Use ClickUp Brain in Slack to ask questions about your work. Before you connect accounts or share private content, review whose access Brain uses and who can read its replies.

ClickUp's AI features in this app use large language models. AI-generated responses, summaries, and other outputs can be inaccurate or incomplete. Review them before acting on them.

ClickUp Brain in Slack is available on all plans.

Connections and account access

Installing the Slack app, connecting an account, and asking Brain a question are separate actions. Brain uses the ClickUp permissions of the person who asks, not the person who installed the app.

Brain can't access ClickUp content that the person asking doesn't have permission to view.

Set up Brain in Slack

Brain in Slack uses a Workspace connection. A Workspace owner or admin sets it up once for the whole Workspace.

Members don't need to connect their own Slack accounts to use Brain. A personal Slack connection doesn't turn on Brain in Slack.

Set up the connection with a dedicated service account instead of an employee's Slack account. Otherwise, everyone who uses Brain works with that person's Slack access.

Brain is on by default for new Workspace connections. If your Workspace connected Slack before Brain in Slack was available, turn Brain on for that connection.

To set up Brain in Slack:

1. From the App Center, search for and select Slack.
2. Click the Workspace tab.
3. Follow the steps to connect your Slack workspace.

To turn on Brain for an existing Slack connection:

1. From the App Center, search for and select Slack.
2. Click the Workspace tab.
3. Turn on Use @Brain in Slack.

The first time someone uses Brain, ClickUp matches their Slack email to their ClickUp account. If there's no match, they see a message that their account couldn't be matched, and they can't use Brain.

People without a ClickUp account in your Workspace can't use Brain in Slack.

Use Brain in Slack

You can ask Brain questions in two ways:

• Direct message: In the Direct Messages section of your Slack sidebar, click ClickUp Brain and send a message. In a DM with the app, Brain uses your full ClickUp permissions.
• Mention: Type @ClickUp Brain in a channel, group DM, or thread, then add your question.

If ClickUp Brain isn't in the channel, Slackbot tells you the app isn't in this channel. Click Add Them to add it.

When you mention Brain in a thread, it reads the messages posted since its last reply in that thread. Each person has their own conversation with Brain in each thread.

Editing or deleting a Slack message doesn't reliably remove its information from Brain's conversation context. Review your message before you mention Brain.

Brain works differently in channels and group DMs. Review the next section before you link private content.

ClickUp access by conversation type

Brain always uses your ClickUp identity. What it can read depends on where you ask:

A private Slack channel doesn't change what Brain can read. Every conversation except a DM with the app follows the same rules.

Warning: Brain's reply is visible to everyone who can read the Slack conversation. A reply can include information from any private item you linked, such as a task or List. Linking works the same way as it does with Brain in ClickUp Chat.

Before you link private content, check the full audience. Do not assume that everyone reading the Slack channel has access to the source in ClickUp. In Slack Connect channels, Brain doesn't check whether people from other organizations can access the content.

A request such as summarize the salary review task is not the same as explicitly sharing its link.

Connected-app access

ClickUp permissions and connected-app permissions are separate. Access to a ClickUp task does not determine access to a connected email account, file repository, or other app.

Brain in Slack can use the same connected apps as Brain in ClickUp, with the same permissions:

• Native integrations
• MCP templates
• Custom MCP servers

Workspace and personal connections follow the same rules as they do in ClickUp. Review the connection and tools used for each app.

Connected Search rules don't cover every connection or tool Brain in Slack uses. Check each one on its own.

Brain reads a connected app with the access of the account that connected it. Everyone in the Slack conversation can see that content in Brain's reply, even if they can't open it in the app.

Security considerations

A broadly privileged admin account can give an integration access to more data than the intended audience should receive.

Limit the connected account to the content and actions required for the workflow. Do not grant access to unrelated locations.

For apps you connect with a Workspace connection, use a dedicated integration account instead of an employee's everyday account. Give it access only to files intended for everyone in your ClickUp Workspace. Check which account types and permissions the app supports before connecting it.

A dedicated account limits the data available through that connection. It does not fix authorization errors, control every file-delivery path, or remove copies already shared in Slack.

A dedicated account doesn't replace a review. Check the audience, connected tools, and available data before you use Brain in a Slack conversation.

Create and update work from Slack

You can ask Brain to create tasks and update your work from Slack. Brain makes changes with your ClickUp account. When Brain creates a task, the task's activity shows your name.

Not every change asks for confirmation first. For some changes, like updating several tasks at once, Brain asks you to reply Yes before it continues.

Brain makes some changes without asking first. Check your request before you send it.

Review your setup

Start with approved, non-sensitive content before expanding access.

To review the setup:

1. Identify the ClickUp Workspace and Slack workspace you intend to connect.
2. Review the account used for each connected app.
3. Limit each account's access to the locations required for the workflow.
4. Choose a Slack conversation with an approved audience.
5. Test a request using non-sensitive content.
6. Review the reply from another participant's account.

Compare these configurations before sharing sensitive information:

Files and generated content

Review the audience before asking Brain to include attachments or generate files in Slack.

Brain doesn't upload existing ClickUp attachments to Slack. Files Brain creates while it answers can be uploaded to the Slack conversation.

Treat content delivered to Slack as shared with the people who can access that conversation. Do not assume that a file's original ClickUp permissions also protect a copy delivered to Slack.

Removing a source link doesn't remove copies of its content already delivered to Slack.

Disconnect an account

You can disconnect an app from the App Center. Review each connection separately if the setup uses more than one account.

Disconnecting the Slack Workspace connection stops Brain from reading Slack messages and posting replies. Disconnecting the Slack connection doesn't delete replies or files already posted in Slack.

To disconnect the integration with Slack, from the App Center:

1. Browse for and select Slack.
2. Select the connection.
3. Click the ellipsis ... icon and select Disconnect.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions about using Brain in Slack.

Why did Brain give a different answer in a channel than in a DM?

In a channel or group DM, Brain uses public Workspace content and any private item you link, such as a task or List. In a DM with the app, Brain uses your full ClickUp permissions, so it can find more of your work.

Why didn't Brain include a private task in its answer?

In channels and group DMs, Brain only reads a private item, such as a task or List, when you paste its link in your message. Naming the task isn't enough.