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conversations.open method

Facts​

DescriptionOpens or resumes a direct message or multi-person direct message.
Method Access
POST https://slack.com/api/conversations.open
Scopes
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

Optional arguments

channelOptional

Resume a conversation by supplying an im or mpim's ID. Or provide the users field instead.

return_imbooleanOptional

Boolean, indicates you want the full IM channel definition in the response.

usersstringOptional

Comma separated lists of users. If only one user is included, this creates a 1:1 DM. The ordering of the users is preserved whenever a multi-person direct message is returned. Supply a channel when not supplying users.

prevent_creationbooleanOptional

Do not create a direct message or multi-person direct message. This is used to see if there is an existing dm or mpdm.

Usage info​

The Conversations API method opens a direct message (DM) or a multi-person direct message (MPIM).

You can then send a message to the conversation using the chat.postMessage method.

Creating channels

Use the `conversations.create method instead for public or private channels.

Using the users parameter​

Provide 1 to 8 user IDs in the users parameter to open or resume a conversation. Providing only 1 ID will create a direct message. Providing more than 1 will create a multi-person direct message (mpim).

Don’t include the ID of the user you’re calling conversations.open on behalf of – we do that for you.

If there are no conversations already in progress including that exact set of members, a new multi-person direct message conversation begins.

Subsequent calls to conversations.open with the same set of users will return the already existing conversation.

Response​

Typical success response

{
  "ok": true,
  "channel": {
    "id": "D069C7QFK"
  }
}

Passing return_im will expand the response to include more info about a conversation

{
  "ok": true,
  "no_op": true,
  "already_open": true,
  "channel": {
    "id": "D069C7QFK",
    "created": 1460147748,
    "is_im": true,
    "is_org_shared": false,
    "user": "U069C7QF3",
    "last_read": "0000000000.000000",
    "latest": null,
    "unread_count": 0,
    "unread_count_display": 0,
    "is_open": true,
    "priority": 0
  }
}

Typical error response

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

The response structure is altered by providing return_im parameter. When set to false, the default, just a conversation's ID is returned. When set to true, the entire conversation object is returned.

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_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_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.

invalid_user_combination

All external people must already be in at least one channel together to send a message.

method_deprecated

The method has been deprecated.

method_not_supported_for_channel_type

This type of conversation cannot be used with this method.

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 calling token is not granted the necessary scopes to complete this operation.

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_enough_users

Needs at least 2 users to open

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.

too_many_users

Needs at most 8 users to open

two_factor_setup_required

Two factor setup is required.

user_disabled

A specified user has been disabled.

user_not_found

Value(s) passed for users was invalid.

user_not_visible

The calling user is restricted from seeing the requested user.

users_list_not_supplied

Missing users in request