Bolt for Python Search Template

⚠️ Beta Notice: This template demonstrates search functionality that is currently in beta and not yet widely available to all developers. The features shown here are being tested and may change before general availability.

This is a Slack app template for building search functionality using Bolt for Python. It demonstrates how to create custom functions for search and filtering capabilities.

It's recommended to use a Slack sandbox for development and testing. Other workspaces may not have access to all these features. To get started:

1. Join the Slack Developer Program if you haven't already
2. Provision a sandbox workspace

Installation

Using Slack CLI

Install the latest version of the Slack CLI for your operating system:

• Slack CLI for macOS & Linux
• Slack CLI for Windows

You'll also need to log in if this is your first time using the Slack CLI.

slack login

Initializing the project

slack create bolt-python-search --template slack-samples/bolt-python-search-template
cd bolt-python-search

# Setup your python virtual environment
python3 -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate

# Install the dependencies
pip install -e . 

Creating the Slack app

slack install

Running the app

slack run

Using Terminal

1. Open https://api.slack.com/apps/new and choose "From an app manifest"
2. Choose the workspace you want to install the application to
3. Copy the contents of manifest.json into the text box that says *Paste your manifest code here* (within the JSON tab) and click Next
4. Review the configuration and click Create
5. Click Install to Workspace and Allow on the screen that follows. You'll then be redirected to the App Configuration dashboard.

Environment Variables

Before you can run the app, you'll need to store some environment variables.

1. Open your apps configuration page from this list, click OAuth & Permissions in the left hand menu, then copy the Bot User OAuth Token. You will store this in your environment as SLACK_BOT_TOKEN.
2. Click *Basic Information from the left hand menu and follow the steps in the App-Level Tokens section to create an app-level token with the connections:write scope. Copy this token. You will store this in your environment as SLACK_APP_TOKEN.

# Replace with your app token and bot token
export SLACK_BOT_TOKEN=<your-bot-token>
export SLACK_APP_TOKEN=<your-app-token>

Setup Your Local Project

# Clone this project onto your machine
git clone https://github.com/slack-samples/bolt-python-search-template.git

# Change into this project directory
cd bolt-python-search-template

# Setup your python virtual environment
python3 -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate

# Install all the dependencies
pip install -e . 

# Start your local server
python3 app.py

Linting

# Run ruff from root directory for linting
ruff check

# Run ruff from root directory for formatting
ruff format && ruff check --fix

Testing

# Run pytest from root directory for unit testing
pytest .

Project Structure

manifest.json

manifest.json is a configuration for Slack apps. With a manifest, you can create an app with a pre-defined configuration, or adjust the configuration of an existing app.

app.py

app.py is the entry point for the application and is the file you'll run to start the server. This project aims to keep this file as thin as possible, primarily using it as a way to route inbound requests.

/listeners

Every incoming request is routed to a "listener". Inside this directory, we group each listener based on the Slack Platform feature used, so /listeners/events handles incoming Events requests, /listeners/functions handles custom steps and so on.

/test

The /test directory contains the test suite for this project. It mirrors the structure of the source code, with test files corresponding to their implementation counterparts. For example, tests for files in /listeners/functions are located in /test/listeners/functions.