`conversations.history` method

Facts

DescriptionFetches a conversation's history of messages and events.

Method Access

HTTP
JavaScript
Python
Java

GET https://slack.com/api/conversations.history

app.client.conversations.history

app.client.conversations_history

app.client().conversationsHistory

Scopes

Bot token:

channels:historygroups:historyim:historympim:history

User token:

channels:historygroups:historyim:historympim:history

Content types

application/x-www-form-urlencoded

application/json

Rate LimitsTier 3: 50+ per minute

Arguments

Required arguments

tokenstringRequired

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

Example: xxxx-xxxxxxxxx-xxxx

channelstringRequired

Conversation ID to fetch history for.

Optional arguments

cursorstringOptional

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_metadatabooleanOptional

Return all metadata associated with this message.

Example: true

inclusivebooleanOptional

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

Example: true

lateststringOptional

Only messages before this Unix timestamp will be included in results. Default is the current time.

limitnumberOptional

The maximum number of items to return. Fewer than the requested number of items may be returned, even if the end of the conversation history hasn't been reached. Maximum of 999.

Default: 100

Example: 20

oldeststringOptional

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

Default: 0

Usage info

This method returns a portion of message events from the specified conversation. Call the method with no oldest or latest arguments to read the entire history for a conversation.

Each type of token can be used to access a set of conversations given the proper scopes.

Token type	Required scopes	Accessible conversations
App-level access token	Relevant `*:history` scope	Any conversation the relevant app is a member of.
Bot token	Relevant `*:history` scope	Any conversation the relevant bot is a member of.
User token	Relevant `*:history` scope	Any private conversation the user is a member of, and all public conversations.
Legacy bot user tokens		Direct message and multi-party direct message conversations.

This method has different rates for non-Marketplace commercially distributed apps.

As of May 29, 2025, for new applications and installation commercially distributed outside of the Marketplace, 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.

For Marketplace and internal customer-built applications, this method has Tier 3 rate limits.

Existing installations of applications published and distributed outside the Slack Marketplace will not be subject to the new posted limits.

Response

Typical success response containing a channel's messages

{
  "ok": true,
  "messages": [
    {
      "type": "message",
      "user": "U123ABC456",
      "text": "I find you punny and would like to smell your nose letter",
      "ts": "1512085950.000216"
    },
    {
      "type": "message",
      "user": "U222BBB222",
      "text": "What, you want to smell my shoes better?",
      "ts": "1512104434.000490"
    }
  ],
  "has_more": true,
  "pin_count": 0,
  "response_metadata": {
    "next_cursor": "bmV4dF90czoxNTEyMDg1ODYxMDAwNTQz"
  }
}

Typical success response included formatted messages from bots and incoming webhooks

{
  "ok": true,
  "messages": [
    {
      "type": "message",
      "user": "U123ABC456",
      "text": "I find you punny and would like to smell your nose letter",
      "ts": "1512085950.000216"
    },
    {
      "type": "message",
      "user": "U222BBB222",
      "text": "Isn't this whether dreadful? <https://badpuns.example.com/puns/123>",
      "attachments": [
        {
          "service_name": "Leg end nary a laugh, Ink.",
          "text": "This is likely a pun about the weather.",
          "fallback": "We're withholding a pun from you",
          "thumb_url": "https://badpuns.example.com/puns/123.png",
          "thumb_width": 1920,
          "thumb_height": 700,
          "id": 1
        }
      ],
      "ts": "1512085950.218404"
    }
  ],
  "has_more": true,
  "pin_count": 0,
  "response_metadata": {
    "next_cursor": "bmV4dF90czoxNTEyMTU0NDA5MDAwMjU2"
  }
}

Typical success response with `latest` timestamp and `inclusive` parameters specified

{
  "ok": true,
  "latest": "1512085950.000216",
  "messages": [
    {
      "type": "message",
      "user": "U123ABC456",
      "text": "I find you punny and would like to smell your nose letter",
      "ts": "1512085950.000216"
    }
  ],
  "has_more": true,
  "pin_count": 0,
  "response_metadata": {
    "next_cursor": "bmV4dF90czoxNTEyMzU2NTI2MDAwMTMw"
  }
}

Typical error response

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

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 100 messages between the oldest and latest timestamps. The most recent messages in the time range are returned first.

If there were more than 100 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.

Retrieving a single message

conversations.history can also be used to find a single message from the archive.

You'll need a message's ts value, uniquely identifying it within a conversation. You'll also need that conversation's ID.

If you know the ts of a specific message:

Set oldest to the ts
Set inclusive to true
Set limit to 1

If you know the ts of the message that is before or after of the specific message you're looking for; set inclusive to false and use the oldest or latest value respectively.

Provide another message's ts value as the latest parameter. Set limit to 1. If it exists, you'll receive the queried message in return.

Finally, use inclusive=true because otherwise we'll never retrieve the message we're actually after, just the ones that come after it.

GET /api/conversations.history?channel=C123ABC456&latest=1476909142.000007&inclusive=true&limit=1
Authorization: Bearer TOKEN_WITH_CHANNELS_HISTORY_SCOPE

To retrieve a message from a thread, check out conversations.replies.

You can easily generate a permalink URL for any specific message using chat.getPermalink.

Retrieving message history from a direct message

conversations.history can also be used to export messages from a direct message.

In addition to a bot token, you'll need to input the direct message ID (similar to a conversation ID and beginning with D) in order to retrieve the message history. You can find the direct message ID by using the conversations.list method.

Message types

Messages of type "message" are user-entered text messages sent to the channel, while other types are events that happened within the channel. All messages have both a type and a sortable ts, but the other fields depend on the type. For a list of all possible events, see the channel messages documentation.

Messages that have been reacted to by team members will have a reactions array delightfully included. If you need a full list of reactions for a message, use the reactions.get method.

If a message has been starred by the calling user, the is_starred property will be present and true. This property is only added for starred items, so is not present in the majority of messages.

The is_limited boolean property is only included for free teams that have reached the free message limit. If true, there are messages before the current result set, but they are beyond the message limit.

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 parameter in the response.

Error

Description

access_denied

Access to a resource specified in the request is denied.

accesslimited

Access to this method is limited on the current network

account_inactive

Authentication token is for a deleted user or workspace when using a bot token.

channel_is_limited_access

The user has no access to the channel. This is only applicable to private Salesforce record channels.

channel_not_found

Value passed for channel was invalid.

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.

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 called with invalid arguments.

invalid_array_arg

The method was passed an array as an argument. Please only input valid strings.

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.

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_cursor

Value passed for cursor was not valid or is no longer valid.

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_metadata_filter_keys

Value passed for metadata_keys_to_include was invalid. Must be valid json array of strings.

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.

invalid_ts_latest

Value passed for latest was invalid

invalid_ts_oldest

Value passed for oldest was invalid

method_deprecated

The method has been deprecated.

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.

missing_scope

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

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.

not_allowed_token_type

The token type used in this request is not allowed.

not_authed

No authentication token provided.

not_in_channel

The token used does not have access to the proper channel. Only user tokens can access public channels they are not in.

org_login_required

The workspace is undergoing an enterprise migration and will not be available until migration is complete.

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_access_not_granted

The token used is not granted the specific workspace access required to complete this request.

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.

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.

Facts​

Arguments​

Required arguments

Optional arguments

Usage info​

Response​

Typical success response containing a channel's messages

Typical success response included formatted messages from bots and incoming webhooks

Typical success response with latest timestamp and inclusive parameters specified

Typical error response

Pagination​

Pagination by time​

Retrieving a single message​

Retrieving message history from a direct message​

Message types​

Errors​