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Output & filtering

Every command shares one output layer, so these flags work everywhere.

Formats — -o / --output

Format Use
table (default) human-readable; colored on a TTY, honors NO_COLOR
json full structured payload — pipe to jq or a script
yaml same data, YAML
csv spreadsheet-friendly (cells sanitized against formula injection)
id one id per line — pipe straight to xargs 
slackctl conversations list -o json
slackctl conversations members --channel C0123456 -o id | xargs -n1 slackctl users info --user

Pick columns — --columns

Table and CSV render a deterministic default set; override it:

slackctl users list --columns id,name,real_name,is_bot

Wide cells are truncated with … (a stderr hint suggests -o json for the full value).

Filter with --jq

A built-in gojq expression runs against the JSON payload before rendering — no external jq needed:

slackctl conversations list --jq '.[] | select(.is_private) | .name'
slackctl users list --jq '[.[] | select(.is_bot)] | length'

Pagination — --all / --limit

List commands page automatically over Slack's cursors:

slackctl conversations history --channel C0123456 --limit 500   # cap the total
slackctl users list --all -o csv > users.csv                    # every page

--limit caps the total items collected; --all fetches every page. (search uses Slack's page/count pagination instead — see slackctl search messages --help.)

Dry run — --dry-run

Print the exact curl slackctl would send (token redacted) and make no request. Great for debugging or learning the API:

$ slackctl msg post --channel C0123456 --text "hi" --dry-run
curl -sS -X POST 'https://slack.com/api/chat.postMessage' \
  -H 'Authorization: Bearer xoxb-****' \
  --data-urlencode 'channel=C0123456' --data-urlencode 'text=hi'

The raw escape hatch — slackctl api

Call any Web API method slackctl doesn't wrap, with the same auth, output, and --dry-run:

slackctl api conversations.info -q channel=C0123456 --idempotent
slackctl api chat.postMessage -d '{"channel":"C0123456","text":"json body"}'

Pass --idempotent for read methods so they're sent as GET and retried safely on transient failures.

Quiet & color

  • --quiet suppresses the notes slackctl writes to stderr (stdout stays pipe-clean).
  • --no-color (or NO_COLOR=1) disables table colors.