Slack Incoming Webhook

Send messages to a Slack channel using Incoming Webhooks. No OAuth or bot setup required.

When to Use

• Send notifications to a specific channel
• CI/CD notifications, alerts, status updates
• Quick integration without full Slack app setup

Prerequisites

export SLACK_WEBHOOK_URL=https://hooks.slack.com/services/T00000000/B00000000/XXXXXXXX

Get Webhook URL

1. Create app: https://api.slack.com/apps → Create New App → From scratch
2. Select Incoming Webhooks → Toggle On
3. Click Add New Webhook to Workspace
4. Select channel → Allow
5. Copy Webhook URL

Important: When using $VAR in a command that pipes to another command, wrap the command containing $VAR in bash -c '...'. Due to a Claude Code bug, environment variables are silently cleared when pipes are used directly.

bash -c 'curl -s "https://api.example.com" -H "Authorization: Bearer $API_KEY"' | jq .

Usage

Simple Message

Write to /tmp/slack_request.json:

{
  "text": "Hello, world."
}

Then run:

curl -X POST $SLACK_WEBHOOK_URL -H "Content-type: application/json" -d @/tmp/slack_request.json

With Formatting

Write to /tmp/slack_request.json:

{
  "text": "*Bold* and _italic_ text"
}

Then run:

curl -X POST $SLACK_WEBHOOK_URL -H "Content-type: application/json" -d @/tmp/slack_request.json

With Link

Write to /tmp/slack_request.json:

{
  "text": "Check <https://example.com|this link>"
}

Then run:

curl -X POST $SLACK_WEBHOOK_URL -H "Content-type: application/json" -d @/tmp/slack_request.json

With Blocks (Rich Layout)

Write to /tmp/slack_request.json:

{
  "text": "New review submitted",
  "blocks": [
    {
      "type": "section",
      "text": {
        "type": "mrkdwn",
        "text": "Danny left the following review:"
      }
    },
    {
      "type": "section",
      "text": {
        "type": "mrkdwn",
        "text": "<https://example.com|Overlook Hotel>\n:star:\nDoors had too many axe holes."
      }
    }
  ]
}

Then run:

curl -X POST $SLACK_WEBHOOK_URL -H "Content-type: application/json" -d @/tmp/slack_request.json

With Fields

Write to /tmp/slack_request.json:

{
  "text": "Deployment status",
  "blocks": [
    {
      "type": "section",
      "fields": [
        {
          "type": "mrkdwn",
          "text": "*Environment:*\nProduction"
        },
        {
          "type": "mrkdwn",
          "text": "*Status:*\nSuccess"
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}

Then run:

curl -X POST $SLACK_WEBHOOK_URL -H "Content-type: application/json" -d @/tmp/slack_request.json

Message Formatting

Shell Escaping

Messages with ! may fail due to shell history expansion. Use heredoc:

curl -s -X POST $SLACK_WEBHOOK_URL -H "Content-type: application/json" -d @- << 'EOF'
{"text":"Deploy completed! :rocket:"}
EOF

Response

Success: ok (HTTP 200)

Errors:

• invalid_payload - Malformed JSON
• no_text - Missing text field
• no_service - Webhook disabled or invalid
• channel_not_found - Channel deleted
• channel_is_archived - Channel archived
• action_prohibited - Admin restriction

Limitations

• One webhook = one channel only
• Cannot override username or icon (set in app config)
• Send only (no reading messages)
• Cannot delete messages after posting
• Rate limit: 1 message/second

For full API access, use the slack skill with Bot Token.

API Reference

• Webhooks Guide: https://docs.slack.dev/messaging/sending-messages-using-incoming-webhooks
• Block Kit Builder: https://app.slack.com/block-kit-builder
• Message Formatting: https://docs.slack.dev/messaging/formatting-message-text