conversations.open

Opens or resumes a direct message or multi-person direct message.

Facts

Method URL: https://slack.com/api/conversations.open

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)
bot	`channels:manage` `groups:write` `im:write` `mpim:write`
user	`channels:write` `groups:write` `im:write` `mpim:write`

As part of the Conversations API, this method's required scopes depend on the type of channel-like object you're working with. For classic Slack apps, a corresponding channels: scope is required when working with public channels, groups: for private channels, also the same rules are applied for im: and mpim:. For workspace apps, a conversations: scope is all that's needed.

This Conversations API method opens a multi-person direct message or just a 1:1 direct message.

Use conversations.create for public or private channels.

Provide 1 to 8 user IDs in the user parameter to open or resume a conversation. Providing only 1 ID will create a direct message. Providing more will create an mpim. Don’t include the ID of the user you’re calling conversations.open on behalf of – we do that for you.

If there are no conversations already in progress including that exact set of members, a new multi-person direct message conversation begins.

Subsequent calls to conversations.open with the same set of users will return the already existing conversation.

Arguments

Argument	Example	Required	Description
`token`	`xxxx-xxxxxxxxx-xxxx`	Required	Authentication token bearing required scopes.
`channel`	`G1234567890`	Optional	Resume a conversation by supplying an `im` or `mpim`'s ID. Or provide the `users` field instead.
`return_im`	`true`	Optional	Boolean, indicates you want the full IM channel definition in the response.
`users`	`W1234567890,U2345678901,U3456789012`	Optional	Comma separated lists of users. If only one user is included, this creates a 1:1 DM. The ordering of the users is preserved whenever a multi-person direct message is returned. Supply a `channel` when not supplying `users`.

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

Response

Response structure is altered by providing return_im parameter. When set to false, the default, just a conversation's ID is returned. When set to true, the entire conversation object is returned.

Typical success response

{
    "ok": true,
    "channel": {
        "id": "D069C7QFK"
    }
}

Passing return_im will expand the response to include more info about a conversation

{
    "ok": true,
    "no_op": true,
    "already_open": true,
    "channel": {
        "id": "D069C7QFK",
        "created": 1460147748,
        "is_im": true,
        "is_org_shared": false,
        "user": "U069C7QF3",
        "last_read": "0000000000.000000",
        "latest": null,
        "unread_count": 0,
        "unread_count_display": 0,
        "is_open": true,
        "priority": 0
    }
}

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.
`user_not_found`	Value(s) passed for `users` was invalid.
`user_not_visible`	The calling user is restricted from seeing the requested user.
`user_disabled`	A specified `user` has been disabled.
`users_list_not_supplied`	Missing `users` in request
`not_enough_users`	Needs at least 2 users to open
`too_many_users`	Needs at most 8 users to open
`method_not_supported_for_channel_type`	This type of conversation cannot be used with this method.
`missing_scope`	The token used is not granted the specific scope permissions required to complete this request.
`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. Make sure your app is a member of the conversation it's attempting to post a message to.
`org_login_required`	The workspace is undergoing an enterprise migration and will not be available until migration is complete.
`ekm_access_denied`	Administrators have suspended the ability to post a message.
`invalid_arguments`	The method was called with invalid arguments.
`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_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/json` `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
`no_op`	Slack did nothing when serving this request but it did not fail.
`already_open`	The conversation was already open so Slack did nothing.
`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.