---
title: Slack external content connector
description: The Slack external content connector retrieves attachments from public channels in your Slack source system and makes their content and metadata searchable in AI Search applications.
locale: en-US
canonical_url: https://www.servicenow.com/docs/r/australia/platform-administration/search-administration/slack-external-content-connector.html
release: australia
product: Search Administration
classification: search-administration
topic_type: concept
last_updated: "2026-05-29"
reading_time_minutes: 1
keywords: [ServiceNow Otto, AI Agents, generative AI, agentic AI]
breadcrumb: [Configure, External Content Connectors, Search administration, Configure core features, Administer the ServiceNow AI Platform]
---

# Slack external content connector

The Slack external content connector retrieves attachments from public channels in your Slack source system and makes their content and metadata searchable in AI Search applications.

Connector administrators can run or schedule content crawls to update searchable content and metadata from your source system. Content crawls feed their data to AI Search for indexing.

The indexed content and metadata are stored as records in a connector-specific indexed source. Search administrators can create search sources from this indexed source and link them to search profiles to make the indexed records searchable in AI Search applications.

## Slack connector limitations

The Slack external content connector doesn't retrieve text or metadata content from messages in your Slack source system's public channels. It only retrieves and indexes attachments from those public channels.

User access permissions aren't preserved for indexed attachments, so any user with access to your indexed Slack content can view any indexed attachment.

The connector doesn't retrieve content from your Slack source system's private channels.

-   **[Configure Slack for external content indexing](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/platform-administration/search-administration/cfg-src-sys-settings-slack-ext-cont-connector.md)**  
Create a Slack API application to allow the Slack external content connector to crawl public channels in your Slack source system.
-   **[Create a Slack external content connector](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/platform-administration/search-administration/create-ext-cont-connector-slack.md)**  
Create an external content connector to retrieve searchable content from public channels in your Slack source system.
-   **[Configure crawl settings for a Slack external content connector](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/platform-administration/search-administration/configure-crawl-settings-slack-ext-cont-connector.md)**  
Specify the public channels you want your Slack external content connector to crawl. Define inclusion or exclusion filters to dictate the types of content the crawl retrieves and feeds to AI Search for indexing.

**Parent Topic:**[Configuring External Content Connectors](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/platform-administration/search-administration/configuring-ext-cont-connectors.md)

**Related topics**  


[Create a content crawl for an external content connector](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/platform-administration/search-administration/create-content-crawl-external-content-connector.md)