GitHub - openclaw/slacrawl: cli terminal app for slack with sqlite backend

slacrawl 💾 — Your Slack history, on your terms.

slacrawl mirrors Slack workspace data into local SQLite for full-text search, terminal browsing, reporting, and read-only SQL. It is for people who want a queryable Slack archive that stays under their control.

Install

Homebrew is the shortest path on macOS or Linux:

brew install openclaw/tap/slacrawl

The tap can trail the newest release. GitHub Releases provides signed and notarized macOS archives, Linux archives, and Debian/RPM packages for AMD64 and ARM64.

To build the latest source, install Go 1.26.5 or newer, then run:

git clone https://github.com/openclaw/slacrawl.git
cd slacrawl
make build
./bin/slacrawl --help

The repository also includes a Dockerfile for container builds.

Quick start

Set SLACK_BOT_TOKEN to a bot token that can read the workspace, then replace the example workspace and channel IDs:

slacrawl init --workspace T01234567
slacrawl doctor
slacrawl sync --source bot --channels C01234567
slacrawl search "incident"
slacrawl tui

init writes ~/.slacrawl/config.toml; database-backed commands use ~/.slacrawl/slacrawl.db by default. A user token is optional for broader thread and DM coverage; an app token is only needed for live Socket Mode tailing.

Already have a Slack export? Import its ZIP or extracted directory instead of syncing from the API:

slacrawl import ~/Downloads/slack-export.zip --workspace T01234567

Choose an ingestion source

Every source feeds the same SQLite archive and search index.

Treat one config and database as one visibility boundary. Keep personal and company archives in separate configs, database paths, and share remotes. See Configuration for tokens, multiple workspaces, MCP, external providers, media caching, and source precedence; see Desktop mode for local-cache coverage and limitations.

Explore the archive

Search uses SQLite FTS5 with a substring fallback. The same archive is available through the TUI, structured commands, and read-only SQL:

slacrawl report
slacrawl messages --limit 20
slacrawl sql 'select channel_id, count(*) from messages group by channel_id;'
slacrawl --json status

Use --format text, --format json, or --format log on commands that support structured output. Color turns off when stdout is not a TTY; --no-color and NO_COLOR=1 force plain output.

Keep it current

Run an incremental API refresh after the first sync:

slacrawl sync --source bot

Use --latest-only to update only channels that already have local history, tail for Socket Mode events, or watch for recurring desktop-cache refreshes. Ordinary incremental sync preserves retention cutoffs; --full, an older explicit --since, desktop ingestion, or imports can deliberately restore older records.

Share an archive

One machine can publish compressed, git-backed snapshots while other machines subscribe and query locally without Slack credentials. Routine updates merge safely and preserve destination-only rows; exact replacement requires update --restore.

See Git archive sharing for publisher and subscriber setup, snapshot tags, media behavior, and restore semantics.

Retention

purge previews its effect unless --force is supplied:

slacrawl purge --older-than 90d
slacrawl purge --older-than 90d --force --vacuum

Threads are retained or removed as a unit based on the parent timestamp. See Retention purge for workspace scoping, message-event compaction, cached media, and git-backed archive behavior.

Commands

The command reference describes every command, output modes, shell completion, and common workflows. slacrawl <command> --help is the authoritative flag reference.

Development

make build
make test
make check

make check runs the local CI gates, including formatting, vet, vulnerability and dead-code checks, tests, CLI smoke tests, and a release snapshot. Read CONTRIBUTING.md before changing behavior and SPEC.md for the implementation contract.

License

MIT. Built by Vincent Koc.