Connecting Slack links your team's Slack workspace to TED and lets each
person link their own Slack account. Once you're linked, you can ask TED
questions straight from Slack — by direct message, by @mentioning TED in a
channel, or with the /ted command.
Step 1: An admin connects the workspace
- Go to Settings > Slack (under Integrations).
- Select Connect Slack workspace.
- You'll be sent to Slack to approve TED's access. Choose the correct workspace if you're a member of more than one, then approve.
- You'll land on a confirmation screen that says Slack connected. Select Go to Slack settings to return to your team's page. The card now shows Workspace connected, your workspace name, the date it was connected, and a Disconnect button.
Only an admin can connect or disconnect the workspace. Everyone else on the team sees the workspace status here, but no button to change it.
The card tracks two separate things. Workspace connected means your team's Slack workspace is installed. It doesn't mean you can ask TED in Slack yet — that's the Your account row under it (Step 2).
Step 2: Link your own Slack account
Once the workspace is connected, each person who wants to ask TED questions in Slack links their own account. The quickest way is right on the Settings > Slack card:
- Look at the Your account row. It shows Linked (with the date) or Not linked — Ask TED in Slack won't answer you yet.
- If it says Not linked, select Link your Slack.
- Approve the request in Slack — you'll be signed into the same workspace your team already connected.
- You'll land on a confirmation screen that says Your Slack account is linked. Select Go to Slack settings to return to the same team's page — the Your account row now shows Linked.
Admins also see a line under the Your account row showing how many teammates have linked — for example, 3 of 8 teammates linked — so you can see how many teammates still need to do Step 2. Only admins see this count, and it only appears once the workspace is connected.
You can also link from your Profile (select your name or avatar, then Profile): find the Slack card and select Link my Slack.
You can select Unlink at any time to remove just your own connection — this never disconnects the workspace for the rest of your team, even if you're an admin.
Asking TED questions in Slack
Once you're linked, there are three ways to ask:
- Direct message — open a DM with TED in Slack and just type your question.
- @mention — mention TED in any channel it's been added to:
@TED what's closing this week? /ted— type/tedfollowed by your question in any channel:/ted which of my deals are stalled?
TED replies in the same place you asked — in the DM thread, in the channel
thread under your @mention, or as a follow-up to your /ted command. Ask a
follow-up in the same thread and TED remembers the conversation; starting a
new thread starts a new conversation.
Type help (or /ted help) any time for a few example questions.
What you can ask
Anything you could ask the Ask TED panel in the app, as long as it's a question — TED in Slack is read-only. It can look things up (deals, tasks, reports, pipeline health, who's closing what) but it can't create or change anything for you there. If you ask it to change something (update a deal, log a note, move a stage), it'll tell you it can't do that from Slack and give you a link straight to the app to make the change yourself.
If you haven't linked your account yet
If you message TED in Slack before completing Step 2, it replies with a link to your Profile page to link your account first — nothing you ask gets answered until you do. This is the case even when Settings > Slack says Workspace connected: that badge is about the workspace, and Your account is the row that shows whether you're linked.
If you ask a lot of questions quickly
TED in Slack has a short limit on how fast you can ask — if you send more than a handful of questions within a minute, it'll ask you to slow down and try again shortly. This only affects rapid back-to-back messages; normal use is unaffected.
If your team is out of AI credits
Questions in Slack use your organization's AI credits, the same as the Ask TED panel in the app. If the credits run out, TED replies "You're out of AI credits — an admin can top up in Settings → Billing." once and doesn't answer that question. After an admin adds credits, ask again.
Common issues
- "No active Slack workspace is installed for this team yet" when you try to link your account — an admin needs to complete Step 1 first.
- Connection failed after approving in Slack — try again from Settings > Slack or your Profile. If it keeps failing, ask your admin to check that the workspace connection is still active.
- "This Slack workspace is already connected to another TED team. Ask an admin on that team to disconnect it in Settings > Slack, then try again." after approving in Slack — a Slack workspace can be connected to only one TED team at a time. Once an admin on the other team selects Disconnect, the workspace is free: select Connect Slack workspace (or Reconnect Slack workspace) again and it connects to this team. (TED doesn't show which team has it, to keep other teams' details private.)
- Connecting a different Slack workspace than the one your team used before — everyone's Your account row goes back to Not linked, since their old links belong to the previous workspace. Each person selects Link your Slack again (Step 2).
- Disconnecting the workspace turns TED off in Slack for the whole team. Reconnecting the same workspace later (Reconnect Slack workspace) brings everyone's links back — nobody has to link again. Connecting a different workspace means everyone links their Slack again (Step 2).
- Settings > Slack says "Workspace connected" but TED says to link your account — the workspace and your account are linked separately. Check the Your account row on that card and select Link your Slack.
- TED doesn't respond in Slack — confirm you've completed Step 2 (link your own account); if you have and it's still not responding, try again in a minute or two, or ask in the app instead.