Chat SDK
Unified TypeScript SDK for building chat bots across Slack, Teams, Google Chat, Discord, GitHub, and Linear. Write bot logic once, deploy everywhere.
Critical: Read the bundled docs
The chat package ships with full documentation in node_modules/chat/docs/ and TypeScript source types. Always read these before writing code:
node_modules/chat/docs/ # Full documentation (MDX files)
node_modules/chat/dist/ # Built types (.d.ts files)
Key docs to read based on task:
docs/getting-started.mdx— setup guidesdocs/usage.mdx— event handlers, threads, messages, channelsdocs/streaming.mdx— AI streaming with AI SDKdocs/cards.mdx— JSX interactive cardsdocs/actions.mdx— button/dropdown handlersdocs/modals.mdx— form dialogs (Slack only)docs/adapters/*.mdx— platform-specific adapter setupdocs/state/*.mdx— state adapter config (Redis, ioredis, memory)
Also read the TypeScript types from node_modules/chat/dist/ to understand the full API surface.
Quick start
import { Chat } from 'chat';
import { createSlackAdapter } from '@chat-adapter/slack';
import { createRedisState } from '@chat-adapter/state-redis';
const bot = new Chat({
userName: 'mybot',
adapters: {
slack: createSlackAdapter({
botToken: process.env.SLACK_BOT_TOKEN!,
signingSecret: process.env.SLACK_SIGNING_SECRET!,
}),
},
state: createRedisState({ url: process.env.REDIS_URL! }),
});
bot.onNewMention(async (thread) => {
await thread.subscribe();
await thread.post("Hello! I'm listening to this thread.");
});
bot.onSubscribedMessage(async (thread, message) => {
await thread.post(`You said: ${message.text}`);
});
Core concepts
- Chat — main entry point, coordinates adapters and routes events
- Adapters — platform-specific (Slack, Teams, GChat, Discord, GitHub, Linear)
- State — pluggable persistence (Redis for prod, memory for dev)
- Thread — conversation thread with
post(),subscribe(),startTyping() - Message — normalized format with
text,formatted(mdast AST),raw - Channel — container for threads, supports listing and posting
Event handlers
| Handler | Trigger |
| -------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------- |
| onNewMention | Bot @-mentioned in unsubscribed thread |
| onSubscribedMessage | Any message in subscribed thread |
| onNewMessage(regex) | Messages matching pattern in unsubscribed threads |
| onSlashCommand("/cmd") | Slash command invocations |
| onReaction(emojis) | Emoji reactions added/removed |
| onAction(actionId) | Button clicks and dropdown selections |
| onAssistantThreadStarted | Slack Assistants API thread opened |
| onAppHomeOpened | Slack App Home tab opened |
Streaming
Pass any AsyncIterable<string> to thread.post(). Works with AI SDK's textStream:
import { ToolLoopAgent } from 'ai';
const agent = new ToolLoopAgent({ model: 'anthropic/claude-4.5-sonnet' });
bot.onNewMention(async (thread, message) => {
const result = await agent.stream({ prompt: message.text });
await thread.post(result.textStream);
});
Cards (JSX)
Set jsxImportSource: "chat" in tsconfig. Components: Card, CardText, Button, Actions, Fields, Field, Select, SelectOption, Image, Divider, LinkButton, Section, RadioSelect.
await thread.post(
<Card title="Order #1234">
<CardText>Your order has been received!</CardText>
<Actions>
<Button id="approve" style="primary">
Approve
</Button>
<Button id="reject" style="danger">
Reject
</Button>
</Actions>
</Card>,
);
Packages
| Package | Purpose |
| ----------------------------- | ----------------------------- |
| chat | Core SDK |
| @chat-adapter/slack | Slack |
| @chat-adapter/teams | Microsoft Teams |
| @chat-adapter/gchat | Google Chat |
| @chat-adapter/discord | Discord |
| @chat-adapter/github | GitHub Issues |
| @chat-adapter/linear | Linear Issues |
| @chat-adapter/state-redis | Redis state (production) |
| @chat-adapter/state-ioredis | ioredis state (alternative) |
| @chat-adapter/state-memory | In-memory state (development) |
Changesets (Release Flow)
This monorepo uses Changesets for versioning and changelogs. Every PR that changes a package's behavior must include a changeset.
pnpm changeset
# → select affected package(s) (e.g. @chat-adapter/slack, chat)
# → choose bump type: patch (fixes), minor (features), major (breaking)
# → write a short summary for the CHANGELOG
This creates a file in .changeset/ — commit it with the PR. When merged to main, the Changesets GitHub Action opens a "Version Packages" PR to bump versions and update CHANGELOGs. Merging that PR publishes to npm.
Webhook setup
Each adapter exposes a webhook handler via bot.webhooks.{platform}. Wire these to your HTTP framework's routes (e.g. Next.js API routes, Hono, Express).