App manifest

An app's manifest is where you can configure its name and scopes, declare the functions your app will use, and more.

The manifest file, named manifest.ts is located within the root of your app directory. Inside the manifest file, you will find an export default Manifest block that defines the app's configuration.

For an example, below is an annotated version of the manifest for our Hello World app:

// manifest.ts
import { Manifest } from "deno-slack-sdk/mod.ts";
// Import your workflow
import GreetingWorkflow from "./workflows/greeting_workflow.ts";

export default Manifest({
  
  // This is the internal name for your app.
  // It can contain spaces (e.g., "My App")
  name: "deno-hello-world",

  // A description of your app that will help users decide whether to use it.
  description: "A sample that demonstrates using a function, workflow and trigger to send a greeting",

  // Your app's profile picture that will appear in the Slack client.
  icon: "assets/default_new_app_icon.png",

  // A list of all workflows your app will use.
  workflows: [GreetingWorkflow],

  // If your app communicates to any external domains, list them here.
  outgoingDomains: [], // e.g., myapp.tld

  // Bot scopes can be declared here.
  // For the beta, you can keep these as-is.
  botScopes: ["commands", "chat:write", "chat:write.public"],
});

Manifest properties

Property	Type	Description
name	String	The internal name for your app. It can contain spaces (e.g., "My App")
description	String	A short sentence describing your application. A description of your app that will help users decide whether to use it
icon	String	A relative path to an image asset to use for the app's icon. Your app's profile picture that will appear in the Slack client
botScopes	Array of Strings	A list of bot scopes, or permissions, the app's functions require
displayName	String	(Optional) A custom name for the app to be displayed that's different from the name
longDescription	String	(Optional) A more detailed description of your application
backgroundColor	String	(Optional) A six digit combination of numbers and letters (the hexadecimal color code) that make up the color of your app background e.g., "#000000" is the color black
functions	Array	(Optional) A list of all functions your app will use
workflows	Array	(Optional) A list of all workflows your app will use
outgoingDomains	Array of Strings	(Optional) As of v1.15.0: if your app communicates to any external domains, list them here. If you make API calls to slack.com, it does not need to be explicitly listed. e.g., myapp.tld
events	Array	(Optional) A list of all event structures that the app is expecting to be passed via Message Metadata
types	Array	(Optional) A list of all custom types your app will use
datastores	Array	(Optional) A list of all Datastores your app will use
features	Object	(Optional) A configuration object of your app features

You may also see some function definitions in the manifest file. While Slack functions can be defined here, to keep your code tidy, we recommend defining your functions in their own respective source files in your app's /functions directory.

Regardless of where you define them, each function your app uses must be declared in the manifest.

➡️ To keep building your new app, head to the Slack functions section.

⤵️ To manage your app's access to the Messages tab, read on!

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The Messages tab

By default, apps created with slack create will include both a read-only Messages tab and an About tab within Slack.

You can use the Slack function SendDm to send users direct messages from your app—which will appear for them in the app's Messages tab.

Your app's Messages tab will be enabled and read-only by default. If you'd like to disable read-only mode and/or disable the Messages tab completely, add the optional features property to your manifest definition like this:

// manifest.ts
import { Manifest } from "deno-slack-sdk/mod.ts";
import GreetingWorkflow from "./workflows/greeting_workflow.ts";

export default Manifest({
  name: "deno-hello-world",
  description:
    "A sample that demonstrates using a function, workflow and trigger to send a greeting",
  icon: "assets/default_new_app_icon.png",
  workflows: [GreetingWorkflow],
  outgoingDomains: [],
  // Add this ------
  features: {
    appHome: {
      messagesTabEnabled: false,
      messagesTabReadOnlyEnabled: false,
    },
  },
  // ---------------
  botScopes: ["commands", "chat:write", "chat:write.public"],
});