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Benefits of connecting Slack to Windmill

Slack is where most day-to-day work happens — decisions, questions, collaboration, problem-solving.
Connecting Slack to Windmill allows that context to be remembered and used to support performance conversations without requiring anyone to write summaries or “manage up.”
  • Captures work as it happens — not at review time
  • Ensures employees get credit for contributions that are usually invisible
  • Helps managers remember accomplishments and follow-through across the year
  • Reduces time spent preparing for reviews, calibrations, and promotions
  • Makes feedback and evaluation more fair, grounded, and accurate
Windmill transforms ongoing Slack collaboration into structured insight for 1:1s, coaching, and performance reviews. In addition, Slack is where your team interacts with Windy, Windmill’s AI assistant. Connecting Slack is essential to using Windmill.

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Setup

As part of onboarding, you connect the Windmill Slack app. Slack lists the app as Windmill. Its bot appears as Windy in messages, direct messages, and channel member lists. This connection is the foundation of Windy communication in Slack. Connecting Slack does not automatically give Windmill access to channel messages. Add the app to a channel when you want Windmill to use that channel as context. You can chat with Windy in your direct-message conversation with the Windy app. Windy does not answer messages or mentions in public, private, or Slack Connect channels.

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Add channels as context

We recommend automatic access to public channels. This option gives Windmill more context without channel-by-channel setup.
1

Open Settings

Go to Settings in the Windmill Dashboard.
2

Open the Slack integration

Select Integrations, and then select Slack.
3

Open the Slack settings

Select Settings for the Slack integration.
4

Enable public-channel autojoin

Select Autojoin public channels, and then save the settings.
The app does not rejoin a channel after someone removes it from that channel. Slack Connect channels require the separate Include Slack Connect channels setting. For manual public-channel and private-channel setup, see Add Slack channels as context.

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Channel join behavior

When you add the app to a Slack channel, it does not send a notification to channel members. Slack adds a message to the channel history that says Windy joined the channel. This message does not cause a notification, mention, or alert. After the app joins a channel, Windmill can sync messages and Slack canvases from that channel and use them as context. The synced data includes messages in threads and outside of threads, Slack canvases, users, and channels. Windmill does not currently store reactions as synced channel data. Example of Windy join message in Slack channel
Channel membership gives Windmill access to context. It does not enable Windy conversations in the channel.

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Message access and privacy

Windmill mirrors Slack’s permissions. You can only see messages in Windmill that you can already see in Slack.
  • Public channels: If Windy is in a public channel, anyone on your team who can see that channel in Slack can see its messages in Windmill.
  • Private channels: Even when Windy is added to a private channel, only the human members of that private channel can see its raw messages in Windmill. Adding Windy never exposes private channel content to people outside the channel — including managers, admins, or anyone else who isn’t a member.
  • DMs and group DMs: You can chat with Windy in your own Slack DM. Windy is not added to DMs or group DMs between other people, so that DM content is never read or stored.
Adding Windy to a private channel does not make that channel’s messages visible to people who aren’t already members. Private stays private. Windmill enforces the same membership rules Slack does.
For workspace-wide engagement signals that don’t involve message content, see Slack Business Analytics — it pulls aggregate activity counts only (never message content, channel names, or DM participants).

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Slack shortcuts

Slack shortcuts let you quickly send information to Windmill without leaving Slack. You can create shoutouts, add private notes, and add items to your 1:1 agendas—all directly from Slack.

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Available shortcuts

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How to use shortcuts

There are three ways to access Slack shortcuts: This is the fastest way to capture context from a conversation.
1

Right-click on any Slack message

Hover over the message and click the three dots (…) menu, or right-click the message directly.
2

Select a shortcut

Choose Create a shoutout, Create a private note, or Add to 1:1 agenda from the menu.
3

Review and submit

A modal opens with the message text pre-filled. Edit the content if needed, select the relevant employees, and submit.
When you use a shortcut from a message, Windmill automatically pre-fills the content and suggests relevant employees based on the conversation.
Use the global search bar when you want to create something from scratch.
1

Open the global search bar

Press Cmd+K (Mac) or Ctrl+K (Windows) to open Slack’s global search bar.
2

Search for a shortcut

Type “shoutout”, “private note”, or “1:1 agenda” to find the shortcut you need, then select it.
3

Fill out the form

Enter your content and select the relevant employees.

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Using slash commands

Type these commands directly in Slack: You can also include your message directly after the command. For example: /shoutout Shoutout to Mark for leading the product launch!

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Create a shoutout

Shoutouts let you publicly recognize teammates for their contributions. When you create a shoutout from Slack, it’s saved in Windmill and visible to others.
An Admin or HR Admin must enable shoutouts for your company and configure a shoutouts channel in Slack before you can use this shortcut. See Shoutouts for setup instructions.
1

Trigger the shortcut

Right-click a message and select Create a shoutout, or use the /shoutout command.
2

Write your shoutout

Add or edit the recognition message. Be specific about what the person did well.
3

Select employees

Choose the teammates you want to recognize. You can select multiple people.
4

Click Send

Your shoutout is saved and shared in Windmill.

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Create a private note

Private notes are personal records about employees—only you can see them. They’re useful for tracking observations, feedback, or context you want to remember for reviews or 1:1s.
1

Trigger the shortcut

Right-click a message and select Create a private note, or use the /private-note command.
2

Write your note

The message content is pre-filled as a quote. Add any additional context.
3

Select employees

Choose who this note is about. You can select multiple employees, including yourself.
4

Click Save

Your note is saved privately in Windmill.
Private notes are only visible to you. The employees you tag won’t be notified or see the note.

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Add to 1:1 agenda

Capture discussion topics as they come up and add them directly to your upcoming 1:1 meetings.
1

Trigger the shortcut

Right-click a message and select Add to 1:1 agenda, or use the /1-1-agenda command.
2

Write the agenda item

Edit or add context to the topic you want to discuss.
3

Select employees

Choose which 1:1 partners should receive this agenda item. Only employees with upcoming 1:1 meetings with you will appear.
4

Click Add

The item is added to your 1:1 agenda page with a link back to the original Slack message.
You can only add agenda items for employees you have a scheduled 1:1 with. If someone doesn’t appear in the list, check that you have an upcoming 1:1 meeting with them.

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Enabling shortcuts

Slack shortcuts require additional permissions. If you don’t see the shortcuts in your Slack workspace, an admin needs to re-authenticate the Slack integration.
1

Go to Settings > Integrations

Navigate to the Integrations page in Windmill.
2

Find the Slack integration

Click on Slack in the list of integrations.
3

Re-authenticate

Click Re-authenticate to grant the additional permissions needed for shortcuts.

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Permissions

You need the ability to connect Slack to third-party applications and install Slack apps.

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Slack OAuth scopes

When you install Windy, Slack will ask you to approve a set of OAuth scopes. The table below lists every scope Windy requests and why it’s required.

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FAQs

No, Windy does not send notifications when added to a channel.When you add Windy to a Slack channel, channel members will NOT receive any notifications, pings, or alerts.A message will appear in the channel that says “Windy has joined this channel”, but this is just a visible message in the channel history — it doesn’t trigger any notifications to channel members. People will only see this message if they’re actively viewing the channel.
In Slack, type /remove @Windy in the channel you want to remove Windy from.Admins can also remove Windy through the Windmill Dashboard:
  1. Go to Settings > Integrations > Slack
  2. Click Settings
  3. Find the channel you want to remove Windy from
  4. Click the three dots and select Leave channel
No. Windmill mirrors Slack’s permissions exactly. Raw messages from a private channel are never visible to anyone who isn’t a member of that channel — even if Windy has been added to it.Adding Windy to a private channel does not change who can see the content. If you can’t read the channel in Slack, you can’t read it in Windmill.The only Slack data Windmill exposes outside of channel membership is aggregate activity counts from Slack Business Analytics, such as “Alex sent 42 messages on Monday.” Slack Business Analytics never exposes message content, channel names, or DM participants.
Slack Business Analytics is only for Slack Business+ and Enterprise Grid plans. This integration provides additional stats about your company’s Slack usage but doesn’t give Windmill access to messages or channels.Slack (the standard integration) works with any Slack plan. This integration doesn’t give Windmill access to messages until you add Windy to specific channels.
Windmill stores the following data:
  • Messages (both in threads and outside of threads)
  • Slack canvases in channels where Windy has been added
  • Users
  • Channels
Windmill only has access to channels where Windy has been added. Slack canvases follow the same channel membership rules as messages. We don’t currently store reactions as synced channel data. Slack scopes may permit additional content in the future, but Windmill only syncs the data listed above today.
Open your direct-message conversation with the Windy app. Add the Windmill Slack app to public or private channels only when you want Windmill to read channel context.
No. In Slack, Windy only responds in your direct-message conversation with the Windy app. Windy does not respond to messages or @Windy mentions in public, private, or Slack Connect channels. Adding the Windmill Slack app to a channel gives Windmill access to permitted channel content as context. It does not create a Windy conversation in that channel.
A Slack Connect channel can contain a Windy app from each organization. The circle-avatar Windy belongs to your workspace. The square-avatar Windy belongs to the external organization.Do not use either channel mention to start a Windy chat. Windy does not respond in Slack Connect channels. Open a direct message with your workspace’s Windy to start a conversation.