Open a dialog with a user

Facts

Method access

HTTP
JavaScript
Python
Java
HTTP
POSThttps://slack.com/api/dialog.open
Bolt for Java
app.client().dialogOpen
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Bolt for Python
app.client.dialog_open
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Required scopes

Bot tokensNo scope required
User tokensNo scope required

Content types

application/x-www-form-urlencodedapplication/json
  • Rate limits

    Tier 4
  • Arguments

    Required arguments

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

    Example
    xxxx-xxxxxxxxx-xxxx

    The dialog definition. This must be a JSON-encoded string.

    Exchange a trigger to post to the user.

    Example
    12345.98765.abcd2358fdea

    Usage info

    Dialogs are outmoded and are being replaced with modals. If you are still using dialogs, we recommend upgrading them to modals using Block Kit.

    Open a dialog with a user by exchanging a trigger_id received from another interaction. See the dialogs documentation to learn how to obtain triggers define form elements.

    As with all of our Web API methods, dialog.open primarily takes URL-encoded parameters as arguments. Similar to chat.postMessage, chat.unfurl, and chat.update this method also includes a parameter that expects a JSON object encoded with application/x-www-form-urlencoded.

    A simple form you might create could be modeled in JSON as:

    {
      "callback_id": "ryde-46e2b0",
      "title": "Request a Ride",
      "submit_label": "Request",
      "state": "Limo",
      "elements": [
        {
          "type": "text",
          "label": "Pickup Location",
          "name": "loc_origin"
        },
        {
          "type": "text",
          "label": "Dropoff Location",
          "name": "loc_destination"
        }
      ]
    }
    

    To prepare that as a HTTP POST to dialog.open, you'd optionally minify and then URL encode that JSON to a single string, displayed below as the value for the dialog POST body parameter.

    POST /api/dialog.open
    token=xoxb-such-and-such
    &trigger_id=13345224609.738474920.8088930838d88f008e0
    &dialog=%7B%22callback_id%22%3A%22ryde-46e2b0%22%2C%22title%22%3A%22Request%20a%20Ride%22%2C%22submit_label%22%3A%22Request%22%2C%22state%22%3A%22Limo%22%2C%22elements%22%3A%5B%7B%22type%22%3A%22text%22%2C%22label%22%3A%22Pickup%20Location%22%2C%22name%22%3A%22loc_origin%22%7D%2C%7B%22type%22%3A%22text%22%2C%22label%22%3A%22Dropoff%20Location%22%2C%22name%22%3A%22loc_destination%22%7D%5D%7D
    

    You can avoid this nonsense by posting JSON instead.

    Assuming your submitted dialog elements were properly formatted, valid, and the trigger_id was viable, you will receive a minimal success response.

    If your form was invalid, Slack will try to provide a detailed accounting of why and provide the validation_errors error. Look for the response_metadata node and the messages array contained within for human-readable validation errors.

    When we encounter an error with a specific form element, we'll indicate which element by a zero-indexed integer: 0 indicates the first provided element, 1 the second, and so on.

    Example responses

    Common successful response

    Typical success response is quite minimal.

    {
        "ok": true
    }

    Common error response

    Typical error response, before getting to any possible validation errors.

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

    Alternate response

    The impossibility of all possible errors expressed in a single response:

    {
        "ok": false,
        "error": "validation_errors",
        "response_metadata": {
            "messages": [
                "The field `title` is required",
                "The field `callback_id` is required",
                "The field `elements` is required",
                "The field `title` cannot be longer than 24 characters",
                "The field `submit_button` cannot be longer than 24 characters",
                "The field `submit_button` can only be one word",
                "The field `callback_id` cannot be longer than 255 characters",
                "The field `state` cannot be longer than 3000 characters",
                "The field `elements` must be a list",
                "The field `elements` has to include at least one element",
                "The field `elements` cannot include more than ten elements",
                "Element 0 must be an object",
                "Element 1 is missing required field `type`",
                "Element 2 has an invalid `type`",
                "Element 3 is missing required field `name`",
                "Element 4 is missing required field `label`",
                "Element 5 has a repeated name",
                "Element 6 field `name` cannot be longer than 300 characters",
                "Element 7 field `hint` cannot be longer than 150 characters",
                "Element 8 field `label` cannot be longer than 48 characters",
                "Element 9 has an invalid `subtype`",
                "Element 10 field `min_length` must be between 0 and 150 (inclusive)",
                "Element 11 field `max_length` must be between 1 and 150 (inclusive)",
                "Element 12 field `value` cannot be longer than 150 characters",
                "Element 13 field `placeholder` cannot be longer than 150 characters",
                "Element 14 field `min_length` must be between 0 and 500 (inclusive)",
                "Element 14 field `max_length` must be between 1 and 500 (inclusive)",
                "Element 15 field `value` cannot be longer than 500 characters",
                "Element 16 field `placeholder` cannot be longer than 150 characters",
                "Element 17 field `placeholder` cannot be longer than 150 characters",
                "Element 18 field `options` must be a list",
                "Element 19 field `options` must have at least one option",
                "Element 20 field `options` must have fewer than 100 options",
                "Element 21 `options` item is missing required field `label`",
                "Element 22 `options` item is missing required field `value`",
                "Element 23 `options` item `label` field cannot exceed 75 characters",
                "Element 24 `options` item `value` field cannot exceed 75 characters"
            ]
        }
    }

    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.

    ErrorDescription
    app_missing_action_url

    The app associated with the used token doesn't have a Action URL configured in its interactive components settings.

    cannot_create_dialog

    Something exceptional occurred and the dialog could not be created.

    failed_sending_dialog

    Something exceptional occurred and the dialog could not be sent.

    invalid_trigger

    The provided trigger_id is invalid or cannot be used by this token.

    missing_dialog

    No dialog argument was presented.

    missing_trigger

    No trigger_id argument was presented.

    trigger_exchanged

    The provided trigger_id has already been exchanged.

    trigger_expired

    The provided trigger_id was presented after the 3 second limit.

    validation_errors

    The provided dialog could not be validated.

    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.

    missing_scope

    The token used is not granted the specific scope permissions required to complete this request.

    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.

    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.

    WarningDescription
    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.

    Arguments

    Need a token? Create and install a Slack app to begin.
    This will make a real API request. Beware of using it with live workspaces.

    API response


    Submit your arguments to see the API response