answer-slack

Draft a Slack Answer

Generate a concise, helpful answer to a Slack question by researching the codebase and context.

Tools Needed

• Bash — spy thread <channel> <ts> --json -w <workspace> (Spy Slack CLI) to read full thread context
• Read — read queue items, config, and source code files
• Write — write draft answer
• Grep, Glob — search local codebase

Input

A queue item file in ~/.claude/engineer-agent/queue/incoming/ with type slack-question, containing the message text and thread context.

Steps

1. Understand the Question

Read the queue item file. Extract the project field from frontmatter. Analyze:

• What specifically is being asked?
• Is this about code implementation, architecture, status, or something else?
• Is there enough context to give a good answer?

2. Research

Read ~/.claude/engineer-agent/engineer.yaml to find the project's path at projects.<project>.path.

If you need more thread context than the queue item already contains, read it with spy thread <channel_id> <ts> --json -w <workspace>, resolving the Spy binary (agent.slack.bin, default spy) and workspace (projects.<project>.slack.workspace ?? agent.slack.workspace) from config.

Based on the question type:

Code/implementation questions:

• Use Grep to search for relevant code patterns in the project's local codebase (at the project path)
• Use Read to read specific files referenced in the question
• Check git history if the question is about intent or history ("why was this done?")

Status questions:

• Check recent PRs, commits, and queue items for relevant activity
• Look at Jira ticket status if referenced

Architecture questions:

• Read the target project's CLAUDE.md for documented decisions
• Find relevant code patterns in the codebase

3. Draft the Answer

Write a concise Slack-appropriate response:

• Be direct — answer the question first, then provide context
• Keep it short — 1-3 paragraphs for most answers
• Include code references — link to specific files/lines when relevant
• Use Slack formatting — code blocks, bold for emphasis, bullet lists
• Acknowledge uncertainty — if you're not sure about something, say so

If the question cannot be answered confidently:

• Draft a response that says what you do know
• Flag what's uncertain
• Set priority to urgent so the human reviews it quickly

4. Write the Draft

Update the queue item file:

1. Add the ## Draft Response section:

## Draft Response

### Proposed Slack Message

{the message to post in the thread}

### Confidence

{high | medium | low} — {brief explanation of confidence level}

### Sources

- {file or link referenced}
- {another source}

2. Update frontmatter status to drafted
3. If confidence is low, update priority to urgent
4. Move the file from ~/.claude/engineer-agent/queue/incoming/ to ~/.claude/engineer-agent/queue/drafts/

5. Report

Report: "Slack answer drafted for question from @{author} in #{channel_name}. Confidence: {level}."