↓Skip to main content
  1. Tools/
  2. Communications/

slackdump

·3 mins·
Ai-Ready Communications Git-Annex Slack Slack Export Json Messages Threads Files
Language: Go
License: GPL-3.0
Maturity: stable
Verified: 2026-02
Table of Contents

Slackdump is a mature, actively maintained Go tool that exports Slack workspace data – messages, threads, files, users, channels, and emojis – without requiring workspace admin privileges. It is one of the most capable Slack archival tools available and produces structured JSON output that is well-suited for long-term preservation in git-annex repositories.

Key Features #

  • No admin required: Works with regular user tokens or browser-based authentication; does not need a Slack workspace admin to grant permissions.
  • Multiple output modes:
    • Archive (v3 native format): Memory-efficient streaming format optimized for large workspaces.
    • Export: Produces output compatible with Slack’s standard workspace export format, also usable for Mattermost migration.
    • Dump: Single-channel-per-file format for quick extraction without full workspace metadata.
  • Complete data coverage: Messages, threaded replies, file attachments, user profiles, channel metadata, and custom emojis.
  • Search and browse: Built-in viewer for inspecting archives, including image display in the terminal.
  • Incremental operation: Can resume interrupted exports.

Output Format #

Slackdump produces JSON output across all modes. The Export mode generates a directory structure matching Slack’s official export format:

export/
  channels.json
  users.json
  2026-01-15/
    general.json
    random.json
  ...

Each JSON file contains an array of message objects with fields such as ts, user, text, thread_ts, files, and reactions. This structured format makes slackdump output directly consumable by language models and text analysis pipelines.

Installation #

# macOS
brew install slackdump

# From pre-built binaries (Linux, macOS, Windows)
# Download from https://github.com/rusq/slackdump/releases

# From source
go install github.com/rusq/slackdump/v3/cmd/slackdump@latest

Usage #

# Authenticate (interactive browser-based login)
slackdump auth

# Export entire workspace in Slack export format
slackdump export -o workspace-export

# Dump a specific channel
slackdump dump -o channel-dump C01ABCDEF

# List channels
slackdump list channels

# List users
slackdump list users

git-annex Integration #

Slackdump output integrates naturally with git-annex for long-term archival. JSON message files are text and can be stored directly in git for diff-friendliness, while binary file attachments should go into git-annex.

A recommended workflow:

# Create a DataLad dataset for the archive
datalad create slack-archive
cd slack-archive

# Run the export
slackdump export -o export/

# Configure annex to handle large files
# Text/JSON in git, binaries in annex
echo '* annex.largefiles=(largerthan=100kb)' >> .gitattributes

# Save with DataLad
datalad save -m "Slack workspace export $(date -I)"

For periodic archival, wrap the slackdump command in datalad run to capture full provenance:

datalad run -m "Incremental Slack export" \
  --output export/ \
  slackdump export -o export/

AI Readiness #

ai-ready – Slackdump’s JSON output is fully structured with typed fields for timestamps, user IDs, message text, thread relationships, reactions, and file metadata. This format can be directly ingested by language models for summarization, search indexing, or knowledge extraction without any preprocessing. File attachments (images, PDFs) would require separate processing for content extraction.

Considerations #

  • Slack may send security alerts to workspace administrators when slackdump accesses the API, depending on workspace security policies.
  • Rate limiting applies; large workspaces may take considerable time to export.
  • User tokens expire and may need periodic renewal.
  • For DataLad-native Slack archival with tighter integration, see wayslack2.