Teams App Developer

cli.manifest-triggers

purpose

App manifest management (slack manifest), workflow trigger CRUD (slack trigger), and custom function distribution (slack function) via the Slack CLI.

rules

1. The manifest defines the entire app surface. It declares functions, workflows, triggers, datastores, bot user, OAuth scopes, slash commands, shortcuts, and outgoing domains. Written in TypeScript (manifest.ts for Deno) or JSON (slack.json for Node/Python).

2. slack manifest validate checks the manifest against Slack's schema. Catches missing fields, invalid types, scope conflicts, and structural errors. Run early and often during development.

3. slack manifest info shows the remote manifest. Displays the manifest as stored on Slack's servers for the deployed app. Useful for comparing local vs remote state.

4. Triggers connect workflows to user actions. A trigger defines how users invoke a workflow — via shortcut, slash command, event, schedule, or webhook. Without triggers, deployed workflows are unreachable.

5. slack trigger create registers a new trigger. Accepts a --trigger-def flag pointing to a trigger definition file (TypeScript or JSON). The definition specifies the trigger type, linked workflow, and inputs.

6. Trigger types: shortcut, event, scheduled, webhook. Shortcut triggers appear in the Slack UI shortcuts menu. Event triggers fire on platform events. Scheduled triggers run on a cron or at a specific time. Webhook triggers expose an HTTP URL.

7. slack trigger list shows all triggers for the app. Displays trigger IDs, types, names, and linked workflows. Use --team to filter by workspace.

8. slack trigger update modifies an existing trigger. Use --trigger-id to target and --trigger-def to provide the updated definition. The trigger ID is preserved.

9. slack trigger delete removes a trigger. Requires --trigger-id. The linked workflow remains deployed — only the entry point is removed.

10. slack trigger info shows trigger details. Displays the full trigger configuration including inputs, workflow reference, and access permissions.

11. slack trigger access controls who can invoke a trigger. Set access to everyone in the workspace, specific users, specific channels, or specific orgs. Default varies by trigger type.

12. slack function distribute shares custom functions. Makes functions from your app available to other apps and Workflow Builder. Distributed functions appear in the workspace's function catalog.

13. Trigger definitions are separate files. Store in a triggers/ directory. Each file exports a trigger definition object with type, name, workflow, and inputs fields.

patterns

Pattern 1: Manifest structure (Deno TypeScript)

// manifest.ts — Deno Slack app manifest
import { Manifest } from "deno-slack-sdk/mod.ts";
import { GreetingWorkflow } from "./workflows/greeting.ts";
import { GreetingFunction } from "./functions/greeting.ts";
import { UsersDatastore } from "./datastores/users.ts";

export default Manifest({
  name: "my-bot",
  description: "A helpful Slack bot",
  icon: "assets/icon.png",
  functions: [GreetingFunction],
  workflows: [GreetingWorkflow],
  datastores: [UsersDatastore],
  outgoingDomains: ["api.example.com"],  // External API allowlist
  botScopes: [
    "commands",
    "chat:write",
    "chat:write.public",
    "channels:read",
    "datastore:read",
    "datastore:write",
  ],
});

Pattern 2: Trigger CRUD workflow

# Create a trigger from a definition file
slack trigger create --trigger-def triggers/greeting_trigger.ts
# Output: ⚡ Trigger created
#   Trigger ID:   Ft0123456789
#   Type:         shortcut
#   Name:         Send Greeting
#   Shortcut URL: https://slack.com/shortcuts/Ft0123456789/...

# List all triggers for the app
slack trigger list
# Shows table of: ID, Type, Name, Workflow

# Get details on a specific trigger
slack trigger info --trigger-id Ft0123456789

# Update a trigger definition
slack trigger update --trigger-id Ft0123456789 \
  --trigger-def triggers/greeting_trigger_v2.ts

# Set trigger access permissions
slack trigger access --trigger-id Ft0123456789 \
  --everyone                          # All workspace members
# Or: --users U001,U002              # Specific users
# Or: --channels C001,C002           # Specific channels

# Delete a trigger
slack trigger delete --trigger-id Ft0123456789

Pattern 3: Trigger definition files

// triggers/greeting_trigger.ts — shortcut trigger
import { Trigger } from "deno-slack-api/types.ts";
import { GreetingWorkflow } from "../workflows/greeting.ts";
import { TriggerTypes, TriggerContextData } from "deno-slack-api/mod.ts";

const greetingTrigger: Trigger<typeof GreetingWorkflow.definition> = {
  type: TriggerTypes.Shortcut,
  name: "Send Greeting",
  description: "Send a greeting to a channel",
  workflow: `#/workflows/${GreetingWorkflow.definition.callback_id}`,
  inputs: {
    // Map trigger context to workflow inputs
    interactivity: { value: TriggerContextData.Shortcut.interactivity },
    channel: { value: TriggerContextData.Shortcut.channel_id },
    user: { value: TriggerContextData.Shortcut.user_id },
  },
};

export default greetingTrigger;

// triggers/scheduled_trigger.ts — scheduled trigger
import { Trigger } from "deno-slack-api/types.ts";
import { DailyReportWorkflow } from "../workflows/daily_report.ts";
import { TriggerTypes } from "deno-slack-api/mod.ts";

const scheduledTrigger: Trigger<typeof DailyReportWorkflow.definition> = {
  type: TriggerTypes.Scheduled,
  name: "Daily Report",
  workflow: `#/workflows/${DailyReportWorkflow.definition.callback_id}`,
  inputs: {},
  schedule: {
    // Run every weekday at 9 AM UTC
    start_time: "2024-01-01T09:00:00Z",
    frequency: { type: "weekly", on_days: ["Monday", "Tuesday", "Wednesday", "Thursday", "Friday"] },
  },
};

export default scheduledTrigger;

// triggers/webhook_trigger.ts — incoming webhook trigger
import { Trigger } from "deno-slack-api/types.ts";
import { IngestWorkflow } from "../workflows/ingest.ts";
import { TriggerTypes } from "deno-slack-api/mod.ts";

const webhookTrigger: Trigger<typeof IngestWorkflow.definition> = {
  type: TriggerTypes.Webhook,
  name: "External Webhook",
  workflow: `#/workflows/${IngestWorkflow.definition.callback_id}`,
  inputs: {
    // Webhook body fields mapped to workflow inputs
    payload: { value: "{{data.payload}}" },
  },
};

export default webhookTrigger;

Pattern 4: Manifest validation and function distribution

# Validate manifest before deploying
slack manifest validate
# Output: ✅ Manifest is valid

# View the remote (deployed) manifest
slack manifest info --app A0123456789

# Distribute a custom function to the workspace
slack function distribute --name my_custom_function

# List distributed functions
slack function distribute --list

pitfalls

• Deploying without creating triggers — Workflows exist on the platform but are unreachable. Always slack trigger create after slack deploy.

• Wrong trigger type for use case — Shortcut triggers need user interaction. Event triggers need specific event subscriptions. Scheduled triggers need valid cron/schedule. Webhook triggers expose public URLs.

• Forgetting to update triggers after workflow changes — If workflow inputs change, existing triggers may break. Update trigger definitions to match.

• Missing outgoingDomains in manifest — External HTTP calls fail silently without the domain in the allowlist. Add every external API domain.

• Missing botScopes — The app can't perform actions without the right scopes. chat:write for messaging, datastore:read/datastore:write for datastores, etc.

• Trigger access too restrictive — By default, trigger access may be limited. Use slack trigger access --everyone for workspace-wide shortcuts.

• Deleting a trigger doesn't delete the workflow — Triggers are entry points. Removing a trigger just removes the invocation path. The workflow and its functions remain deployed.

• Editing remote manifest directly — Changes to the remote manifest are overwritten on the next slack deploy. Always edit the local manifest.ts / slack.json.

references

• App manifest reference

• Trigger types

• slack trigger reference

• slack manifest validate

• Custom functions

• Function distribution

instructions

Do a web search for:

• "Slack CLI manifest.ts validate trigger create shortcut event scheduled 2025"

• "Slack CLI trigger types definition files workflow inputs"

• "Slack CLI function distribute custom functions Workflow Builder"

Pair with:

• cli.getting-started.md — project scaffolding creates the manifest

• cli.local-dev-deploy.md — triggers must be created after deploy

• cli.datastore-env.md — datastores declared in manifest

• runtime.bolt-foundations-ts.md — Bolt SDK patterns for function implementations

research

Deep Research prompt:

"Write a micro expert on Slack CLI manifest management, triggers, and function distribution. Cover manifest structure (manifest.ts for Deno, slack.json for Node/Python, functions/workflows/datastores/botScopes/outgoingDomains), slack manifest validate/info commands, trigger CRUD (create/list/update/delete/info/access), trigger types (shortcut, event, scheduled, webhook), trigger definition file format, trigger input mapping from context data, function distribution to Workflow Builder. Include canonical patterns for: manifest.ts anatomy, trigger CRUD workflow, trigger definition files for each type, manifest validation."