Slack AI features explained, and what they cannot do

Slack AI features are built into Slack's paid plans. Pro gets conversation and thread summaries, huddle notes and automatic search filters. Business+ adds Slackbot, search answers, recaps, file summaries, translations, AI workflows, message explanations and canvas writing help. Enterprise+ adds enterprise search. There is nothing to install: on an eligible plan the features show up in Slack's menus, unless an admin turned them off.

This guide covers each feature: what it does, how to use it with the steps from Slack's help center, and which plan has it. Then it lists the limits Slack documents. Everything here was checked against slack.com on October 8, 2026.

Which Slack plan has which AI feature?

Slack's own words: "The AI features available to you depend on your Slack subscription, your role (member or guest) and whether your admins have restricted access." This table follows Slack's AI feature guide. Prices are from Slack's US pricing page, per user per month.

Two notes. Slack says "Slackbot may be available to preview in a limited capacity for workspaces on the free and Pro subscriptions." And if you are on the legacy version of Business+ or on Enterprise Grid without the Slack AI add-on, Slack says "you'll only have access to the Pro features listed above." For the full price breakdown, see Slack AI pricing.

How do you access AI in Slack?

You do not switch it on yourself. On an eligible plan, the AI features appear in the places described below. For Slackbot, Slack's help center says: "By default, all members of a workspace or Enterprise organization can use Slackbot. If you don't see it, you might need to upgrade your plan or ask an owner or admin if they've restricted access."

Owners and admins choose which AI features members can use. On Pro and Business+:

1. Click your workspace name and hover over Tools & settings, then select Workspace settings.
2. Click Roles & permissions.
3. Click Feature access, then select AI.
4. Next to the AI feature you want to manage, click Edit and choose Everyone or No one.
5. Click Save.

Slackbot has its own row in the same Feature access, AI list. On Enterprise plans, the setting lives in Organization settings, Roles & permissions, and admins can also pick "Only specific people and groups" or "Everyone except specific people and groups".

How do you use AI summaries in Slack?

Summaries are on Pro, Business+ and Enterprise+. To summarize a channel or DM on desktop:

1. Open the channel or DM.
2. Click the three dots icon at the top of the conversation.
3. Select Summarize channel or Summarize conversation.
4. Choose what to cover: "just your unread messages, the last seven days or a custom date range (desktop only)."

On mobile, tap Summarize in the top right. A badge appears when the summary is ready.

To summarize a thread, open it and click Summarize at the top. Click the More details icon to see which messages the summary used. Slack notes that "Summaries can take longer to generate for larger time frames or message histories."

How do you use AI search in Slack?

There are two parts. Automatic search filters are on Pro and up. Type a plain-language search in the search bar, for example Slack's own "slides Sarah made for the marketing meeting last week", and press Enter. Next to Search details you see which filters Slack applied.

Search answers are on Business+ and Enterprise+:

1. Click the search bar at the top of Slack.
2. Type your question and press Enter.
3. The AI answer appears at the top of your search results, with citations to the source messages or files.

To post an answer in a conversation, click Share, then Share anyway.

How do recaps work?

Recaps are on Business+ and Enterprise+. "You'll get a new recap every morning with what you missed from the previous day." Open Recap in the sidebar (on mobile: the Home tab, then Recap). Click Manage Recap in the top right to add or remove channels or mute them, then click Save. If you open your recap more than once a day, you can refresh it.

How do you get AI notes in a huddle?

Huddle notes are on Pro and up. On desktop:

1. In the huddle, click AI notes: Off in the top left corner.
2. Click Start AI notes & transcription, then Start notes.

On mobile, tap the three dots, Start AI Notes, then Start Notes. Everyone in the huddle is told when notes start or stop. The notes arrive as a canvas in the huddle thread, with attendees, topics and action items.

To start notes on their own in one channel: click the channel name, Settings, Always start AI notes, Edit, tick "Start AI notes automatically for every huddle in #channel-name", then Save.

What about file summaries, translations and message explanations?

All three are on Business+ and Enterprise+.

• File summaries. When you share a .pdf, .docx, .pptx or .xlsx file in a channel or DM, Slack summarizes it automatically. To turn this off for yourself: your profile picture, Preferences, AI, File summaries.
• Translations. Set your language in Preferences, Language & region, Translation language. Then open a message's three-dots menu and pick Translate message. "Translations are only visible to you." Click See original to go back.
• Message explanations. These explain acronyms, jargon and project terms in a message. On mobile, Slack's December 2025 feature drop says: "By long-pressing a message on mobile and selecting 'Explain,' users get a clear, contextual breakdown."

Canvas content generation (AI writing help in canvases) is also on Business+ and Enterprise+.

How do you build a workflow with AI?

AI workflow building is on Business+ and Enterprise+, for members but not guests.

1. Click Agents & tools in the sidebar (if you don't see it, click More).
2. From Workflows, click New in the top-right corner and select Build workflow.
3. In the AI section, pick a suggested prompt or write your own. Slack's example: "Every Thursday at 10 a.m., summarize the last 7 days in #proj-feedback and send it to #feedback-summary."
4. Click the paper plane icon, review the result, click Finish Up, then Publish.

What can Slackbot do?

Slackbot is Slack's personal AI agent. Slack says: "Slackbot has the same context and access to information you do, so answers are always relevant and personalized." It can also use Salesforce, third-party apps installed in your workspace, and enterprise search sources.

To start on desktop, click Slackbot in the top-right corner or at the top of your sidebar, type or dictate your question, and press Enter. On mobile, open the Home tab and tap Slackbot. When Slackbot wants to edit a shared canvas, you click Confirm first.

It has three more tools:

• Tasks. Open Slackbot, the Tasks tab, Add Task, Create with Slackbot, describe the job, then Create task. Tasks can run on a schedule, a set number of times, or until a date.
• Deep research. Click the plus button next to the message field and select Deep research. It can draw on channels and files, the web, Salesforce data and connected MCP servers.
• Skills. In the Skills tab, "Create a skill to provide Slackbot with step-by-step instructions for any complex process."

At Dreamforce on September 15, 2026, Slack wrote: "Slackbot is now the AI teammate... And now you can tag Slackbot into a channel so the whole team builds on the answer together." The same post says: "Slackbot in channels is in early pilot."

What is enterprise search?

Enterprise search is on Enterprise+ only. It lets search, AI answers and Slackbot use content from connected apps such as Google Drive, GitHub, Microsoft OneDrive and SharePoint. An Org Owner or Org Admin turns it on and connects at least one source. Members then connect their own accounts: search, press Enter, click the plus icon next to a source in the left sidebar, then Connect.

What can Slack AI not do?

These are the limits Slack documents itself:

• Slackbot messages on Business+. "Each member of a Business+ workspace can send 15 messages to Slackbot per week, starting Monday and ending Sunday." The limit resets at 00:00 on Monday in your time zone. Enterprise+ has no weekly or lifetime limit.
• Slackbot on Free and Pro. Only a trial or preview. Once the preview messages are used, Slackbot stops "unless you upgrade or enable Flex Credits." Flex Credits need a connected Salesforce org.
• Recurring tasks. Slack says "each task can run a maximum of three times per day." After that, Slackbot asks if you want to run tasks manually. The limit resets at 00:00 in your time zone.
• Skills on Free. Not available, unless you pay for extra use with Flex Credits.
• File sizes for Slackbot. CSV and TXT up to 1 MB. PDF up to 4.5 MB or 100 pages. Images up to 30 MB, and images over 3.75 MB are resized.
• File summaries. Only .pdf, .docx, .pptx and .xlsx files, and "Summaries are only available for files that are accessible to everyone."
• Deep research time. "It can take Slackbot up to 10 minutes to complete more complex requests."
• Slackbot in channels. An early pilot as of September 15, 2026. Day to day, Slackbot is a personal agent in its own tab.
• Guests. Guests can't use AI apps or agents, can't build AI workflows, and AI notes don't work in huddles with external people or guests.
• AI workflow triggers. "It's not possible to use When a list item is updated or From a webhook to start AI-generated workflows."
• Accuracy. Slack's agents article says: "Because agents use AI, they can be wrong. Use human judgement when appropriate."
• Future pricing. "Slack may move to alternative commercial models for advanced Slackbot capabilities released after June 2026." Slack will give 30 days' written notice before usage-based pricing starts.

What does Slack AI do with your data?

Slack AI only uses Slack data you can already access. Slack says its AI features "won't display or use data from private channels or direct messages (DMs) they aren't a part of." Summaries and search answers are not stored. Recap data is kept for 90 days. Channel summaries made by a workflow follow your organization's retention settings.

On training, Slack's help center says: "Customer data never leaves Slack-controlled infrastructure and is never used to train large language models (LLMs)." The two pages word the hosting differently. The help center says: "Slack uses third-party large language models (LLMs) hosted within our secure cloud infrastructure." The pricing page says: "Our large language models are hosted directly within Slack's AWS virtual private cloud, ensuring your data remains in-house."

What other AI can you use in Slack?

• Third-party agents. Click Agents & tools in the sidebar to find and install agents. To add one to a channel: channel name, the Agents & apps tab, Add Agent or App, then @mention it. Custom Agentforce agents built in Salesforce can be added too.
• The Slack MCP server. It lets outside AI tools such as Claude, ChatGPT and Perplexity search your Slack, read and send messages, and work with files, canvases and lists on your behalf.
• Slackbot as an MCP client. Slackbot can connect to apps such as Atlassian Rovo, Box, Canva, Figma, Linear, Miro and Vercel and take actions there. What it can do depends on the tools each app offers.

How Glad does this

Glad works next to Slackbot, not instead of it. Slackbot is a personal agent that knows your Slack. Glad is an AI teammate the whole team mentions in channels and threads: someone writes "@Glad update the deal in HubSpot and post the summary here", and Glad does it across the team's 1,500+ connected tools, then reports back in the thread. It asks for a yes before anything that cannot be undone, and every plan has an audit log. Glad is priced per Slack workspace, not per user, with no credits and a hard cap: Starter is $49 a month for 250 tasks, Team $99 for 600, Business $249 for 1,750, and the trial gives 50 tasks free with no card. You can use both. See Glad vs Slack AI or the pricing page.

FAQ

How do I use AI summary in Slack?

Open the channel or DM, click the three dots at the top, and select Summarize channel or Summarize conversation. For a thread, click Summarize at the top of the thread. You need Pro or a higher plan.

How do I use AI search in Slack?

Type a question in the search bar and press Enter. On Business+ and Enterprise+, an AI answer with citations appears at the top of the results. On Pro, you get automatic search filters only.

Is Slack AI free?

Mostly no. Free workspaces may get a limited Slackbot preview. Summaries and huddle notes start on Pro, and most AI features start on Business+.

Can Slackbot work in a channel with the whole team?

Not generally yet. Slack announced on September 15, 2026 that you can tag Slackbot into a channel, but called it an "early pilot". Today Slackbot is a personal agent.

Does Slack train its AI on my messages?

No. Slack says customer data "is never used to train large language models (LLMs)."

What are Slack AI agents?

Slackbot is Slack's own agent. You can also add third-party agents and Agentforce agents from Agents & tools, then @mention them in a channel. Guests can't use them.

---

Sources

Checked on 2026-10-08.

• Guide to AI features in Slack, Slack Help Center. The feature-by-plan matrix, the Slackbot preview on Free and Pro, the legacy plan note, and the steps for summaries, search filters, search answers, recaps, file summaries and translations.
• Pricing, Slack. Plan prices in USD, the Slackbot plan FAQ, and the "AWS virtual private cloud" hosting statement.
• How to work with Slackbot, Slack Help Center. Default access, how to start Slackbot, the Confirm step for canvases, tasks, deep research, skills and supported file sizes.
• Slackbot limits and credit usage, Slack Help Center. 15 messages per member per week on Business+, no limit on Enterprise+, Free and Pro preview, task runs, skills on Free, Flex Credits, and possible usage pricing after June 2026.
• Security for AI features in Slack, Slack Help Center. No training on customer data, the "third-party LLMs" hosting statement, access to private channels and DMs, and what is stored (recaps 90 days, workflow summaries per retention).
• Manage access to AI features in Slack, Slack Help Center. The admin steps to turn AI features on or off, and the Enterprise options.
• Updates to feature availability and pricing for Slack plans, Slack Help Center. Summaries and huddle notes on all paid plans.
• Manage access to AI features in Slack, Slack Help Center. The admin path: Workspace settings, Roles & permissions, Feature access, AI.
• Manage Slackbot access and settings, Slack Help Center. Slackbot's own switch under Feature access, AI.
• Use AI to take huddle notes in Slack, Slack Help Center. Steps to start, stop and automate huddle notes, and that notes don't work with external people or guests.
• Use AI to build Slack workflows, Slack Help Center. Steps, plans, members only, and the triggers that can't start AI workflows.
• Search across your applications with enterprise search, Slack Help Center. Enterprise+ only, admin setup, member connections and named sources.
• Guide to Model Context Protocol in Slack, Slack Help Center. The Slack MCP server, its partners, and Slackbot as an MCP client.
• Work with AI agents in Slack, Slack Help Center. Finding and adding agents, Agentforce, guests, and "they can be wrong".
• Slack: the front door to the agentic enterprise, Slack blog, 2026-09-15. Slackbot tagged into channels, and "Slackbot in channels is in early pilot."
• Slack Feature Drop, December 2025, Slack blog, 2025-12-22. Message explanations on mobile (long-press, Explain).
• AI That Actually Works for You, Slack blog, 2025-07-17. Message explanations for acronyms, jargon and project terms.