Connect chat channels

Chat channels let you ask about work and send requests to a squad from Slack, Discord, or Telegram. A consultant in Tau answers questions and can create work in the routed squad, using its configured tools and permissions. Create a squad and connect its model provider before testing a conversation.

Prepare your bot

You need permission to configure the provider’s bot or app and to manage Tau integrations and channel routing. Open Settings → Integrations, enable the provider’s card, and expand Settings. Each card holds one bot: paste the token the provider gives you, and Tau checks it, shows who the bot is, and registers the provider-side endpoints it can register for you.

Tau Cloud

A hosted instance still needs the bot’s provider setup below. The card shows the receiver address the provider needs. If a credential is marked as managed, ask your administrator about changes to it.

Self-hosted

Slack and Telegram must be able to reach your instance over HTTPS. Discord can receive commands and mentions through its outbound gateway connection. The card shows the receiver address, built from your instance’s public base URL. An address reachable only from your computer will not receive provider webhooks. Check configuration if the address shown is wrong.

Message @BotFather, send /newbot, and copy the bot token. Paste it into Tau’s Telegram card and save. Tau validates the token, records the bot’s id and username, and registers its webhook with Telegram using a generated secret; nothing else needs to be done on Telegram’s side. Turning the card off removes the webhook.

Slack

On Tau’s Slack card, choose Download the Slack app manifest. It already contains your instance’s address for the /tau command and event subscriptions, and the bot scopes Tau needs.
At api.slack.com/apps, choose Create New App → From an app manifest, pick the workspace, paste the manifest, and create the app. Then Install to Workspace.
Copy the app’s Bot User OAuth Token (OAuth & Permissions) and Signing Secret (Basic Information) into the Slack card and save. Tau confirms the workspace and bot user.
Invite the bot to the channels you want it to use.

Reinstall the Slack app after changing its scopes.

Discord

In the Developer Portal, create an application, open Bot, choose Reset Token, and copy the token. Under Privileged Gateway Intents, enable Message Content Intent for thread replies.
Paste the token into Tau’s Discord card and save. Tau validates it, records the application id and public key, registers the /tau commands, and connects the bot.
Slash commands work through the bot connection without a public endpoint. To use HTTP delivery instead, save the card’s Interactions Endpoint URL in the application’s General Information page. Discord verifies it immediately.
Under OAuth2 → URL Generator, select the bot and applications.commands scopes with permissions to send messages, use commands, send messages in threads, and create public threads. Open the generated link and add the bot to your server.
Back on the card, choose the server. When the bot is in exactly one server it is picked for you. Commands registered to a chosen server appear immediately. Tau also registers a global copy for private bot DMs, which can take up to an hour to show.

Route messages to a squad

On the provider card, choose a Default squad. New conversations through that bot start in this squad unless a linked user chooses another squad in a private DM, and the routing entry under Channel routing and access is created for you.

To send one channel or chat somewhere else, choose Add override under Channel routing and access and pair the channel or chat ID with another squad. These are routing rules for the configured bot, not additional bot connections. Discord threads inherit their parent channel’s routing override.

Link your chat account

By default, only linked Tau users can send requests through a bot. Linking proves which account you control; it does not give you new squad permissions.

Sign in to Tau and open Settings → Account → Linked chat accounts.
Choose Link a chat account and copy the /tau link CODE command.
Send it to the bot from your own external account. In Slack or Discord you can also mention Tau with link CODE.
Return to Tau. Check the provider, account name, and account ID shown, then choose Link this account. Only confirm an account from which you sent the code.

Codes expire after 10 minutes. Choose Cancel and start again if a code expires or you lose it. Use Unlink to remove a connection to your external account. Your Tau account needs permission to chat in the squad selected by the routing rule. Tau checks that permission on every incoming message.

Talk to different squads in a private chat

Send /tau help at any time for the command menu; it does not require a selected squad. Telegram also accepts /help and shorthand commands such as /squad.

Allow private chats is enabled by default under each integration’s Channel routing and access settings. Administrators can turn it off and save to ignore bot DMs, including commands and account linking, and stop replies from existing private conversations. Shared channels continue working. Turning it back on preserves saved squad selections and conversation history.

Link your account, then send /tau squad in a private chat with the bot. Tau lists squads you have permission to chat in, using the same slugs as their Tau page URLs. Choose one with /tau squad my-squad. A full squad name or ID also works. Tau confirms the selection before you send your request.

Telegram and Discord: the selection applies to your private bot chat. Switch again with /tau squad another-squad. Returning to a squad resumes its consultant conversation. Discord bot DMs do not support server-style threads.
Slack: each new message in the bot DM starts a reply thread. /tau squad my-squad starts a thread for that squad. Continue by replying in the thread; no mention is needed for ordinary DM replies. To switch squads within the thread, send @Tau squad another-squad. Slack does not allow custom slash commands inside threads. Each thread keeps its own selection and a separate conversation for every squad used there.

In Telegram or Discord, /squad my-squad or the plain message tau squad my-squad also works. In Slack threads, tau squad my-squad works without a mention too. This is useful while Discord’s native DM commands are still propagating.

Squad switching requires a linked account, even if the chat is trusted. It does not change administrator routing for group chats or server channels. Existing work can still send updates after you switch. Tau keeps each squad’s history separate instead of importing the whole private chat. Permission changes apply to new messages and delayed replies, and unlinking removes your saved selections and conversation bindings.

Trust a channel instead

An administrator can enter specific Trusted channel IDs in the provider’s routing settings. Everyone who can send messages to Tau in one of those channels can direct the squad’s agents without linking a Tau account. For Discord, trusting a parent channel also covers its threads. Keep this list empty to require linked users everywhere.

Treat trusted channels like access to squad chat, including requests that agents may forward to the manager. Answers are posted where the question was asked; choose the audience accordingly. Changing routing does not make a channel private.

Test and continue a conversation

Use Copy beside the linking command to copy the complete /tau link CODE command when connecting an account.

Send /tau help to check connectivity; help works before linking. After linking, send /tau ask What is this squad working on?.

Slack channels: start /tau in the channel composer. Mention the bot in its reply thread to continue; ordinary unmentioned thread replies are ignored.
Discord server channels: use /tau or mention the bot. Mention it again in the thread for follow-ups, or use a slash command in that thread.
Telegram: messages in a private bot chat continue the selected squad’s conversation. In a group, use /tau or reply to a bot message.

Tau uses a consultant for these conversations, with tools to reply and post updates to the originating channel. Questions are asked there, rather than in a separate Tau question form. Existing channel conversation history is retained.

If there is no reply, check the card: the integration switch, the Connection status (a rejected token is explained there), the default squad, and the bot’s access to the channel. For Discord, check the bot connection. If you configured an Interactions Endpoint URL in the portal, that endpoint must be reachable; otherwise slash commands arrive through the gateway. If the request arrives but the agent cannot answer, check the squad’s model provider. To send work updates into this chat, configure notifications separately.

Use a bot with one Tau instance

Use a separate Telegram bot token for each Tau instance. Telegram stores one webhook destination per bot: configuring the same token on another instance replaces that destination. Turning either copy off can also remove the shared webhook. A healthy token alone does not prove messages are reaching this instance.

Limit where the bot responds

For Slack and Discord, open Settings → Integrations, then the provider’s Channel routing and access section. Enter channel IDs under Allowed channel IDs with Add allowed channel to restrict Tau to those channels. Leave it empty to allow all channels. Use Denied channel IDs for exclusions; denials take precedence over allowlists and trusted channels. Use the remove control beside a row to delete that ID, and Add trusted channel to add an explicit trust exception. Save the policy when finished.

Threads follow their parent channel’s policy. The same lists apply to private DM IDs; if you restrict allowed channels, include the DMs you want to permit. Tau ignores excluded channels, including help and linking requests, and stops sending delayed replies or squad notifications there. Users still need their linked account’s squad chat permission unless the channel is explicitly trusted.