Chat Channels
Chat Channels let you talk to a Nexus agent from the apps you already use. You send a direct message to the TAO bot in Slack or Microsoft Teams, and the same agent that answers in Nexus Chat replies there.
There are two channels today:
Both work in one-to-one direct messages only.
Bot or connector?
Slack and Teams each appear twice in Nexus, and they are different things.
| The bot (this section) | The connector | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A separate app you chat with | Your own account that Nexus acts in |
| Example | You DM "TAO Assistant" and ask a question | Nexus posts a message as you, or reads your chats |
| Set up by | An administrator installs it once for the workspace | You connect your own account in Connectors |
| Where you manage it | The TAO bot section in Connectors | The connector card in Connectors |
Disconnecting the connector never removes the bot, and the reverse is also true. They share nothing.
How a bot chat works
- A message to the bot starts a normal Nexus chat in your account. You can find it in the portal's Chat list, titled "Slack: (start of your message)" or "Teams: (start of your message)".
- The bot answers as you. It follows your own project access and permissions.
- One direct message conversation is tied to one chat. Sending
new(see each bot's commands) starts a fresh chat. Your memories carry on across a fresh chat. See Memory. - Each bot chat uses Manual approval mode, so changes to outside systems wait for you. See Chat: Approvals.
- Tools and skills are set to Auto. Memory visibility is Private.
- The agent cannot ask you multiple-choice questions in a bot chat, and the reply arrives as one final message rather than streaming.
Which project and model it uses
A new bot chat starts in the first of these that applies:
- Your default project for that channel, if you can still access it.
- For
new, the project you were already in. - Your Personal project.
If your default project is no longer accessible, the bot warns you and starts in Personal. The default only affects new chats. An existing chat keeps its project until you start a fresh one.
For the model, the bot keeps your previous chat's model, then uses your own Chat / General default from AI Model Keys, then the platform default. If none exists, the bot replies "No AI model has been configured for your account. Please set a model at (portal)/settings/credentials."
Link your account
The bot has to know which TAO user you are. It never matches by email.
| Channel | How you are linked |
|---|---|
| Slack | Automatically, if you connected the Slack connector. Otherwise use Link your TAO account in Connectors |
| Teams | Automatically the first time you message the bot, if you have a connected Microsoft or Teams account, or sign in with single sign-on |
If the bot cannot tell who you are, it replies that your account is not linked and tells you how to fix it. See each bot's page for the exact steps.
The TAO bot section in Connectors
In Connectors, find the TAO bot section. It explains: "Chat with your TAO agent by DMing the bot in Slack or Microsoft Teams — an admin installs it once for the whole workspace. There is no on/off switch here: not using the bot is the opt-out."
For each channel you see Linked or Not linked, with "Linked by you" or "Auto-linked", and an Unlink link.
- Default project for (channel) bot chats: choose Personal (default) or one of your projects. A toast says "Default project for bot chats updated." If your saved default is no longer accessible, the page says "Your saved default is no longer accessible — new conversations start in Personal until you pick another."
- Unlink: confirm "Unlink (channel)?". Messaging the bot shows the "link your account" prompt again, and your default project is kept.
Approvals in a bot chat
When Nexus wants to change something in another system, the change waits for approval, as it does in Chat. The bot adds a note: "An action was queued for human approval. Please review and approve it at (portal)/approvals to proceed."
If an administrator has turned on Approve from Slack or Approve from Teams (off by default), the bot also sends an approval card with Approve, Reject and Open in portal buttons. Only the person the approval belongs to can decide it. Destructive actions ask you to type the name shown on the card. Decided items show a badge such as "Approved in Slack" on the Approvals page.
Notifications
The bot can also message you first. Two events do this, and nothing else:
- An approval was queued ("Approval needed").
- A scheduled chat task finished or failed ("Scheduled task finished").
To receive them, turn on Slack or Microsoft Teams under Settings → Notifications → Delivery Channels. They are off by default. Your account must be linked and the administrator's bot switch must be on. For Teams you must have messaged the bot once first, so it can reach you.
Agent Force standups are not delivered to Slack or Teams. They arrive as in-app notifications.
What bot chats do not support
- Group chats, channels and threads. The bot only answers in one-to-one messages.
- Files you attach. Uploads are ignored. Files the agent creates come back as links that open in the portal, where you must be signed in.
- Multiple-choice questions from the agent, and streaming replies.
- A personal on/off switch. Not using the bot is the opt-out.
For administrators
Each bot has its own card under Admin → Platform Config → Connectors:
- A master enabled switch for the bot.
- An Approve from (channel) switch, off by default.
- An allowlist of workspaces (Slack) or tenants (Teams). Leave it empty to admit any workspace or tenant that installs the bot.
Details and setup steps are on the Slack bot and Teams bot pages.
Security in short
- Every message from Slack or Teams is checked as genuinely coming from that service before anything happens.
- Each person is linked one at a time. There is no mapping of a whole workspace to an organization.
- The agent can do only what the linked person can do.
- Approval decisions from chat can only be made by the owner of the approval.