Setting up Guru's App for Slack

Guru's Slack app allows seamless access to team knowledge within Slack, maintaining conversation flow without switching contexts. This article outlines how to install the Guru app, how to invite the Guru app to Slack channels, and how to configure Guru to suggest answers to questions asked in specific Slack channels.

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Access Required

• You must be a Guru workspace admin to install Guru's app for Slack
• You may also need to be a Slack admin to install new Slack apps for your organization. This setting depends on your company's Slack app settings. Check with your Slack admin if you have any questions.
• To set up Suggested Answers, you need to be on Guru's All-In-One or Enterprise Plan.

Install the Guru app for Slack

1. Navigate to Guru's web application and click Manage in the left-hand navigation.
2. Click Apps and Integrations.
3. In the Apps page, navigate to Slack and click Add Slack workspace.
4. After authenticating and completing the steps to allow Guru to connect to your Slack workspace, Guru is going to map your workspace's Guru users to their matching Slack email addresses. This way, every Slack user linked to a Guru user in your Guru workspace will be able to use the Guru app in Slack.
   1. Team members who are authors and Collection owners will be able to create and add to Guru Cards.
      1. If there are discrepancies in a user's email address between Slack and Guru, the Slack user will not be mapped. When they go to use the Guru app in Slack for the first time the Slack admin will get a message allowing them to connect the Slack user to a Guru user. Admins can also use link user @SlackUsername GuruEmailAddress to manually link the two accounts in a DM with the Guru app.
   2. Team members who use Slack (but not Guru) will not be able to ask Guru questions and will not be able to see any Guru content that they don't have permission to see unless that content in Guru is shared with "All Members". 
5. Once the setup process is complete, the Guru app will introduce itself in Slack.

To install Guru's app for Slack with an Enterprise Grid, follow steps 1-4 above. In the upper-right-hand corner of the pop-up, be sure to connect Guru to the correct organization or enterprise workspace in the drop-down menu.

Invite Guru to Slack channels

Next, invite the Guru app to interact with users in any public or private Slack channel by using the /invite @guru command in any channel.

You can also invite the Guru app to a channel by clicking the channel name and selecting the Integrations tab followed by Add apps. More information on inviting an app to a channel can be found in Slack's Help Center.

Turn on Suggested Answers in Slack

If Answers is enabled on your team's Workspace, once the Guru app is added to Slack and invited to your chosen channels, there are two ways to promote seamless knowledge sharing in Slack.

Turning on Suggested Answers in Guru allows automatic responses to questions in active channels using data from Collections and authorized external folders, without requiring an @mention. Users can also @mention the Guru bot directly (e.g., "@Guru how do I request paid time off?") for answers. This dual functionality ensures efficient knowledge access within Slack. 

1. After connecting Guru to Slack following the steps above, on the Manage > Apps and Integration page, click Manage next to the enabled Slack app.
2. Click + Add a channel under to select the public or private Slack channel where Guru will automatically suggest answers to questions asked by Guru users.
   1. Guru app must be invited to the Slack channel you select. Invite the Guru app for Slack to any Slack channel by sending /invite @guru in a message to the channel.
3. Under Step 2, click on the channel from the dropdown list.
4. Under Step 3, define the sources Guru should use when suggesting answers to questions asked by Guru users in the named Slack channel.
   1. You can choose between all sources (Collections and folders in external applications) shared with the "All Members" Group in Guru, or, limit to specific sources. If you opt to limit, you'll be shown a modal where you can search through all of the workspace's Collections and connected external source folders.
5. Now that you've defined the universe of information you'd like Guru to reference when users ask questions in this Slack channel, click Save to save these settings. The Guru app will automatically message the selected Slack channel confirming the suggested answers feature is enabled. You can add an unlimited amount of Slack channels.

Now, when a Guru user asks a question (must end with a question mark) in the designated Slack channel(s), Guru will automatically suggest an answer sourced from the places you defined during setup. All Slack users in the channel will be able to see Guru's suggested answer regardless of whether or not they are licensed users in Guru, but only the licensed Guru users will be able to take action on the suggested answer ("👍" Mark as helpful, "👎" Mark as unhelpful, "Search Guru", and "Ask an Expert").

Admin Controls

There are a few Guru Slackbot commands reserved for Guru admins that will help with onboarding new Slack users to Guru and with managing the connection of users between both apps over time. To see the available Guru admin commands, type @guru help admin to direct message the Guru app or type help admin in the Messages tab of the Guru app in Slack.

Link Users

Guru will attempt to automatically link all Guru users with your Slack users. In some cases, a Slack user will have a Guru email that differs from their Slack email. Use the command link user @SlackUsername GuruEmailAddress (ex. link user @patrick patrick(at)getguru.com) to manually link the two accounts.

Show workspace configuration

Using the command show team config, you can pull up a list of all the Guru users in your workspace and what Slack users they are linked to. Clicking the Show Team button will also execute this command.

Frequently Asked Questions about Guru's app for Slack

What happens if the Guru admin who set up the integration leaves the company?
If the Guru admin who set up the Guru integration for Slack is no longer a member of your workspace, our system will look for another Guru admin to take on the role of the primary user (installing user). If there are no other admins or qualifying users, the Guru app for Slack will become disabled. If this happens, a new Guru admin can re-install the integration by navigating to the Manage > Apps and Integrations page. 

Can one Guru account be linked to multiple Slack accounts?
Yes, you can link one Guru workspace to multiple Slack teams. This does not work the other way around, however, and you can not link multiple Guru workspaces with one Slack team (unless you are on Slack's Enterprise Grid).

Why am I getting the following error "you can not associate this Slack team with another Guru team" when I set up the integration?
This error message means that you may have previously linked a Guru workspace with your Slack instance. Contact us by using this web form or by emailing [email protected].

Why didn't Guru suggest an answer?
There are a few reasons why Guru may not have suggested an answer. We recommend troubleshooting each scenario with the following steps:

• Is the Guru app for Slack connected to your Slack workspace?
  • Check Settings > Apps and Integrations and make sure the name of the Slack workspace under "Installed for" matches your expectations.
• Has the Guru app been invited to the channel?
  • Type **/invite @guru** in a message to the channel.
• Are automatic answers enabled for that channel?
  • Check Settings > Apps and Integrations and click Manage to the right of the enabled Slack app.
• Is the user asking the question linked to a user in Guru?
  • Typically, the user's email addresses will be a match in both applications.
  • Use the `help admin` command to link the two email addresses if not. 
• Did the user end their Slack message with a question mark?
  • A trailing space after a question mark ("? ") will prevent Guru from suggesting an answer.
• Was the question asked in a Slack thread?
  • Automatic suggested answers will not appear in Slack channel threads and direct messages.
  • Messaging "@guru" in a channel thread is currently the only way to trigger Guru to suggest an answer.

Is there a way to review the questions directed at Guru and Guru's suggested answers?
Yes! All questions and suggested answers are available for Guru admin to review in the AI training dashboard.