Slackbox

TODO: Add description

Trying the fake Slack UI (dev)

Run the self-contained demo server from the project root:

mix slackbox.demo

Then open http://localhost:4000. You'll see a Slack-like UI — a channel sidebar, messages rendered with Block Kit (section text + buttons), and a per-message "{ } raw" toggle that shows the outgoing Slack payload. Seeded messages land in #alerts and #deploys.

Messages update in real time (LiveView). To push your own from an IEx session:

iex -S mix

Slackbox.Demo.start()
Slackbox.Demo.post("hello", "#alerts")

The new message appears in the browser instantly. Under the hood the Slackbox.Adapters.Local adapter writes messages into the in-memory Slackbox.Store, which broadcasts over Phoenix.PubSub to the dashboard.

Interactive components (inbound loop)

Block Kit buttons in the dashboard are live. Clicking one fires a realistic simulated Slack block_actions interaction — a real HTTP POST (application/x-www-form-urlencoded, single payload field, optionally signed with HMAC-SHA256) to your app's interactivity URL. Your app replies to the interaction's response_url, and that reply updates the originating message live in the dashboard.

In mix slackbox.demo this whole loop is wired for you: a sample app (Slackbox.Demo.SlackApp, mounted at /demo/interactivity) acknowledges the click and posts back to the response_url, so clicking Acknowledge or Rollback appends a ✅ ...clicked by @U_DEMO line to the message in front of you — no browser automation, real HTTP end to end.

The dashboard reads its simulation config from Application.get_env(:slackbox, :simulator), a map with these keys:

• :interactivity_url — where the simulated interaction POST is sent (your app's Slack interactivity request URL).
• :response_base — base URL for response_url; the store token is appended. Mount Slackbox.ResponsePlug here to route callbacks back into the store.
• :signing_secret — Slack signing secret; when set, requests carry x-slack-request-timestamp + x-slack-signature. nil = unsigned.
• :user — the simulated Slack user id (default "U_DEMO").

A real app wires the same values from its own config, e.g.:

# config/dev.exs
config :my_app, MyApp.Slack,
  simulate: [
    interactivity_url: "http://localhost:4000/slack/interactivity",
    response_base: "http://localhost:4000/slackbox/response",
    signing_secret: System.get_env("SLACK_SIGNING_SECRET")
  ]

then mounts Slackbox.ResponsePlug (at response_base) in its router to close the loop, and puts the resolved map into :slackbox, :simulator before serving the dashboard.

Modals & events

The dashboard also simulates modals (views) and the Events API.

Modal loop. When your app calls open_view(trigger_id, view) (or, in the demo, when a block_actions handler does), the modal is registered in the store and pops up as an overlay in the dashboard. The user fills the inputs and clicks Save, firing a real HTTP view_submission POST to your interactivity URL; your app reads view.state.values and reacts. Close fires view_closed instead. In mix slackbox.demo: open #alerts, click Open config → a "Configure alert" modal appears → type a name → Save, and the sample app posts a 🛠️ Config saved: name = … message back into #alerts.

Events. The message-pane header has a ⚡ Simulate event button. Clicking it delivers an event_callback (an app_mention) to your app's Events API URL as an application/json body (signed over the raw body when a secret is set). The demo app replies with a 👋 …you rang? message. This needs one extra simulator config key:

• :events_url — your app's Slack Events API request URL. Events use a JSON body (not form-urlencoded); leave unset to disable the Simulate-event button.

Unit-testing your endpoints (Slackbox.Test)

Slackbox.Test builds the same inbound payloads without the UI or a server, so you can drive your controllers/plugs directly:

# block_actions — form-urlencoded interaction body
payload = Slackbox.Test.block_actions(action_id: "retry", user: "U1", channel: "#alerts")
conn = post(conn, "/slack/interactivity", Slackbox.Test.form_body(payload))

# view_submission
state = %{"name_block" => %{"name" => %{"type" => "plain_text_input", "value" => "prod"}}}
payload = Slackbox.Test.view_submission(callback_id: "config_modal", state: state)

# Events API — JSON body
payload = Slackbox.Test.event("app_mention", text: "<@U_BOT> hi", channel: "#alerts")
conn = post(conn, "/slack/events", Jason.encode!(payload))

Slackbox.Test.signature_headers/2 builds matching signing headers for tests that verify signature checking.

Usage (outbound + tests)

Define a notifier:

defmodule MyApp.Slack do
  use Slackbox.Notifier, otp_app: :my_app
end

Configure the adapter per environment:

# config/test.exs
config :my_app, MyApp.Slack, adapter: Slackbox.Adapters.Test

Send messages through the one choke point:

import Slackbox.Message

new()
|> to_channel("#alerts")
|> text("Build failed on main")
|> blocks([
     section("Build *failed* on `main`"),
     actions([button("Retry", action_id: "retry_build", value: "1234")])
   ])
|> MyApp.Slack.post_message()

Assert in tests:

import Slackbox.TestAssertions

test "notifies #alerts on failure" do
  MyApp.Notifier.on_build_failed(build)
  assert_message_sent(channel: "#alerts", text: ~r/failed/)
  refute_message_sent(channel: "#general")
end

Sending to real Slack (prod)

Swap in the Live adapter and give it a bot token — it's a thin Req-based Slack Web API client:

# config/prod.exs
config :my_app, MyApp.Slack,
  adapter: Slackbox.Adapters.Live,
  token: System.get_env("SLACK_BOT_TOKEN")

The sameMyApp.Slack.post_message(...) (and update, delete, post_ephemeral, open_view, respond) code runs in every environment — only the configured adapter changes:

Live maps each action to its Slack method (chat.postMessage, chat.update, chat.delete, chat.postEphemeral, views.open, and a direct POST to a response_url for respond), returns {:ok, %{ts:, channel:}} / {:ok, %{view_id:}} on success, and tagged errors otherwise — {:error, {:slack, reason}}, {:error, {:rate_limited, retry_after}}, {:error, {:http, status}}, or {:error, :missing_token}. Extra config keys: :base_url (defaults to https://slack.com/api) and :req_options (merged into every Req request, e.g. timeouts/retries).