Self-managed Slack

Our Slack integration requires a Slack app, which needs to be configured in your own Slack workspace when using Cortex Self-Managed.

Setup instructions​

Create the app​

Use the following manifest to create a new Slack app in your workspace. Make sure to replace the URLs found in [] with the URLs you set up.

_metadata:
  major_version: 1
  minor_version: 1
display_information:
  name: Cortex
  description: Manage your microservices
  background_color: "#d21285"
features:
  app_home:
    home_tab_enabled: false
    messages_tab_enabled: true
    messages_tab_read_only_enabled: false
  bot_user:
    display_name: cortex
    always_online: true
  slash_commands:
    - command: /cortex
      url: https://[Cortex Backend URL]/api/internal/v1/slack/slash-command
      description: Cortex slash commands
      usage_hint: runbooks, docs, on-call, logs
      should_escape: false
oauth_config:
  redirect_urls:
    - https://[Cortex Frontend URL]/slack/redirect
  scopes:
    bot:
      - app_mentions:read
      - channels:join
      - channels:read
      - chat:write
      - chat:write.customize
      - chat:write.public
      - commands
      - im:history
      - reactions:read
      - users:read
      - users:read.email
settings:
  org_deploy_enabled: false
  socket_mode_enabled: false

If your Cortex Self-Managed installation is not available from the public internet, the Slack Slash commands integration will not work, as Slack needs to be able to hit the Cortex API when a command is run.

Connect your Cortex instance​

You'll need to configure your on-prem deployment to be able to talk your Slack App.

1. Create a k8s secret and add the secret in your values.yaml file for the Helm chart. You may already have a secret set up if you had configured a persistent store previously, so be sure to verify in your Helm chart.

2. Add the follow key/values to the secret. Note that Kubernetes will base64-encode these values:

   • SLACK_CLIENT_ID

   • SLACK_CLIENT_SECRET

   • SLACK_SIGNING_SECRET

   • SLACK_SLASH_COMMAND_TOKEN (“Verification Token” seen in the Slack App page)

3. Restart your Cortex backend deployment.

Install the app​

Once your backend has restarted, you're ready to install the app.

Note: Make sure you're logged in on your Cortex application before triggering this install.

Navigate to https://slack.com/oauth/v2/authorize?client_id=[CLIENT ID]&scope=chat%3Awrite%2Ccommands%2Cchannels%3Ajoin%2Cchannels%3Aread%2Cusers%3Aread%2Cusers%3Aread.email&redirect_uri=[REDIRECT URL set in the manifest, URL ENCODED]. It may spin forever on this page, if you refresh you should see that it’s installed.

You'll know that it's set up correctly if there's a Team ID number visible in Settings → Slack in your Cortex app.

FAQ and Troubleshooting

What if I use a different secret manager?

If you use something other than the K8s secret manager, you don't need to base64-encode your credentials.

Where do I set my credentials?

You only need to set credentials in the backend.