Where does Tray fit vs. Slack apps, custom bots, and Workflow Builder?

Tray runs governed, multi-system actions from Slack. You define tools that touch Jira, Okta, ServiceNow, Salesforce, and more, capture inputs with modals, enforce approvals, and post outcomes back to the thread with full logs. Custom bots handle single-system tasks. Tray coordinates the stack.

How does the agent get accurate answers without hallucinating?

Index only the channels and shared files you authorize, subject to the app’s OAuth scopes, and set retention and re-ingestion schedules. The agent retrieves from this knowledge base when answering. You can also keep the agent stateless and rely on live API calls to source systems. Both patterns are supported.

Can a Slack request change records or user access in other systems?

Yes. The agent invokes tools you define: create Jira issues, update Salesforce, or adjust access in your IDP (for example, Okta). Actions run under scoped service accounts with validation and retries. Results and errors are logged end to end.

How do we start and scale without risk?

Pick one channel and one outcome, such as IT triage, access approvals via your IDP, or incident handoffs. Ship a simple modal or slash command, add approvals, then expand tools to cover more systems and teams. Everything you build here becomes reusable for future automations and agents.

Slack: AI agents, automation, and integration

With Tray, you build

Agents

Integrations

and

Automations

that connect Slack across your business systems and teams.

Use cases

Slack + Tray

Slack is where conversations happen. Requests are made, approvals are given, incidents unfold, and decisions move forward in channels and threads. But actions in Slack often depend on work happening in other systems.

Tray extends Slack across your stack, connecting it to identity, CRM, ITSM, billing, engineering, AI systems, and any other system you rely on. Messages, reactions, slash commands, and modal submissions can trigger orchestrated workflows, governed automations, and agents that take action across tools—then post results back to the right channel or thread.

See how different teams use Tray to take action from Slack.

Agents

Build agents with Slack and Tray

With Slack as your front door, the right knock unlocks the agents within. Messages and events give live context, Tray turns them into triggers, and Merlin Agent Builder grounds the agent in what your teams discuss and share. The agent answers in-channel, takes action across tools such as Jira, Okta, ServiceNow, Salesforce, and closes the loop back in Slack with a clear audit trail.

Ground agents with relevant Slack knowledge

Channel ingestion: Index selected channels and threads into Tray vector storage
File context: Index shared files you authorize
Scoped access: Limit ingestion to approved channels and workspaces via OAuth scopes
Freshness controls: Schedule re-ingestion and set retention windows

Demo

See it in action

Deploy Slack agents in minutes

See how Merlin Agent Builder connects an agent to Slack through a guided setup with centralized control.

Hi everyone, I'm very excited to show you our native Slack interaction channel release, an upgrade to Merlin Agent Builder that makes it easier for teams to deploy Tray AI agents directly inside Slack. Let me show you how. I have an HR agent I've created that has access to data sources and a variety of tools. So navigating to interaction channels, I'm going to add a Slack interaction channel. So out of the box, you can see that we support a number of Tray side configurations. This allows you to scope your Slack app directly within the Tray platform. So for example, if you want to scope your agent to specific Slack channels or just the DMs, as well as enable and configure advanced options like action buttons, Slack bot kit, and more. So I'm going to go ahead and create a new Slack app. I'm just going to call this, give this a name and the configuration token. In the background, Tray has automatically created and set up the manifest. Now importantly, you do need admin permissions to install an app to a workspace. So if you need to get your IT team or admin to install the Slack app, that's not a problem. Simply close the dialogues and carry on with your work. When you come back and follow the same journey, you can pick up from where you left off. What I now want to do is jump over into Slack and show you what the experience looks like. So jumping into Slack, I can now start interacting with my HR agent. In this case, I'm going to ask it how many days of PTO have I taken this year. Now I've chosen the default configuration options. And so you'll see that I am provided with interactive style updates, which is which tools my HR agent is using within Tray. And I'll just give it a few seconds to start calling those tools. And it's given me a breakdown of the number of days that I've taken. I've actually taken zero days. So let's take Monday off as a day of PTO, please. And let's get it to carry out this specific action for me. Kindly, it's also given me background information from its knowledge sources in the previous answers, such as how much my cure rate for PTO is over the year, based off of information it has access to. And let's go ahead and get it to carry out this action for me. Again, it's provided me with interactive style updates. And it's kind of said to me that a PTO request has been successfully submitted to my manager, Tom. And it's also provided me with an action button at the end. So quickly recapping what we've covered. Firstly, guided setup of Slack apps directly within Merlin Agent Builder. No more manual configuration. Secondly, prebuilt workflows that give you the full control directly within Tray. And thirdly, native support for block kit, interactivity events, and actions right out the box. Everything that you need to build rich, interactive Slack experiences for your AI agents. For implementation details, please do check our documentation or reach out to your account team. Thank you very much.

Tray vs. Agentforce

Agentforce is Salesforce’s native agent platform and the agent option for Slack inside the Salesforce ecosystem. If most of your processes and data live in Salesforce, Agentforce may fit. If you need a Slack agent that operates across the rest of your stack, Tray is the better choice.

Merlin Agent Builder

Runs in Slack without any Salesforce dependency

Acts across your entire stack using 700+ connectors and APIs

Supports your own LLMs or Tray-hosted models for flexible deployment

Enforces cross-system guardrails, RBAC, and end-to-end logging for visibility and control

Agentforce

Requires a connected Salesforce organization to operate

Optimizes for Salesforce objects, flows, and approvals surfaced directly in Slack

Uses Einstein model options managed within Salesforce

Centers governance and visibility inside the Salesforce platform

For a deeper comparison and Salesforce-specific patterns, see the Salesforce connector page.

Integrations

Integrations with Slack and Tray

Slack isn’t a dead end. It should open up new ways of working. One request in Slack should update Salesforce, open a Jira ticket, or provision access in Okta without context switching. Tray translates Slack events and inputs into API calls across your stack so work moves in the right system and status flows back to the channel. The same integrations power your event-driven automations and the tools your Slack agents use to take action.

Slack integration capabilities

Integrate Slack with 700+ applications plus any system with an API using our HTTP connector. These domains mirror Slack’s Web API and how teams actually work in Slack.

Create and manage conversations at scale

Post and update: Send channel, DM, and thread messages, edit or schedule posts
Threaded replies: Reply in threads and fetch context for linked actions
Reactions: Add or remove emoji reactions for lightweight status and approvals
Message management: Pin or unpin messages, delete where permissions allow

Automations

Automations with Slack and Tray

Use Slack as the front door for routine work. Route requests from channels and DMs to the right system, collect structured input with Block Kit modals, and complete approvals in Slack so work moves without tickets sitting in queues. Automations post updates back to the right channel, escalate when thresholds are met, and keep an audit trail for IT and security.

Explore Slack-ready templates from Tray’s library

Tap into Tray’s Template Library to deploy proven workflows to your Tray account and run them with Slack for requests, updates, and notifications.

Slack app agent deployment

Use this project to get started with Slack app agents.

Notify Slack when Salesforce Opportunity is "Closed Won"

Sends a celebratory Slack notification to a chosen channel when an opportunity is successfully closed in Salesforce.

The employee Slack notices project

Useful tool for notifying employees of important updates using Slack.

FAQs

Create a Slack app with approved OAuth scopes, install it in selected workspaces, and invite it to the channels you choose. RBAC in Tray limits who can build and run tools, and each tool is scoped to specific connections and actions. Approvals add human checks for sensitive steps.

What comes standard with Tray

Whether your systems, data, or models run in the cloud or on-premises, Tray connects them in one secure platform. Every connection, workflow, and agent operates under IT governance with encryption, audit logging, and access controls built in. Security teams can trust that all integrations comply with enterprise network and authentication policies.

Universal connectivity

Prebuilt connectors: 700+ connectors plus a universal HTTP connector for any REST API
Custom connectors: Build custom connectors that behave like native ones
Connect anywhere: Cloud or on-prem systems supported

Learn more about our connectivity options

On-premises connectivity

Connect securely: Access on-premises systems, whether first-party or third-party
Meet network requirements: Connect through approved configurations that align with enterprise security policies
Enterprise protocols: Support multiple on-premises security standards for safe integration

Learn more about on-premises connectivity

Authentication management

Secure credentials: Collect and store authentications with full encryption
Encrypted data: Protect all data at rest and in transit

Role-based control: Partition credentials by workspace and access level

Learn more about authentication management

Security and governance

Certified compliance: SOC 2 Type II, GDPR, CCPA, HIPAA
End-to-end protection: Encryption, detailed audit logs, scoped connections, and OAuth scopes

Learn more about security and governance

Slack: AI agents, integrations, automations with Tray

Use cases