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Slack is a popular messaging and collaboration platform for teams and organizations.

This Slack dlt verified source and pipeline example load data using the “Slack API” to the destination of your choice.

Sources and resources that can be loaded using this verified source are:

NameDescription
slackRetrieves all the Slack data: channels, messages for selected channels, users, logs
channelsRetrieves all the channels data
usersRetrieves all the users info
get_messages_resourceRetrieves all the messages for a given channel
access_logsRetrieves the access logs

Setup Guide​

Grab user OAuth token​

To set up the pipeline, create a Slack app in your workspace to obtain a user token for accessing the Slack API.

  1. Navigate to your Slack workspace and click on the name at the top-left.

  2. Select Tools > Customize Workspace.

  3. From the top-left Menu, choose Configure apps.

  4. Click Build (top-right) > Create a New App.

  5. Opt for "From scratch", set the "App Name", and pick your target workspace.

  6. Confirm with Create App.

  7. Navigate to OAuth and Permissions under the Features section.

  8. Assign the following scopes:

    NameDescription
    adminAdminister a workspace
    channels:historyView messages and other content in public channels
    groups:historyView messages and other content in private channels (where the app is added)
    im:historyView messages and other content in direct messages (where the app is added)
    mpim:historyView messages and other content in group direct messages (where the app is added)
    channels:readView basic information about public channels in a workspace
    groups:readView basic information about private channels (where the app is added)
    im:readView basic information about direct messages (where the app is added)
    mpim:readView basic information about group direct messages (where the app is added)
    users:readView people in a workspace

    Note: These scopes are adjustable; tailor them to your needs.

  9. From "OAuth & Permissions" on the left, add the scopes and copy the User OAuth Token.

Note: The Slack UI, which is described here, might change. The official guide is available at this link.

Initialize the verified source​

To get started with your data pipeline, follow these steps:

  1. Enter the following command:

    dlt init slack duckdb

    This command will initialize the pipeline example with Google Sheets as the source and duckdb as the destination.

  2. If you'd like to use a different destination, simply replace duckdb with the name of your preferred destination.

  3. After running this command, a new directory will be created with the necessary files and configuration settings to get started.

For more information, read the guide on how to add a verified source.

Add credentials​

  1. In the .dlt folder, there's a file called secrets.toml. It's where you store sensitive information securely, like access tokens. Keep this file safe.

    Here's its format for service account authentication:

    [sources.slack]
    access_token = "Please set me up!" # please set me up!

  2. Copy the user OAuth token you copied above.

  3. Finally, enter credentials for your chosen destination as per the docs.

For more information, read the General Usage: Credentials.

Run the pipeline​

  1. Before running the pipeline, ensure that you have installed all the necessary dependencies by running the command:

    pip install -r requirements.txt

  2. You're now ready to run the pipeline! To get started, run the following command:

    python slack_pipeline.py

  3. Once the pipeline has finished running, you can verify that everything loaded correctly by using the following command:

    dlt pipeline <pipeline_name> show

    For example, the pipeline_name for the above pipeline example is slack, you may also use any custom name instead.

    For more information, read the guide on how to run a pipeline.

Sources and resources​

dlt works on the principle of sources and resources.

Source slack​

It retrieves data from Slack's API and fetches the Slack data such as channels, messages for selected channels, users, logs.

@dlt.source(name="slack", max_table_nesting=2)
def slack_source(
    page_size: int = MAX_PAGE_SIZE,
    access_token: str = dlt.secrets.value,
    start_date: Optional[TAnyDateTime] = DEFAULT_START_DATE,
    end_date: Optional[TAnyDateTime] = None,
    selected_channels: Optional[List[str]] = dlt.config.value,
) -> Iterable[DltResource]:
   ...

page_size: Maximum items per page (default: 1000).

access_token: OAuth token for authentication.

start_date: Range start. (default: January 1, 2000).

end_date: Range end.

selected_channels: Channels to load; defaults to all if unspecified.

Resource channels​

This function yields all the channels data as a dlt resource.

@dlt.resource(name="channels", primary_key="id", write_disposition="replace")
def channels_resource() -> Iterable[TDataItem]:
   ...

Resource users​

This function yields all the users data as a dlt resource.

@dlt.resource(name="users", primary_key="id", write_disposition="replace")
def users_resource() -> Iterable[TDataItem]:
   ...

Resource get_messages_resource​

This method fetches messages for a specified channel from the Slack API. It creates a resource for each channel with the channel's name.

def get_messages_resource(
    channel_data: Dict[str, Any],
    created_at: dlt.sources.incremental[DateTime] = dlt.sources.incremental(
        "ts",
        initial_value=start_dt,
        end_value=end_dt,
        allow_external_schedulers=True,
    ),
) -> Iterable[TDataItem]:
   ...

channel_data: A dictionary detailing a specific channel to determine where messages are fetched from.

created_at: An optional parameter leveraging dlt.sources.incremental to define the timestamp range for message retrieval. Sub-arguments include:

  • ts: Timestamp from the Slack API response.

  • initial_value: Start of the timestamp range, defaulting to start_dt in slack_source.

  • end_value: Timestamp range end, defaulting to end_dt in slack_source.

  • allow_external_schedulers: A boolean that, if True, permits external schedulers to manage incremental loading.

Resource access_logs​

This method retrieves access logs from the Slack API.

@dlt.resource(
    name="access_logs",
    selected=False,
    primary_key="user_id",
    write_disposition="append",
)
# it is not an incremental resource it just has a end_date filter
def logs_resource() -> Iterable[TDataItem]:
   ...

selected: A boolean set to False, indicating the resource isn't loaded by default.

primary_key: The unique identifier is "user_id".

write_disposition: Set to "append", allowing new data to join existing data in the destination.

Note: This resource may not function in the pipeline or tests due to its paid status. An error arises for non-paying accounts.

Customization​

Create your own pipeline​

If you wish to create your own pipelines, you can leverage source and resource methods from this verified source.

  1. Configure the pipeline by specifying the pipeline name, destination, and dataset as follows:

    pipeline = dlt.pipeline(
         pipeline_name="slack",  # Use a custom name if desired
         destination="duckdb",  # Choose the appropriate destination (e.g., duckdb, redshift, post)
         dataset_name="slack_data"  # Use a custom name if desired
    )

  2. To load Slack resources from the specified start date:

    source = slack_source(page_size=1000, start_date=datetime(2023, 9, 1), end_date=datetime(2023, 9, 8))

    # Enable below to load only 'access_logs', available for paid accounts only.
    # source.access_logs.selected = True

    # It loads data starting from 1st September 2023 to 8th Sep 2023.
    load_info = pipeline.run(source)
    print(load_info)

    Subsequent runs will load only items updated since the previous run.

  3. To load data from selected Slack channels from the specified start date:

    # To load data from selected channels.
    selected_channels=["general", "random"] # Enter the channel names here.

    source = slack_source(
        page_size=20,
        selected_channels=selected_channels,
        start_date=datetime(2023, 9, 1),
        end_date=datetime(2023, 9, 8),
    )
    # It loads data starting from 1st September 2023 to 8th Sep 2023 from the channels: "general" and "random".
    load_info = pipeline.run(source)
    print(load_info)

  4. To load only messages from selected Slack resources:

    # To load data from selected channels.
    selected_channels=["general", "random"] # Enter the channel names here.

    source = slack_source(
        page_size=20,
        selected_channels=selected_channels,
        start_date=datetime(2023, 9, 1),
        end_date=datetime(2023, 9, 8),
    )
    # It loads only messages from the channel "general".
    load_info = pipeline.run(source.with_resources("general"))
    print(load_info)

Additional Setup guides​

This demo works on codespaces. Codespaces is a development environment available for free to anyone with a Github account. You'll be asked to fork the demo repository and from there the README guides you with further steps.
The demo uses the Continue VSCode extension.

Off to codespaces!

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