Starts a Real Time Messaging session.
Method URL: | https://slack.com/api/rtm.start |
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Preferred HTTP method: | GET |
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Accepted content types: | application/x-www-form-urlencoded |
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Rate limiting: | Tier 1 | ||||||
Works with: |
|
This method begins a Real Time Messaging API session and reserves your application a specific URL with which to connect via websocket.
It's user-centric and team-centric: your app connects as a specific user or bot user on a specific team. Many apps will find the Events API's subscription model more scalable when working against multiple teams.
This method also returns a smorgasbord of data about the team, its channels, and members. Some times more information than can be provided in a timely or helpful manner.
Please use rtm.connect
instead, especially when connecting on behalf of an Enterprise Grid customer.
Consult the RTM API documentation for full details on using the RTM API. You'll also find our changelog entry useful.
The members
array found in this and other methods will begin automatically truncating at 1,500 and eventually fewer results beginning December 1, 2017. As of March, 2018 the cap is 500. Please Use conversations.members
to manage memberships instead. Read on to learn more.
Argument | Example | Required | Description |
---|---|---|---|
token | xxxx-xxxxxxxxx-xxxx |
Required | Authentication token bearing required scopes. |
batch_presence_aware | 1 |
Optional, default=false | Batch presence deliveries via subscription. Enabling changes the shape of |
include_locale | true |
Optional | Set this to |
mpim_aware | true |
Optional | Returns MPIMs to the client in the API response. |
no_latest | 1 |
Optional, default=0 | Exclude latest timestamps for channels, groups, mpims, and ims. Automatically sets |
no_unreads | true |
Optional | Skip unread counts for each channel (improves performance). |
presence_sub | true |
Optional, default=true | Only deliver presence events when requested by subscription. See presence subscriptions. |
simple_latest | true |
Optional | Return timestamp only for latest message object of each channel (improves performance). |
application/x-www-form-urlencoded
querystring or POST body. This method does not currently accept application/json
.
Note that setting no_latest=1
will automatically set no_unreads=1
.
This method returns lots of data about the current state of a team, along with a WebSocket Message Server URL:
{
"ok": true,
"url": "wss:\/\/ms9.slack-msgs.com\/websocket\/7I5yBpcvk",
"self": {
"id": "U023BECGF",
"name": "bobby",
"prefs": {
...
},
"created": 1402463766,
"manual_presence": "active"
},
"team": {
"id": "T024BE7LD",
"name": "Example Team",
"email_domain": "",
"domain": "example",
"icon": {
...
},
"msg_edit_window_mins": -1,
"over_storage_limit": false
"prefs": {
...
},
"plan": "std"
},
"users": [ ... ],
"channels": [ ... ],
"groups": [ ... ],
"mpims": [ ... ],
"ims": [ ... ],
"bots": [ ... ],
}
The url
property contains a WebSocket Message Server URL. Connecting to this
URL will initiate a Real Time Messaging session. These URLs are only valid for
30 seconds, so connect quickly!
The self
property contains details on the authenticated user.
The team
property contains details on the authenticated user's team. If a team has
not yet set a custom icon, the value of team.icon.image_default
will be true
.
The users
property contains a list of user objects, one for every
member of the team. presence
is no longer included for users. The list of users may truncate on especially long teams. Use Web API methods to retrieve information about users instead.
The channels
property is a list of channel objects, one
for every channel visible to the authenticated user. For regular or
administrator accounts this list will include every team channel. The
is_member
property indicates if the user is a member of this channel. If
true then the channel object will also include the topic, purpose, member
list and read-state related information. The latest
, unread_count
, and unread_count_display
attributes have been removed from this method's response. See this changelog entry.
The groups
property is a list of group objects, one for
every group the authenticated user is in.
The mpims
property is a list of mpims objects, one for
every group the authenticated user is in. MPIMs are only returned to the client
if mpim_aware
is set when calling rtm.start
. Otherwise, mpims
are emulated
using the groups API.
The ims
property is a list of
IM objects, one for every direct message channel visible to the
authenticated user.
The bots
property gives details of the integrations set up on this team.
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 |
---|---|
migration_in_progress |
Workspace is being migrated between servers. See the |
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. |
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 |
invalid_array_arg |
The method was passed a PHP-style array argument (e.g. with a name like |
invalid_charset |
The method was called via a |
invalid_form_data |
The method was called via a |
invalid_post_type |
The method was called via a |
missing_post_type |
The method was called via a |
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 |
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. |
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 |
missing_charset | The method was called via a |
superfluous_charset | The method was called via a |