Overview

This guide shows you how to connect OpenRouter to Slack using OpenClaw. You'll configure the messaging channel, set up AI provider authentication, and deploy your assistant.

Slack Capabilities

Direct messages
Group chats
Media support
Reactions
Thread support
Native commands

OpenRouter Features

Access to 100+ models
Unified billing
Model comparison
Automatic fallbacks

Step 1: Configure Slack

Create a Slack app at api.slack.com/apps
Enable Socket Mode and create app token
Add bot token scopes and install to workspace
Set SLACK_BOT_TOKEN and SLACK_APP_TOKEN environment variables
Configure slack in openclaw.json

Step 2: Configure OpenRouter

OpenRouter API key

Create account at openrouter.ai
Generate API key
Set OPENROUTER_API_KEY environment variable

Environment variable: OPENROUTER_API_KEY

Step 3: Combined Configuration

Add both configurations to your openclaw.json:

{
  "agents": {
    "defaults": {
      "model": {
        "primary": "openrouter/anthropic/claude-sonnet-4"
      }
    }
  },
  "models": {
    "providers": {
      "openrouter": {
  "models": {
    "providers": {
      "openrouter": {
        "apiKey": "${OPENROUTER_API_KEY}
    }
  },
  "channels": {
    "slack": {
      "botToken": "${SLACK_BOT_TOKEN}",
      "appToken": "${SLACK_APP_TOKEN}",
      "dmPolicy": "allowlist"
    }
  }
}
}

Step 4: Start and Test

# Start the gateway
openclaw gateway start

# Check connection status
openclaw status

# View real-time logs
openclaw logs --follow

Access Control

Slack supports the following access control policies:

DM Policies

Policy	Description
`allowlist`	Only senders in allowFrom list are processed
`pairing`	Unknown senders receive a pairing code; admin must approve
`open`	All DMs are processed (requires allowFrom: ["*"])