Claude Code in Slack: start it from a thread, and join early access to SHIP
Claude Code works in Slack today through the Claude app. SHIP's loop that turns a Slack thread into a tested pull request is in early access.
Claude Code works in Slack through the Claude app. Invite @Claude to a channel, mention it with a coding task, and it starts a cloud session that posts progress in the thread. When the session finishes, it offers a Create PR button, on a Pro or Max plan. On Team and Enterprise plans, Claude Tag, in public beta, runs @Claude for the whole organization instead. A SHIP mission that starts from a Slack thread is in early access. Today SHIP starts a mission from Linear, GitHub Issues or a terminal.
Set up Claude Code in Slack on a Pro or Max plan
Anthropic's Claude Code in Slack docs cover a Pro or Max plan where the workspace is not connected to Claude Tag. Install the Claude app, then open App Home and run Connect. Connect your GitHub account at claude.ai/code, so a session can reach your repositories.
Pick a routing mode before you invite the bot. Code only sends every mention straight to a coding session. Code + Chat lets the same bot answer plain questions and only start a session when you ask for code. Then run /invite @Claude in a channel. The docs cover channels only, not direct messages.
Give coding work to Claude Tag on a Team or Enterprise plan
Claude Tag, documented in Claude Tag overview, is in public beta on Team and Enterprise plans. It is not available on Free, Pro or Max. An Owner pairs the Slack workspace with Claude Tag with the command @Claude connect. After that, every mention of @Claude in the workspace runs under the organization's own identity, not a single member's.
Work that Claude Tag does in a channel bills to the organization's usage balance, under a spend limit the Owner sets. Each task runs in an ephemeral sandbox, with repositories granted to the Claude GitHub App. Report a bug in the channel, and the docs say it comes back as a draft pull request.
The same docs give the reason your mention might get a different reply than it used to. Anthropic retired the earlier Claude Code in Slack bot on October 5, 2026, in any workspace connected to Claude Tag. In that workspace, Claude Tag answers @Claude instead, with the plans and setup described above.
Follow one request from the mention to a pull request
On the Pro or Max setup, a mention starts a six-step session flow. Status updates post back in the same thread as the work runs. The docs warn that Claude may follow instructions it reads from other messages in that thread, so keep the thread focused on the one task.
When a session finishes, four buttons appear: View Session, Create PR, Retry as Code and Change Repo. The setup works with GitHub only, and the docs describe one pull request per session. If you need a second change, you start a new session.
See what a SHIP mission adds before the pull request reaches you
A SHIP mission does the work that follows a draft, before the pull request reaches you, and each stage leaves something you can check. The table follows the order in the SHIP introduction, as the loop runs today on Linear and GitHub Issues.
| Stage | What it adds | Where you see it |
|---|---|---|
| Planner | A plan written from the issue, the repository and the acceptance criteria, before any code exists | The issue |
| Builder | The change, made in an isolated sandbox, with your formatter, linter, typecheck and tests run before it pushes | The pull request |
| CI | Your own pipeline as a gate, with a failure sent back to the Builder along with its logs | The pull request's checks |
| Reviewer | A read of the diff against the plan, with the fixes it requires and the ones it only suggests | The issue |
| Preview deploy | The change on a live environment, deployed by your pipeline with your credentials | The preview URL |
| QA | The acceptance criteria exercised against that preview, with proof of what it checked | The issue and the mission's artifacts |
A failed gate sends the work back to the Builder with the feedback, so the mission continues. Across the 260 missions in SWE-in-a-team, the loop corrected 40 of the 46 runs it sent back without a person. A mission that fails the same way twice at one gate stops with Needs attention and leaves the pull request open for you (Retry limits).
A checkpoint can hold the mission after the plan, the build or the review. A person reads it before the work moves on (Human in the loop). The pull request is the last gate either way, and a person merges it unless auto-merge is on. The full flow on Linear is in Claude Code on Linear, and the flow on Jira is in Claude Code on Jira.
Start a SHIP mission today without Slack
SHIP cannot read a Slack thread yet, but it can build from the acceptance criteria you copy out of one. The docs list Linear and GitHub Issues as the two trackers. Assign the issue in Linear, or comment @SHIP on a GitHub issue with write access to the repository.
A project with neither tracker takes its work from a terminal. Put the thread's goal and its acceptance criteria in a Markdown file, with each criterion as a checkbox, then hand the file to SHIP:
ship delegate plan --title "Rate-limit search" --file docs/spec.mddelegate plan skips the Planner and builds from your spec as you wrote it (Command reference). CI, the Reviewer and QA then check the change the same way they do on an assigned issue. Paste the pull request link back into the thread, so your team finds it where the conversation happened.
Join early access for Slack
Early access is for teams that want SHIP to work a Slack thread the way it works a Linear issue today. You would tag SHIP in the thread. The plan, the review verdict and the QA proof would come back in that same thread. SHIP does not run this yet. The number of teams that join the list decides whether SHIP builds it.
To join, answer four questions: your email, your role, your team size and the coding agent you use now. SHIP emails you when the Slack integration opens to your team. The Slack page describes what early access covers and what runs today.
Questions
Can I start a SHIP mission from Slack today?
No. SHIP works on Linear and GitHub Issues today, and Slack is in early access. A team on Slack can still start a SHIP mission from a terminal with ship delegate plan and a spec file.
How do I set up Claude Code in Slack?
Install the Claude app, open App Home and connect it, then connect GitHub at claude.ai/code. Choose Code only or Code + Chat routing, then run /invite @Claude in a channel.
Why does @Claude reply that the legacy bot is retired?
Anthropic retired the earlier Claude Code in Slack bot on October 5, 2026, in workspaces connected to Claude Tag. Claude Tag now runs @Claude for those workspaces instead.
Can Claude Code open a pull request from a Slack thread?
Yes, on GitHub. The session flow ends with a Create PR button, and the setup supports one pull request per session. Claude Tag can also push a draft pull request from an assigned channel task.
How do I get early access to SHIP for Slack?
Join the early-access list from this page and answer four questions about your team and the coding agent you use. SHIP emails you when the Slack integration opens to your team.