channel

A channel object contains information about a workspace channel.

{
    "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,
        "last_read": "1503435939.000101",
        "latest": {
            "text": "Containment unit is 98% full",
            "username": "ecto1138",
            "bot_id": "B19LU7CSY",
            "attachments": [
                {
                    "text": "Don't get too attached",
                    "id": 1,
                    "fallback": "This is an attachment fallback"
                }
            ],
            "type": "message",
            "subtype": "bot_message",
            "ts": "1503435956.000247"
        },
        "unread_count": 1,
        "unread_count_display": 1,
        "members": [
            "U0G9QF9C6",
            "U1QNSQB9U"
        ],
        "topic": {
            "value": "Spiritual containment strategies",
            "creator": "U0G9QF9C6",
            "last_set": 1503435128
        },
        "purpose": {
            "value": "Discuss busting ghosts",
            "creator": "U0G9QF9C6",
            "last_set": 1503435128
        },
        "previous_names": [
            "dusting"
        ]
    }
}

The name parameter indicates the name of the channel-like thing, without a leading hash sign. Don't get too attached to that name. It might change. Don't bother storing it even. When thinking about channel-like things, think about their IDs and their type and the team/workspace they belong to.

creator is the user ID of the member that created this channel. created is a unix timestamp.

is_archived will be true if the channel is archived.

is_general will be true if this channel is the "general" channel that includes all regular members. In most workspaces this is called #general but some workspaces have renamed it.

members is a list of user ids for all users in this channel. This includes any disabled accounts that were in this channel when they were disabled.

topic and purpose provide information about the channel topic and purpose.

is_member will be true if the calling member is part of the channel.

Some API methods (such as channels.join) will include extra state information for channels when the calling user is a member. last_read is the timestamp for the last message the calling user has read in this channel. unread_count is a full count of visible messages that the calling user has yet to read. unread_count_display is a count of messages that the calling user has yet to read that matter to them (this means it excludes things like join/leave messages). latest is the latest message in the channel.

These channel objects are not the same object type as private channels, which are considered group objects.