@SlackHQ for the future!
@dblockdotorg tell us what made you build this?
Spending so much time in Slack that you thought what else can keep you in longer 😉?
How do you think the Slack App Directory will change the game for Slack?
Having spent the last few weeks working heavily with the Slack API, this seems pretty useful. The Slack API does have a Tester feature for each method like this but it's nice to not have to load up Chrome to see the format of the results.
@SlackHQ has been called the command line for non-technical teammates. (For one instance of this idea, see Partyline's "Future of UI" – http://partyline.rocks/blog/futu....) For those who never built a website or tinkered around with code, slash commands may be a person's first exposure to programming. Other companies, like @jgvandehey's Growbot, use ascii and emoji to trigger events. There is a transparency to code that is brought out through Slack.
@dblockdotorg, this is an awesome idea. I'm curious about a few things:
- How has it changed your workflow?
- Since this is in a channel, have you found that it increases transparency when building?
- How can non-technical teammates who are interested in code watch and learn from your work?
Thanks for posting. This rocks.
@wademvaughn Thanks for your kind words!
I use the command line via DM primarily, the bot avoids having to type '--slack-api-key' to the command line client, so that can be nice. But if I need to explain to someone inside slack how slack API works I can now demonstrate it.
The last question is broader. At Artsy non-engineers use Slack because it automatically augments context (eg. puts a preview for every link or internal data at your fingertips). You can have a 2 minute discussion with all the context and all the people you need to make progress without having to get a room, plan a thing, etc. WRT code specifically when an engineer has done "X", they often point to a Github pull request where "X" is described in human terms. And it's all going through a Slack conversation. A code change is that essential context and often code is fairly readable even by a non-engineer.
Makerpad
PlayPlay.io
Tettra
PlayPlay.io