Slack

Ace posts incidents and weekly reports to the Slack channels you choose, answers when someone mentions it, and posts action plans that your team can approve right in the thread.

What Ace readsCopy Anchor Link

• Messages that mention @Ace, and direct messages to Ace.
• Replies in threads Ace takes part in, including edits and deletions of replies to Ace.
• Reactions and button clicks on Ace's messages.
• Your channel list, so admins can choose where Ace posts.
• Your member directory, so admins can link Ace members to their Slack accounts.

Ace redacts credentials and personal details from a Slack reply before it stores the reply as an engineer note or in memory. See Memory and Security and data.

What Ace can changeCopy Anchor Link

Ace changes nothing outside Slack, and it posts to the channel you choose for each purpose:

Ace also replies in threads and direct messages, adds reactions and uploads files. With Show each teammate in Slack on, each of Ace's teammates posts under its own name and icon, and with it off, every update comes from Ace.

Approve actions in SlackCopy Anchor Link

When Ace proposes an action, it posts the exact plan in the incident thread. The card has Decline and an approve button named for the action, such as Approve rollback or Generate fix. It also shows Edit values when the plan has values you can change, and Something else… to ask for a different plan in your own words.

Because a click in Slack only tells Ace which Slack user clicked, Ace checks the person who clicked against your Ace roles:

• They must be an Ace member with a linked Slack account.
• A production change needs an admin, or a member with approval permission for that kind of action and environment.
• If someone without permission tries to approve, Ace mentions up to three people in the thread who can.

Under Earned autonomy, an automatic action still gives your team a chance to stop it. Before one runs, Ace posts a countdown in Slack with a way to cancel, and if Ace can't deliver the countdown, the action doesn't run. Automatic Kubernetes repairs and automatic pull request merges both depend on it. See Actions and approvals.

You can also ask for a change in plain words, for example @Ace scale checkout to 6 tasks, and Ace prepares the exact plan and posts it for approval.

What opens an incidentCopy Anchor Link

Slack isn't an alert source, but a linked Ace member can start an investigation:

@Ace investigate checkout-api

Ace finds the workload by name and replies with a confirmation only you can see, with Start investigation and Cancel. If the name matches more than one workload, Ace asks which one you mean. When you confirm, Ace investigates the workload over the last hour and links to the incident.

Ace also understands these commands:

Before you startCopy Anchor Link

• You're signed in to Ace in a workspace that has finished onboarding.
• You can install apps in your Slack workspace.
• Only an Ace admin can choose channels and link members' Slack accounts.

Credentials and permissionsCopy Anchor Link

Ace connects through Slack OAuth with these bot scopes:

Set upCopy Anchor Link

1. In Ace, go to Settings > Slack and choose Connect Slack. Slack opens in a popup, so if your browser blocks it, allow popups for Ace and try again.
2. In Slack, choose your workspace, review the permissions and choose Allow within 15 minutes.
3. Under Channels, use Add a channel… to add a channel to Insights and to Weekly reports.
4. In Settings > Team, link each member's Slack account with Choose a Slack account. Members need a linked account to approve actions or start investigations in Slack, and the person who installed the app is linked automatically.

Confirm it's workingCopy Anchor Link

• Settings > Slack shows Connected with your Slack workspace name and Ace is live in this workspace.
• When you mention @Ace in a channel, Ace replies in the thread.
• If the connection fails, Ace shows why, for example Slack authorization was denied or cancelled. or Authorization request expired. Please try again.

DisconnectCopy Anchor Link

Ace has no disconnect button for Slack. Instead, remove the Ace app from your workspace in Slack's app management, which revokes Ace's bot token.

To unlink one member, unlink their Slack account in Settings > Team.

Next stepsCopy Anchor Link

• Actions and approvals: who can approve and how Ace announces automatic actions.
• Roles and permissions: admins, members and approval permission.
• How Ace works: from the first alert to a closed incident.