Overview
The Slack integration lets your team receive retrospective notifications directly in the channels where they already communicate. When a retrospective starts, when action items are committed, or when a weekly digest is ready, Unpack posts a formatted message to the Slack channel you choose.
This keeps everyone informed without requiring them to check Unpack separately and helps build a habit of continuous improvement by making retro outcomes visible to the whole team.
The Slack integration is available on the Pro and Enterprise plans. You must be an organization Admin or Owner to connect Slack.
Connecting Slack
Unpack uses Slack's official OAuth flow to establish a secure connection to your workspace. No bot tokens or manual webhook URLs are required.
- Navigate to Organization Settings → Integrations.
- In the Slack card, click Connect to Slack.
- You will be redirected to Slack's authorization page. If you are signed in to multiple workspaces, select the workspace you want to connect.
- Review the permissions Unpack is requesting. Unpack asks for permission to post messages to channels and to read your workspace's channel list so you can select a notification target.
- Click Allow to grant access.
- You will be redirected back to Unpack. A confirmation banner will appear showing that Slack is now connected, along with the workspace name.
If your Slack workspace requires admin approval for third-party apps, you may see a "Request to Install" button instead of "Allow." Submit the request and ask your Slack workspace admin to approve the Unpack app.
Selecting a Notification Channel
After connecting Slack, you need to choose which channel receives notifications. You can configure a different channel for each team within your organization.
- Navigate to Organization Settings → Integrations → Slack.
- Under Team Channels, you will see a list of all teams in your organization.
- For each team, click the channel dropdown and select a public or private channel from your Slack workspace. If you do not see a channel, make sure the Unpack app has been invited to that channel in Slack.
- Click Save to apply your selections.
If a team does not have a channel assigned, no Slack notifications will be sent for that team's retrospectives. You can always update channel assignments later.
For private channels, you must first invite the Unpack bot to the channel by typing
/invite @Unpack in that channel. Otherwise, the channel will not appear
in the dropdown.
Notification Types
Unpack sends the following notifications to your configured Slack channels:
Retrospective Started
When a facilitator moves a retrospective from Draft to the Check-in phase, a message is posted to the team's Slack channel. The message includes the retrospective name, a direct link to join, and the facilitator's name.
Action Items Created
When a retrospective reaches the Commit phase and action items are finalized, a summary message is posted listing each action item along with its assignee and due date. This gives the team immediate visibility into what was decided.
Weekly Digest
Every Monday morning, Unpack sends a weekly digest to each team's configured channel. The digest includes:
- Number of retrospectives completed in the past week.
- Total action items created and how many have been marked complete.
- A brief sentiment summary based on check-in data.
- A link to the team's dashboard for more details.
You can enable or disable individual notification types per team from the Slack integration settings page. For example, you might want only the weekly digest for a large team to avoid channel noise.
Message Formatting
Slack messages from Unpack use Block Kit formatting for a clean, readable layout. Messages include the Unpack logo, structured sections with bold labels, and direct links back to the relevant retrospective or dashboard. Action item lists are formatted as bulleted items with assignee mentions when the Slack user can be matched to an Unpack account.
Refreshing the Channel List
If you create a new Slack channel after connecting Unpack, it may not appear in the dropdown immediately. To refresh the channel list:
- Go to Organization Settings → Integrations → Slack.
- Click the Refresh Channels button at the top of the Team Channels section.
- The dropdown will update to include any newly created channels.
Disconnecting Slack
If you no longer want Slack notifications from Unpack, you can disconnect the integration:
- Navigate to Organization Settings → Integrations → Slack.
- Click Disconnect Slack at the bottom of the page.
- Confirm the disconnection in the dialog. This revokes the OAuth token and stops all notifications immediately.
Disconnecting Slack does not delete any previously sent messages from your Slack channels. If you reconnect later, you will need to reselect notification channels for each team.
You can also remove the Unpack app from your Slack workspace directly through Slack Settings → Manage Apps. If you do this, Unpack will detect the revoked access and mark the integration as disconnected on your next visit to the integration settings page.
Troubleshooting
- Messages not appearing: Verify the Unpack bot has been invited to the target channel and that the correct channel is selected in the integration settings.
- Channel not in dropdown: Click Refresh Channels to reload the list from Slack. For private channels, invite the Unpack bot first.
- Authorization expired: If Slack shows the integration as disconnected, click Reconnect to re-authorize with a fresh OAuth token.