A channel connects a chat platform to a project. A message in a connected channel starts a session. The agent replies in the same thread.

Live channels

Kortix supports four channel platforms today:

Slack — connect with one click through the Kortix-managed app, or bring your own bot token.
Microsoft Teams — connect through org admin-consent OAuth, or bring your own Azure Bot.
Email — an AgentMail-backed channel (experimental; enable it under Customize → Settings → Experimental).
Meeting bots — a connector-backed channel for meeting transcription.

Only Slack and Microsoft Teams connect through the CLI and dashboard. Email and meeting bots are managed from the dashboard or SDK. This page covers Slack. Teams follows the same session, identity-linking, and credential rules.

How a channel starts a session

The first message in a Slack thread or Teams conversation creates a session. Every later message in that thread goes to the same session, even after the sandbox stops and resumes. A Slack workspace connected to more than one project shows a project picker on the first mention.

Identity linking

Kortix links each chat sender to a Kortix account before the agent runs for them. Run /kortix login in Slack and follow the link to sign in. Teams uses the same requirement. An unlinked sender gets a prompt to link instead of a session run.

Where credentials live

A connected channel's bot token is a connector-scoped secret. It does not appear on the project's Secrets page. Kortix never injects it into a sandbox. Kortix resolves the token server-side when the agent sends a chat message.

Connect Slack

Start the connection

From the CLI, run:

kortix channels connect

On a host with the shared Slack app configured (Kortix Cloud, for example), this prints a one-click install link. Open the link and pick the workspace. Click Allow. Add --wait to make the command poll until the install lands.

From the dashboard, open the project's Channels page and connect Slack there instead. It uses the same install flow.

Use your own Slack app

On a self-hosted deployment with no shared Slack app configured, kortix channels connect falls back to manual mode automatically. Run kortix channels manifest to print an app manifest. Create the app at api.slack.com/apps from that manifest. Install the app to your workspace. Then run:

kortix channels connect --manual --bot-token xoxb-... --signing-secret ...

Check the connection

kortix channels status

Run kortix channels disconnect to remove the connection. See the CLI reference for every flag.

Connecting Slack adds a channel connector entry to kortix.yaml for you. You never write this entry by hand.

Use Slack

Mention the bot with a task, in any channel it has joined, or open a direct message. The thread keeps its session as described above. A bare mention with no task gets a reminder to add one instead of starting a session.

Control a session with slash commands

Type these as /kortix <command> in Slack, or as plain text in a DM. Slash commands do not run inside the Assistant DM pane, so Kortix parses the same words from plain text there.

Command	What it does
`login`, `logout`	Link or unlink your Slack identity
`switch`, `unbind`	Rebind or unbind this channel from its project
`projects`	List projects you can bind to
`sessions`	List recent sessions started in this workspace
`whoami`	Show the channel panel: project, agent, model, policy, and your linked identity
`agent <name>`, `model <id>`	Set the agent or model this channel uses
`policy <mode>`	Set who can start sessions here
`help`	List all commands

policy accepts project_open (default — any project member who mentions the bot gets a session), owner_approval, or owner_only.

What does not work

Slash commands do not fire inside the Assistant DM pane. Type /kortix <command> as plain text there instead.
Other chat platforms, including Telegram, are not supported channels today. Only Slack and Microsoft Teams connect through the CLI and dashboard; email and meeting bots connect through the dashboard or SDK.

Slack & channels