{"slug": "how-to-connect-mcp-servers-to-slackbot", "title": "How to connect MCP servers to Slackbot", "summary": "A developer shows how to connect Slackbot to custom MCP servers using Composio, bypassing the limited native app selection. The guide walks through registering the Composio MCP server in a Slack app, installing it, and using natural language commands to access over 1,000 apps via OAuth-based connections.", "body_md": "Slackbot recently added support for MCP, which means you can now connect it with external apps and let it take actions across your work tools directly from Slack\n\nBut the native app list is still limited. By the time of writing this post, there's just about **20 apps** that you can connect from the [Slack marketplace](https://slack.com/marketplace).\n\nAnd for most teams, that's not enough.\n\nBut luckily, Slack allows you to set up or use your custom MCP servers and not have to be limited by the number of apps available in marketplace.\n\nThat's where [Composio](https://composio.dev/) helps you. It can connect your slack bots to **1000+ apps** that you can use.\n\nIn this guide, we’ll go through how to connect Slackbot with Composio’s MCP server in 3 steps.\n\nℹ️ The steps will be pretty much the same with other MCP servers as well.\n\nOnce this is set up, you can ask Slackbot things like:\n\n```\nFind my latest unread Gmail emails.\nSearch my Notion workspace for launch notes.\nCheck my Google Calendar for meetings tomorrow.\n```\n\nAnd a bunch more. Imagine all the stuff you can do with 1000+ apps. 😵💫\n\nI'll leave the rest to your imagination...\n\nSlackbot sends the request to Composio Connect, Composio finds the right tool, asks you to connect the app if needed (one time), and then executes the action.\n\nBefore we begin, make sure you have:\n\nThat's it.\n\nFirst, you need the MCP server URL from Composio.\n\nFor this setup, use Composio Connect:\n\n`https://connect.composio.dev/mcp`\n\nThis is Composio’s hosted MCP server that gives your AI agent access to 1,000+ apps with just **7 meta-tools** that let the slackbot discover what's available, authorize apps on demand, and execute tools across apps in parallel through a single connection.\n\nYou don’t need to create a custom MCP server for this guide.\n\nComposio also supports custom MCP servers for more scoped project-specific use cases, but those can require API-key-based auth. For Slackbot, Composio Connect is the simpler path because it works with OAuth-based MCP client flows.\n\nNow, we need to register the Composio MCP server inside a Slack app.\n\nGo to the Slack developer dashboard and create a new app.\n\nOnce the app is created:\n\nNow fill in the MCP server details.\n\nUse:\n\nFor the auth type, select **Dynamic Client Registration**.\n\nℹ️ This is the right option for MCP servers that support OAuth discovery and client registration. Slack handles the client registration automatically, so you don’t need to manually create OAuth credentials first.\n\nNow, if you click the three dots and then **Tools**, you should see that it currently cannot fetch the tools because the MCP server uses a dynamic connection and must be installed in your workspace first.\n\nSo, now head over to the **Install App** tab, and install it to the workspace you selected when creating the app.\n\nIf your workspace requires approval, send the app request to your admin.\n\nOnce your Slack app is installed and approved, open a DM with Slackbot.\n\nThen, just type in a prompt that requires using the app, Slack will use the correct app automatically for you.\n\nClick **Connect,** and you’ll be taken to a confirmation page.\n\nClick on Continue, and then confirm it on the Composio end.\n\nIf everything went well, you should see that your account is connected.\n\nAfter that, Slackbot should be able to discover Composio’s MCP tools.\n\nStart with a simpler test:\n\n```\nWhat tools are available from Composio?\n```\n\nOnce that goes through, now try an actual app action.\n\nFor example:\n\n```\nSend a mail to x@y.com saying 'Hi, from Composio 👋 inside Slackbot'\n```\n\nIf Gmail is not connected yet, Composio should generate an OAuth link for you to connect it. Once you approve it, the connection persists for future use. So, you don't have to repeat this step again and again.\n\nSlackbot may ask you to approve the action before it writes data to another app.\n\nThat's expected. Once connected, Slackbot can use that app through Composio.\n\nVoilà, you've successfully connected Slackbot to Composio MCP. 🎊\n\nHere’s a quick workflow for initiating a connection and running an actual app action:\n\nSlack's own marketplace is good, and if it covers all the tools you require, you can completely stick to it.\n\nBut for some of you, that's simply not enough. I hope this helps overcome that problem.\n\nSo instead of jumping between different tools, you can ask Slackbot to find information, create tasks, update records, and run actions across your apps from inside Slack.\n\nThis is a much-needed quality-of-life improvement for teams that already live in Slack.\n\nSlackbot gives you the interface. MCP gives you the protocol.\n\nAnd Composio gives you the app layer. 👌", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/how-to-connect-mcp-servers-to-slackbot", "canonical_source": "https://dev.to/composiodev/how-to-connect-mcp-servers-to-slackbot-1al4", "published_at": "2026-07-18 11:57:47+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-07-18 12:29:22.504181+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["developer-tools", "ai-tools", "ai-agents"], "entities": ["Slack", "Composio", "Composio Connect", "Slackbot", "Gmail", "Notion", "Google Calendar"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/how-to-connect-mcp-servers-to-slackbot", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/how-to-connect-mcp-servers-to-slackbot.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/how-to-connect-mcp-servers-to-slackbot.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/how-to-connect-mcp-servers-to-slackbot.jsonld"}}