources

Troubleshooting

​Introduction

​Creating a Slack App

​Creating Your Bot

​Setup

​Basic Bot Code

​Package.json

​Setup

​Basic Bot Code

​Requirements.txt

​Environment Variables

​Shard Cloud Configuration

​Configuring Slack Events

​Deploying

​Additional Resources

​Troubleshooting

Introduction

Creating a Slack App

Creating Your Bot

Setup

Basic Bot Code

Package.json

Setup

Basic Bot Code

Requirements.txt

Environment Variables

Shard Cloud Configuration

Configuring Slack Events

Deploying

Additional Resources

Troubleshooting