channels.join

Joins a channel, creating it if needed.

Facts

Method URL: https://slack.com/api/channels.join

Preferred HTTP method: POST

Accepted content types: application/x-www-form-urlencoded, application/json

Rate limiting: Tier 3

Works with:

Token type	Required scope(s)
user	`channels:write` `post`

This method is used to join a channel. If the channel does not exist, it is created.

The members array found in this and other methods will begin automatically truncating at 1,500 results beginning December 1, 2017. Please Use conversations.members to manage memberships instead. Read on to learn more.

Arguments

Argument	Example	Required	Description
`token`	`xxxx-xxxxxxxxx-xxxx`	Required	Authentication token bearing required scopes.
`name`	`#general`	Required	Name of channel to join
`validate`	`true`	Optional	Whether to return errors on invalid channel name instead of modifying it to meet the specified criteria.

This method supports application/json via HTTP POST. Present your token in your request's Authorization header. Learn more.

Response

If successful, the command returns a channel object, including state information.

Typical success response

{
    "ok": true,
    "channel": {
        "id": "C1H9RESGL",
        "name": "busting",
        "is_channel": true,
        "created": 1466025154,
        "creator": "U0G9QF9C6",
        "is_archived": false,
        "is_general": false,
        "name_normalized": "busting",
        "is_shared": false,
        "is_org_shared": false,
        "is_member": true,
        "is_private": false,
        "is_mpim": false,
        "members": [
            "U0G9QF9C6",
            "U1QNSQB9U"
        ],
        "topic": {
            "value": "My Topic",
            "creator": "U0G9QF9C6",
            "last_set": 1503435128
        },
        "purpose": {
            "value": "My Purpose",
            "creator": "U0G9QF9C6",
            "last_set": 1503435128
        },
        "previous_names": []
    },
    "already_in_channel": true
}

If you are already in the channel, the response is slightly different. already_in_channel will be true, and a limited channel object will be returned. This allows a client to see that the request to join GeNERaL is the same as the channel #general that the user is already in.

{
    "ok": true,
    "already_in_channel": true,
    "channel": {
        "id": "C024BE91L",
        "name": "fun",
        "created": 1360782804,
        "creator": "U024BE7LH",
        "is_archived": false,
        "is_general": false
    }
}

Typical error response

{
    "ok": false,
    "error": "channel_not_found"
}

Errors

This table lists the expected errors that this method could return. However, other errors can be returned in the case where the service is down or other unexpected factors affect processing. Callers should always check the value of the ok params in the response.

Error	Description
`channel_not_found`	Value passed for `channel` was invalid.
`name_taken`	A channel cannot be created with the given name.
`restricted_action`	A team preference prevents the authenticated user from creating channels.
`no_channel`	Value passed for `name` was empty.
`is_archived`	Channel has been archived.
`invalid_name_required`	Value passed for `name` was empty.
`invalid_name_punctuation`	Value passed for `name` contained only punctuation.
`invalid_name_maxlength`	Value passed for `name` exceeded max length.
`invalid_name_specials`	Value passed for `name` contained unallowed special characters or upper case characters.
`invalid_name`	Value passed for `name` was invalid.
`not_authed`	No authentication token provided.
`invalid_auth`	Some aspect of authentication cannot be validated. Either the provided token is invalid or the request originates from an IP address disallowed from making the request.
`account_inactive`	Authentication token is for a deleted user or workspace.
`token_revoked`	Authentication token is for a deleted user or workspace or the app has been removed.
`no_permission`	The workspace token used in this request does not have the permissions necessary to complete the request.
`org_login_required`	The workspace is undergoing an enterprise migration and will not be available until migration is complete.
`user_is_bot`	This method cannot be called by a bot user.
`user_is_restricted`	This method cannot be called by a restricted user or single channel guest.
`invalid_arg_name`	The method was passed an argument whose name falls outside the bounds of accepted or expected values. This includes very long names and names with non-alphanumeric characters other than `_`. If you get this error, it is typically an indication that you have made a very malformed API call.
`invalid_array_arg`	The method was passed a PHP-style array argument (e.g. with a name like `foo[7]`). These are never valid with the Slack API.
`invalid_charset`	The method was called via a `POST` request, but the `charset` specified in the `Content-Type` header was invalid. Valid charset names are: `utf-8` `iso-8859-1`.
`invalid_form_data`	The method was called via a `POST` request with `Content-Type` `application/x-www-form-urlencoded` or `multipart/form-data`, but the form data was either missing or syntactically invalid.
`invalid_post_type`	The method was called via a `POST` request, but the specified `Content-Type` was invalid. Valid types are: `application/x-www-form-urlencoded` `multipart/form-data` `text/plain`.
`missing_post_type`	The method was called via a `POST` request and included a data payload, but the request did not include a `Content-Type` header.
`team_added_to_org`	The workspace associated with your request is currently undergoing migration to an Enterprise Organization. Web API and other platform operations will be intermittently unavailable until the transition is complete.
`request_timeout`	The method was called via a `POST` request, but the `POST` data was either missing or truncated.
`fatal_error`	The server could not complete your operation(s) without encountering a catastrophic error. It's possible some aspect of the operation succeeded before the error was raised.

Warnings

This table lists the expected warnings that this method will return. However, other warnings can be returned in the case where the service is experiencing unexpected trouble.

Warning	Description
`member_list_truncated`	A `members` array included in a channel object was truncated at 1500 results. Use `conversations.members` to retrieve all results.
`missing_charset`	The method was called via a `POST` request, and recommended practice for the specified `Content-Type` is to include a `charset` parameter. However, no `charset` was present. Specifically, non-form-data content types (e.g. `text/plain`) are the ones for which `charset` is recommended.
`superfluous_charset`	The method was called via a `POST` request, and the specified `Content-Type` is not defined to understand the `charset` parameter. However, `charset` was in fact present. Specifically, form-data content types (e.g. `multipart/form-data`) are the ones for which `charset` is superfluous.