# Slack

> Connect your Slack workspace, add a channel, invite the Fixter bot, and turn on auto-investigate. One channel carries both alerts and investigations.

Slack is where alerts arrive and where [investigations](/using-fixter/investigations/)
happen. It is one setup: a channel you connect once receives your alerts and, with one
toggle, gets each of them investigated in the thread. Everything is under
[Settings > Integrations](https://app.fixter.dev/settings/integrations).

Not on Slack? Email [info@fixter.dev](mailto:info@fixter.dev) with the channel you use and
we will work on getting it connected.

## Connect and add a channel

1. **Connect your workspace.** In
   [Settings > Integrations](https://app.fixter.dev/settings/integrations), use the Slack
   **Connect** button and authorise Fixter. Once connected it shows your workspace name.
2. **Add a channel.** Give it a display name and the Slack channel id. Your first channel
   becomes the default, which is where alerts go when a rule names no channel of its own.
3. **Invite the bot** in that channel, from Slack itself:

   ```
   /invite @Fixter
   ```

   Nothing arrives until you do this. The bot cannot read or post in a channel it has not
   been invited to, and this is the most common reason Slack "does not work".

## Turn on investigations

Each channel has an **auto-investigate** toggle. With it on, every alert posted to that
channel is investigated automatically and the result comes back in the thread. There is
no separate rule to configure; the toggle is the whole control. Optional per-channel
exclusions let you skip specific alerts you never want investigated.

Whether or not auto-investigate is on, you can always start an investigation by hand:
mention the bot on any thread and ask.

```
@Fixter what's going on with checkout here?
```

## Where alerts get sent

Alert rules deliver to your connected channels. Per rule you choose whether recovery
notifies as well, and how often a continuing incident repeats. See
[Alerts](/using-fixter/alerting/).

## Issue digests

Fixter can also post periodic summaries of recurring issues, grouped by the fix they
share. The schedule, mode, and destination channel are configurable.

## If Slack is not behaving

- **The bot never responds.** It has not been invited to that channel. Run
  `/invite @Fixter` there.
- **Alerts do not arrive at all.** Check the channel is connected under
  [Settings > Integrations](https://app.fixter.dev/settings/integrations) and that your
  alert rules point at it.
- **Alerts arrive but are not investigated.** Auto-investigate is off for that channel,
  or an exclusion is matching. Turn the toggle on, or mention the bot to investigate by
  hand.

Still stuck? Email [info@fixter.dev](mailto:info@fixter.dev) and one of our founders will help you fix your problem asap.

## Related

- [Investigations](/using-fixter/investigations/): what the bot does once it can see an alert
- [Alerts](/using-fixter/alerting/): configuring what gets sent to Slack
- [GitHub](/setup/github/): the other connection investigations can use, for the fix flow