Slack Explorer MCP — Claude Code MCP server: search Slack
An MCP server that lets your coding agent read Slack messages and threads. Useful when the answer you need sits in a channel, not in the repo.
claude mcp add slack-explorer-mcp -- docker run -i --rm ghcr.io/shibayu36/slack-explorer-mcp:0.12.0What Slack Explorer MCP does
Access goes through a Slack User Token (xoxp-), so the server only surfaces what that user can already see. Six tools ship with it. search_messages covers channel, author, date range and reaction filters; get_thread_replies pulls a full thread with pagination; get_user_profiles takes up to 100 user IDs at once; search_users_by_name matches display names; search_files narrows attachments by type and channel; get_canvas_content returns canvas HTML.
Setup starts in the Slack API dashboard: create an app, add eight User Token Scopes — channels:history, groups:history, im:history, mpim:history, search:read, users.profile:read, users:read, files:read — then install it to the workspace. Drop search:read and message search stops working. The token goes into the SLACK_USER_TOKEN variable when the container starts.
stdio is the default transport. Setting TRANSPORT=http switches the server to Streamable HTTP on 0.0.0.0:8080, and the token moves to the X-Slack-User-Token header; HTTP_HOST and HTTP_PORT change the binding. Everything runs from the ghcr.io/shibayu36/slack-explorer-mcp image, so Docker has to be installed.
What it helps with
- find a release discussion in one channel from last week
- pull every reply out of a long thread
- resolve email and display name for a batch of user IDs
- locate a PDF or canvas attached to a message
- list messages you reacted to with a given emoji
Example prompts for the agent
- Search the general channel for messages about the release from last week
- Get all replies in this thread
- Find messages with file attachments from john.doe
How to install Slack Explorer MCP
Platform CLI
claude mcp add slack-explorer-mcp -- docker run -i --rm ghcr.io/shibayu36/slack-explorer-mcp:0.12.0Platform CLI
codex mcp add slack-explorer-mcp -- docker run -i --rm ghcr.io/shibayu36/slack-explorer-mcp:0.12.0Config file
{
"mcpServers": {
"slack-explorer-mcp": {
"command": "docker",
"args": [
"run",
"-i",
"--rm",
"ghcr.io/shibayu36/slack-explorer-mcp:0.12.0"
]
}
}
}Config file
{
"servers": {
"slack-explorer-mcp": {
"type": "stdio",
"command": "docker",
"args": [
"run",
"-i",
"--rm",
"ghcr.io/shibayu36/slack-explorer-mcp:0.12.0"
]
}
}
}Platform CLI
gemini mcp add slack-explorer-mcp docker run -i --rm ghcr.io/shibayu36/slack-explorer-mcp:0.12.0Step by step, with commands for each platform: How to add an MCP server to Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, VS Code, Gemini CLI and more
Questions about Slack Explorer MCP
How do I install Slack Explorer MCP in Claude Code?
Run claude mcp add slack-explorer-mcp -- docker run -i --rm ghcr.io/shibayu36/slack-explorer-mcp:0.12.0 and pass your Slack token through the SLACK_USER_TOKEN environment variable.
What does Slack Explorer MCP do?
It gives the agent tools to search Slack messages and files, read threads, look up user profiles and fetch canvas content.
What do I need before it works?
A xoxp- User Token with the right scopes, including search:read, plus Docker to run the container.
