conversations.replies

Retrieve a thread of messages posted to a conversation

Notices

Information about required scopes
This Conversations API method's required scopes depend on the type of channel-like object you're working with. You only need the scopes corresponding to that conversation type, found below in Required scopes.

Facts

Method access

HTTP

JavaScript

Python

Java

HTTP

GEThttps://slack.com/api/conversations.replies

Bolt for Java

app.client().conversationsReplies

Bolt for Python

app.client.conversations_replies

Bolt for JavaScript

app.client.conversations.replies

Required scopes

Bot tokenschannels:historygroups:historyim:historympim:history

User tokenschannels:historygroups:historyim:historympim:history

Legacy bot tokensbot

Content types

application/x-www-form-urlencoded

Rate limits

Tier 3

Arguments

Required arguments

token

token

·Required

Authentication token bearing required scopes. Tokens should be passed as an HTTP Authorization header or alternatively, as a POST parameter.

Example

xxxx-xxxxxxxxx-xxxx

channel

string

·Required

Conversation ID to fetch thread from.

Example

C1234567890

ts

string

·Required

Unique identifier of either a thread’s parent message or a message in the thread. ts must be the timestamp of an existing message with 0 or more replies. If there are no replies then just the single message referenced by ts will return - it is just an ordinary, unthreaded message.

Example

1234567890.123456

Optional arguments

cursor

string

·Optional

Paginate through collections of data by setting the cursor parameter to a next_cursor attribute returned by a previous request's response_metadata. Default value fetches the first "page" of the collection. See pagination for more detail.

Example

dXNlcjpVMDYxTkZUVDI=

include_all_metadata

boolean

·Optional

Return all metadata associated with this message.

Default

0

Example

true

inclusive

boolean

·Optional

Include messages with oldest or latest timestamps in results. Ignored unless either timestamp is specified.

Default

0

Example

true

latest

string

·Optional

Only messages before this Unix timestamp will be included in results.

Default

now

Example

1234567890.123456

limit

number

·Optional

The maximum number of items to return. Fewer than the requested number of items may be returned, even if the end of the users list hasn't been reached.

Default

1000

Example

20

oldest

string

·Optional

Only messages after this Unix timestamp will be included in results.

Default

0

Example

1234567890.123456

Usage info

This method has different rates for non-Marketplace apps.

As of May 29, 2025 for new non-Marketplace applications and installations, this method is rate limited to 1 request per minute. The maximum and default values for the limit parameter have both been reduced to 15 objects.

Beginning September 2, 2025, existing installations of applications published and distributed outside the Slack Marketplace will also be subject to the new posted limits.

This Conversations API method returns a cursor-paginated thread of messages posted to a conversation. The scopes and token types required to use this method vary by conversation type.

Bot user tokens may use this method for direct message and multi-party direct message conversations, but lack sufficient permissions to use this method on public and private channels.

To use conversations.replies with public or private channel threads, use a user token with channels:history or groups:history scopes.

The channel and ts arguments are always required. ts must be the timestamp of an existing message. If no replies, just the single message referenced by ts will return.

The thread_not_found error shown in the example error response can also apply to the channel_leave and channel_join message subtypes, as these message subtypes cannot be threaded.

Pagination

This method uses cursor-based pagination to make it easier to incrementally collect information. To begin pagination, specify a limit value under 1000. We recommend no more than 200 results at a time.

Responses will include a top-level response_metadata attribute containing a next_cursor value. By using this value as a cursor parameter in a subsequent request, along with limit, you may navigate through the collection page by virtual page.

See pagination for more information.

Pagination by time

This form of pagination can be used in conjunction with cursors.

The messages array contains up to 1000 messages between the oldest and latest timestamps. The earliest messages in the time range are returned first.

If there were more than 1000 messages between oldest and latest, then has_more will be true in the response. In an additional call, set the ts value of the final message as latest to get the next page of messages.

If a message has the same timestamp as oldest or latest it will not be included in the list. This functionality allows you to use the timestamps of specific messages as boundaries for the results. You can, however, have both timestamps be included in the time range by setting inclusive to true. The inclusive parameter is ignored when oldest or latest is not specified.

Example responses

Common successful response

Typical success response

{
    "messages": [
        {
            "type": "message",
            "user": "U061F7AUR",
            "text": "island",
            "thread_ts": "1482960137.003543",
            "reply_count": 3,
            "subscribed": true,
            "last_read": "1484678597.521003",
            "unread_count": 0,
            "ts": "1482960137.003543"
        },
        {
            "type": "message",
            "user": "U061F7AUR",
            "text": "one island",
            "thread_ts": "1482960137.003543",
            "parent_user_id": "U061F7AUR",
            "ts": "1483037603.017503"
        },
        {
            "type": "message",
            "user": "U061F7AUR",
            "text": "two island",
            "thread_ts": "1482960137.003543",
            "parent_user_id": "U061F7AUR",
            "ts": "1483051909.018632"
        },
        {
            "type": "message",
            "user": "U061F7AUR",
            "text": "three for the land",
            "thread_ts": "1482960137.003543",
            "parent_user_id": "U061F7AUR",
            "ts": "1483125339.020269"
        }
    ],
    "has_more": true,
    "ok": true,
    "response_metadata": {
        "next_cursor": "bmV4dF90czoxNDg0Njc4MjkwNTE3MDkx"
    }
}

Common error response

Typical error response

{
    "ok": false,
    "error": "thread_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 for `channel` was missing or invalid.
`invalid_cursor`	Value passed for `cursor` was not valid or is no longer valid.
`invalid_metadata_filter_keys`	Value passed for `metadata_keys_to_include` was invalid. Must be valid json array of strings.
`invalid_ts_latest`	Value passed for `latest` was invalid
`invalid_ts_oldest`	Value passed for `oldest` was invalid
`missing_scope`	The token used is not granted the specific scope permissions required to complete this request.
`thread_not_found`	Value for `ts` was missing or invalid.
`method_not_supported_for_channel_type`	This type of conversation cannot be used with this method.
`list_record_comment_fetch_failed`	Failed to fetch list record comments
`access_denied`	Access to a resource specified in the request is denied.
`account_inactive`	Authentication token is for a deleted user or workspace when using a `bot` token.
`deprecated_endpoint`	The endpoint has been deprecated.
`ekm_access_denied`	Administrators have suspended the ability to post a message.
`enterprise_is_restricted`	The method cannot be called from an Enterprise.
`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.
`method_deprecated`	The method has been deprecated.
`not_allowed_token_type`	The token type used in this request is not allowed.
`not_authed`	No authentication token provided.
`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.
`token_expired`	Authentication token has expired
`token_revoked`	Authentication token is for a deleted user or workspace or the app has been removed when using a `user` token.
`two_factor_setup_required`	Two factor setup is required.
`team_access_not_granted`	The token used is not granted the specific workspace access required to complete this request.
`accesslimited`	Access to this method is limited on the current network
`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.
`internal_error`	The server could not complete your operation(s) without encountering an error, likely due to a transient issue on our end. It's possible some aspect of the operation succeeded before the error was raised.
`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_arguments`	The method was either called with invalid arguments or some detail about the arguments passed is invalid, which is more likely when using complex arguments like blocks or attachments.
`invalid_array_arg`	The method was passed an array as an argument. Please only input valid strings.
`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.
`ratelimited`	The request has been ratelimited. Refer to the `Retry-After` header for when to retry the request.
`request_timeout`	The method was called via a `POST` request, but the `POST` data was either missing or truncated.
`service_unavailable`	The service is temporarily unavailable
`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.

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
`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.

API response

URL

POST body

Submit your arguments to see the API response