> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://herd-security.gitbook.io/herd-security-docs/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://herd-security.gitbook.io/herd-security-docs/getting-started/slack-training-setup.md).

# Slack Training Setup

Connect Slack with Herd to deliver trainings, messages, and policy acknowledgements through Slack. This is the most common way that organizations utilize Herd.

## **Slack Setup Overview**

The **Slack Connection** lets you approve and manage the integration between Herd and your company’s Slack workspace. Once connected, users sync automatically, ensuring Herd stays aligned with your organization’s directory and communication workflows.

### Prerequisites for Slack Connection

* **Slack Admin Access** – You must be a Slack Workspace Admin (or have the necessary permissions) to approve and authorize the integration.
* **Herd Admin Role** – Only Herd admins can configure and manage the Slack connection.
* **Active Slack Workspace** – Your organization needs an active Slack workspace connected to all relevant users.
* **Internet Access & Authentication** – Ensure you can log into both Slack and Herd to complete the connection flow.

### **Step 1: Start Slack App Connection**

1. Log in to your organization's Herd Security Admin Console.
2. On the left side navigation, select **Settings**, then choose **Integrations** in the Settings sidebar.
3. Find the **Slack** card in the **Start here** section.

<figure><img src="https://2286452423-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FrNdsHrfHsFuaMzCbOD5q%2Fuploads%2FnBdvCVdUl4LArEZhH4q0%2FScreenshot%202025-12-16%20at%2013.28.55.png?alt=media&amp;token=087f28e2-31d2-4a51-a783-bbaf500d5930" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

4. Click the **Connect** button (it reads **Reconnect** if Slack is already installed).
5. This should reroute you to a page to approve the Herd Slack App to your Organizations Slack.

{% hint style="info" %}
Herd's Slack app is not yet listed in the Slack Marketplace, so Slack's approval screen notes that it has not been reviewed by Slack. That notice is expected for any app installed from outside the Marketplace and does not affect the connection. The screen lists every permission the app is asking for; [what each one is for](https://www.herdsecurity.io/integrations/slack) is set out on our site.
{% endhint %}

### **Step 2: Connect Slack To Herd**

1. On the screen you're on, approve the Slack connection.
2. Once completed it should automatically add the Herd Slack App to your organization. You may need to search for it in your Slack.

### Step 3: Confirm Successful Connection

1. Back on the **Slack** integration, click **Sync Users** to pull your workspace members into Herd (this also happens automatically after connecting).
2. In order to test a successful connection, simply check the **Users** page in the Herd admin console.
3. If you see the users from your organization in, then you have successfully synced.

{% hint style="info" %}
Very large workspaces (thousands of members) take a few minutes to sync the first time, because Herd paces its requests to stay within Slack's directory rate limits. The tile shows the last successful sync once it completes.

After the first sync, Herd applies new members (`team_join`) and profile changes and deactivations (`user_change`) as Slack sends them, instead of waiting for the next scheduled sync. While a workspace is sending profile-change events, Herd's full re-read of the member list runs once a day, overnight. A workspace that doesn't send them keeps the regular scheduled sync. A custom Slack app built from an older manifest may not subscribe to these two events: copy the current manifest from the Slack tile and update the app's event subscriptions to pick them up.
{% endhint %}

### Slack guests and other workspaces

People in your Slack workspace as **multi-channel or single-channel guests** (contractors, agency staff, customers) can be kept out of Herd. On the **Slack** integration, turn on **Exclude Slack guests**. With it on:

* the Slack sync doesn't create Herd users from guests;
* guests Herd already brought in **only from Slack** are left out of **Everyone**, every dynamic group and targeting. Herd keeps their history; it doesn't delete them;
* a guest who is also in a connected directory (Okta, Entra ID, Google Workspace, SCIM, your HRIS) or was added in Herd stays, because that source says they belong.

The switch is **on by default** for Slack apps connected from October 2026 and off for earlier ones. Turning it on applies at the next sync (click **Sync Users** to apply it now); turning it off brings them back right away. Changing it needs the **Org Integrations** permission.

Whatever the switch, Herd no longer adds people who belong to **another company's workspace** (Slack Connect), and Slack-created users like that are left out the same way.

To see who is left out, open **People → Directory** and choose **Filters → Excluded by a sync**. In a group's member list, each person shows their source, and excluded people are flagged.

***

## Advanced: Use a Custom Slack Bot

Most organizations connect using Herd's standard Slack app (the steps above). If you'd rather run Herd through your **own** Slack app (for example, because your security team only approves apps your organization owns, or to control branding), you can supply a custom bot instead. This does not require the Herd app to be installed first.

1. In the Herd admin console, open **Settings → Integrations**, find the **Slack** card, and expand **Custom Slack Bot**.
2. Under **Create your Slack app from this manifest**, click **Copy** to copy the **App manifest** Herd shows you. In Slack, go to **Your Apps → Create New App → From a manifest**, pick your workspace, and paste it. The manifest sets the bot scopes, event subscriptions, request URLs, and the assistant's starter prompts for you. Building the app by hand instead leaves the Herd assistant without its starter prompts.
3. Install the app to your workspace.
4. Back in Herd, paste the two values from your Slack app and save:
   * **Bot User OAuth Token** — from your Slack app's **OAuth & Permissions** page.
   * **Signing Secret** — from your Slack app's **Basic Information** page.

When it's saved, the card reads **Custom Slack bot is active** and Herd delivers trainings and notifications through your app.

{% hint style="warning" %}
At save time Herd checks which scopes Slack actually granted your app. If any of the scopes Herd cannot work without are missing, the bot is still saved but Herd shows a warning listing them. Add them under **OAuth & Permissions → Bot Token Scopes**, reinstall the app, and save the new token. Re-installing is required whenever you change scopes. In particular, `assistant:write` is what enables the Herd assistant surface in Slack.
{% endhint %}

To go back to the standard Herd app, use the remove option on the same card; messages then go out through the default Herd app. You can add a custom bot again later, including for the same workspace.

{% hint style="info" %}
The custom Slack bot is an advanced option. If you're unsure, use the standard Herd Slack app described above.
{% endhint %}