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Sidenote for Slack

Ask your whole library — without leaving Slack.

Type /sidenote ask and get an answer drawn from everything you've ingested into Sidenote, with citations naming the source. /sidenote search finds the passage; the Save to Sidenote shortcut turns any message into a source. Every reply is ephemeral — only you see it.

Add to SlackSee how it works

Private, ephemeral replies · Only what you Save is stored · One bot scope: commands

app.slack.com · #q3-launchSidenote
#q3-launch
/sidenote ask when does the marketing site go live?
Sidenote · Only visible to you

The marketing site goes live at 9am UK on Thursday 1 — though pricing copy is still waiting on legal sign-off, which could move it 2.

Sources
[1] Q3 Launch — Canvas
[2] #q3-launch — “Pricing copy status” · saved message
In Slack

Three ways your library shows up in Slack.

/sidenote ask

Pro or trial

Ask a question across everything in your Sidenote library — PDFs, wiki pages, saved messages. The answer arrives in Slack with numbered citations naming the source document (and the page, where there is one). Only you see it.

/sidenote search

Any linked account

Semantic search across your documents, straight from the message box. Results come back grouped by document — up to five documents, three passages each — with titles linked back to the source when it has one.

Save to Sidenote

Any linked account

A message shortcut in the ⋯ menu on any Slack message. It saves that message's text into your library as a source — with a permalink back to the original — so ask and search can draw on it. Re-save the same message and Sidenote tells you it's already there.

Also: /sidenote help for the command list · /sidenote unlink to disconnect

How it works

Installed for the workspace, linked per person.

STEP 01

Add Sidenote to Slack

Click Add to Slack and approve the install — one bot scope (commands), nothing else. The install is workspace-wide, so every teammate gets the /sidenote command straight away.

STEP 02

Link your Sidenote account

Run /sidenote and click Connect Sidenote account. You land on a one-click confirmation page in the Sidenote dashboard — sign in (or create a free account) and confirm. Each teammate links their own account; your library stays yours.

STEP 03

Ask, search, save

/sidenote ask a question, /sidenote search for a passage, or hit Save to Sidenote in a message's ⋯ menu. Answers arrive as private, ephemeral messages with citations back to your sources.

Your library is whatever you've ingested with the Sidenote extension — plus every message you save from Slack. Collections keep related sources together.

Privacy & security

Built for workspaces that read the permissions screen.

Signed requests only

Every request from Slack is checked against Slack's request signatures (HMAC-SHA256, with a five-minute replay window) before anything runs. Forged or stale requests are rejected outright.

Ephemeral by design

Every /sidenote reply — answers, search results, even errors — is an ephemeral message only you can see. Nothing is ever auto-posted to a channel; sharing is always your decision.

Only what you Save

The only Slack content that enters your library is a message you explicitly hit Save to Sidenote on. There's no background reading and no channel crawl — if you didn't save it, Sidenote doesn't have it.

Minimal scope, encrypted

The bot requests a single Slack scope — commands, the one that powers /sidenote. The workspace token is encrypted at rest with AES-256-GCM — the same scheme Sidenote uses for its other connector tokens.

Reading Slack canvases is a separate, opt-in connector with its own read-only grant — see Sidenote for Slack canvases.

Plans

search and Save are free. ask is Pro.

/sidenote search and Save to Sidenote work on any linked Sidenote account, free tier included. /sidenote ask uses the same cited-answer engine as chat in the extension, so it needs Pro or an active trial — and Slack asks draw from the same monthly allowance. Every account can start a 7-day Pro trial — no card required.

See pricing
FAQ

Common questions about Sidenote for Slack.

The app requests a single bot scope — commands, which powers the /sidenote slash command. Anyone can start the install from the Add to Slack button; if your workspace restricts app installs, Slack routes the request to an admin for approval, the same as any other app. There's nothing to configure afterwards.
Three things. The install record: your workspace's ID and name, the bot token (encrypted at rest), and which Slack user installed the app. The account link: which Slack user maps to which Sidenote account, created when you connect. And any message you explicitly save with Save to Sidenote, which becomes a source in your library. Slash-command replies are ephemeral and are never posted into your channels.
No. The bot has no history or read scopes, so it can't browse channels, DMs, or files. It only sees what you explicitly send it: the text of a /sidenote command you run, and the single message you invoke Save to Sidenote on.
Only you. Every /sidenote response is an ephemeral Slack message — visible solely to the person who ran the command, and not part of the channel's history. If you want to share an answer, you copy it deliberately; nothing broadcasts on its own.
Run /sidenote unlink. It removes the link between your Slack identity and your Sidenote account — and also disconnects Slack canvas ingest if you had that connected. You can relink anytime by running /sidenote again, and a workspace admin can remove the app entirely from Slack's app management page.
/sidenote search and Save to Sidenote work on any linked Sidenote account, free tier included. /sidenote ask — AI answers with citations — needs Pro or an active trial, the same as chat in the extension, and draws from the same monthly allowance. Every account can start a 7-day Pro trial — no card required.
No — they're separate, and each is opt-in. The Slack app adds the /sidenote command and the Save to Sidenote shortcut, using only the commands bot scope. Canvas ingest is a per-user connector in the Chrome extension with its own read-only files:read grant. Installing the Slack app doesn't give Sidenote access to your canvases, and connecting canvases doesn't install the Slack app.
Bring your library into Slack

The answer is in your docs. Ask from Slack.

Add Sidenote to your workspace, link your account in a couple of clicks, and /sidenote ask the question your team keeps re-asking — answered privately, with citations.

Add to SlackSee pricing

Ephemeral replies · Only what you Save is stored · /sidenote help to get started