Slack-GitHub Threads – Post Slack Thread Replies as GitHub Comments

3 months ago 5

🚀 Bridge the gap between Slack discussions and GitHub issues

A powerful Slack integration that seamlessly exports thread conversations as formatted comments to GitHub issues. Perfect for development teams who discuss features, bugs, and decisions in Slack but need to document them in GitHub.

This Ruby Sinatra application provides a bridge between Slack and GitHub, allowing you to easily share Slack thread discussions as comments on GitHub issues. When you use the slash command with a GitHub issue URL, it will collect all messages in the current thread and post them as a formatted comment to the specified GitHub issue.

See the tool in action! This demo shows how a Slack thread conversation gets beautifully formatted and posted to a GitHub issue:

slack-github-threads-demo.mp4

📋 Live Example: Check out Issue #12 to see a real Slack thread that was exported using this tool.

Ready to get started? Here's the fastest way to set up slack-github-threads:

Create your Slack app using our app manifest (just 2 minutes!)
Deploy to your server or run locally with Docker
Start exporting threads with /ghcomment [github-issue-url]

👉 New to this? Follow our detailed setup guide for step-by-step instructions.

🔗 Slack Integration: Works seamlessly as a Slack slash command and shortcuts
📝 Thread Collection: Captures entire Slack thread conversations with user attribution
🐙 GitHub Integration: Posts beautifully formatted comments to GitHub issues
⚡ Instant Setup: One-click app creation using Slack app manifest
🚀 Easy Deployment: Configured for deployment with Kamal or Docker
🔒 Secure: Uses environment variables for sensitive tokens
🎯 Smart Formatting: Preserves message structure, usernames, and timestamps
📱 Multiple Interfaces: Slash commands, message shortcuts, and global shortcuts

Bridge Communication Gaps: Seamlessly move Slack discussions to GitHub where they belong
Preserve Context: Keep the conversational flow and user attribution intact
Save Time: No more copy-pasting individual messages or losing discussion context
Team Collaboration: Make Slack conversations accessible to your entire development team

Ruby 3.2+
Bundler
A Slack app with bot token permissions
A GitHub personal access token
(Optional) Kamal for deployment

Clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/markhallen/slack-github-threads.git cd slack-github-threads
Install dependencies:
Set up environment variables:

cp .env.example .env # Edit .env with your tokens
(Optional) Set up Kamal deployment secrets:

cp .kamal/secrets.example .kamal/secrets # Edit .kamal/secrets with your deployment credentials cp config/deploy.yml.example config/deploy.yml # Edit config/deploy.yml with your deployment settings

Create a .env file with the following variables:

SLACK_BOT_TOKEN=xoxb-your-slack-bot-token GITHUB_TOKEN=ghp_your-github-personal-access-token DEBUG=false # Optional: set to 'true' for debug logging

You have two options for setting up your Slack app:

Option 1: Create App from Manifest (Recommended)

Go to Slack API
Click "Create New App"
Select "From an app manifest"
Choose your workspace
Copy the contents of docs/app-manifest.json and paste it into the manifest editor
Replace https://your-domain.com with your actual domain (e.g., https://your-app.ngrok.io for local development)
Review and create the app
Go to "OAuth & Permissions" and install the app to your workspace
Copy the "Bot User OAuth Token"

Go to Slack API
Create a new app or use an existing one
Go to "OAuth & Permissions"
Add the following bot token scopes:
- channels:history - Read messages in public channels
- channels:read - List public channels
- channels:join - Join public channels automatically
- groups:history - Read messages in private channels
- groups:read - List private channels
- im:history - Read direct messages
- mpim:history - Read group direct messages
- users:read - Get user information for name resolution
- chat:write - Post reply messages
Note: Even with these scopes, the bot may still need to be added to private channels manually.
Set up slash commands and shortcuts:
- Go to "Slash Commands" and create /ghcomment pointing to https://your-domain.com/ghcomment
- Go to "Interactivity & Shortcuts" and:
  - Enable interactivity with Request URL: https://your-domain.com/shortcut
  - Add shortcuts as defined in the app manifest
Install the app to your workspace
Copy the "Bot User OAuth Token"

Go to GitHub Settings > Developer settings > Personal access tokens
Generate a new token with the following permissions:
- repo (for private repositories) or public_repo (for public repositories only)
Copy the generated token

Start the server:

bundle exec thin start -R config.ru -p 3000
Use a tool like ngrok to expose your local server:
Configure your Slack slash command to point to https://your-ngrok-url.ngrok.io/ghcomment

If you created your app using the manifest (Option 1 above), your slash commands and shortcuts are already configured. Simply update the URLs to match your deployment domain.

If you set up your app manually (Option 2), you'll need to configure:

Slash Commands: Create /ghcomment pointing to https://your-domain.com/ghcomment
Interactivity & Shortcuts:
- Enable interactivity with Request URL: https://your-domain.com/shortcut
- Add message and global shortcuts as defined in docs/app-manifest.json

In a Slack thread, use the slash command with a GitHub issue URL:

/ghcomment https://github.com/owner/repo/issues/123

The bot will:

Collect all messages in the current thread
Format them with usernames
Post the formatted conversation as a comment on the specified GitHub issue

This project is configured for deployment using Kamal.

Prerequisites for Deployment

Install Kamal:
Set up your secrets (see .kamal/secrets file)
Configure your deployment settings in config/deploy.yml (copy from config/deploy.yml.example)

You can also run the application using Docker:

# Build the image docker build -t slack-github-threads . # Run the container docker run -p 3000:3000 --env-file .env slack-github-threads

├── app.rb # Main Sinatra application ├── config.ru # Rack configuration ├── Gemfile # Ruby dependencies ├── Dockerfile # Docker configuration ├── Rakefile # Task definitions and test runner ├── docs/ # Documentation and configuration │ └── app-manifest.json # Slack app manifest for easy setup ├── lib/ # Application modules │ ├── services/ # Business logic services │ │ ├── slack_service.rb # Slack API interactions │ │ ├── github_service.rb # GitHub API interactions │ │ ├── text_processor.rb # Message formatting and parsing │ │ └── comment_service.rb # Main orchestration service │ └── helpers/ # Helper modules │ └── modal_builder.rb # Slack modal construction ├── test/ # Test suite │ ├── test_helper.rb # Test configuration and helpers │ ├── test_app.rb # Integration tests │ └── services/ # Service unit tests │ ├── test_slack_service.rb │ ├── test_github_service.rb │ └── test_text_processor.rb ├── config/ │ └── deploy.yml.example # Kamal deployment configuration template └── .kamal/ └── secrets # Kamal secrets configuration

# Show available rake tasks and quick start guide bundle exec rake help # Run all CI checks (recommended for development) bundle exec rake ci # Code quality checks bundle exec rake lint # Run linting (syntax + rubocop) bundle exec rake rubocop # Run RuboCop linter only bundle exec rake syntax # Check syntax only # Testing bundle exec rake test # Run all tests # Run specific test groups bundle exec rake test_services bundle exec rake test_app

The application includes comprehensive logging and debug capabilities:

Enable debug mode to see detailed output during development:

# Enable debug mode (shows debug logs in console + log file) DEBUG=true ruby app.rb # Or set in your .env file DEBUG=true

The application automatically creates environment-specific log files:

log/development.log - Development environment logs
log/production.log - Production environment logs
log/test.log - Test environment uses in-memory logging (no file created)

INFO: Application startup, successful operations
DEBUG: Detailed API interactions, debugging information (only when DEBUG=true)
ERROR: Failures, exceptions, API errors

Example log output:

I, [2025-08-02T09:55:53.928339 #94625] INFO -- : Starting gh-commenter app (development) D, [2025-08-02T09:56:15.123456 #94625] DEBUG -- : DEBUG: Successfully posted Slack reply E, [2025-08-02T09:56:20.654321 #94625] ERROR -- : Failed to post comment: GitHub API rate limit exceeded

The application follows Sinatra best practices with clear separation of concerns:

Services: Handle external API interactions and business logic
Helpers: Provide utility functions and UI components
Controllers: Slim route handlers that delegate to services
Tests: Comprehensive test coverage using Minitest with WebMock for API stubbing

GET /up - Health check endpoint
POST /ghcomment - Processes Slack slash command and posts to GitHub
POST /shortcut - Handles Slack shortcuts (global and message) and modal submissions

Fork the repository
Create a feature branch
Make your changes
Test your changes
Submit a pull request

This project supports multiple release workflows: automated GitHub Actions, smart Rake tasks, and interactive scripts.

🚀 GitHub Actions Release (Recommended)

Create releases directly from GitHub's web interface:

Go to Actions tab → "Create Release" workflow
Click "Run workflow" and choose:
- auto - Let the system analyze commits and suggest release type
- major/minor/patch - Specify release type manually
- dry_run - Preview what would be released
The release is created immediately - no PR needed!
GitHub release is automatically published with changelog

🧠 Smart Local Release Process

# Preview changes and get version suggestion rake release:preview # Create releases by type (automatic version bumping) rake release:major # Breaking changes (1.0.0 → 2.0.0) rake release:minor # New features (1.0.0 → 1.1.0) rake release:patch # Bug fixes (1.0.0 → 1.0.1) # Push to trigger automated GitHub release git push origin main && git push origin v<version>

🎯 Interactive Release Script

# Interactive script with smart suggestions ./scripts/release.sh # Or specify release type directly ./scripts/release.sh minor

🤖 Fully Automated: GitHub Actions handles everything including PR creation
🧠 Smart Version Detection: Analyzes commits to suggest appropriate version bump
📝 Automatic Changelog: Generates changelog from conventional commit messages
🚀 One-Click Releases: Complete release process with testing and validation
📋 Preview Mode: See what will be released before committing
👥 Team Friendly: PR-based workflow for team review