Chat platform integrations — Slack first, abstracted

Context

Studios live in Slack (most), Microsoft Teams (some), and Discord (indies + community-facing studios). Notifications from Artist Alley need to flow into those channels — review-request announcements, upload notifications, approval state changes, sensitivity-tier transitions, share-link views, comment mentions.

Email + in-app notifications are not enough. A reviewer in Slack who sees “Kenneth pushed character_v3 for review” wants a one-click route into the post-detail modal. Conversely, posting an Artist Alley link into a Slack channel should unfurl with the cover thumbnail + post title + author + state — like Linear / Figma / GitHub do.

Decision

Add Phase 1.30 — Chat platform integrations — starting with Slack and designed for trivial extension to Teams + Discord via the same provider abstraction used in ADR 0021 for content platforms. Different interface (notification-class, not content-class) but the same package-per-provider shape.

Provider model

type ChatProvider interface {
    Name() string                                   // "slack", "teams", "discord"
    AuthFlow() AuthFlow                             // OAuth + bot install
    SendMessage(ctx, target, payload) error
    HandleSlashCommand(ctx, cmd) (Response, error)
    Unfurl(ctx, url) (UnfurlPayload, error)         // link-preview when our URLs appear
    HandleWebhook(ctx, payload) ([]Event, error)
}

Slack first

Slack App distributed through the Slack app directory once stable. During v0.1 era: distributed as a self-install workspace app keyed to the customer’s signing secret.
Outbound: rich Block Kit messages for every notifiable event (review request, approval state change, sensitivity reveal, share- link view, mention in comment). Each message carries deep-link buttons.
Inbound: slash commands.
- /aa search <query> — search Artist Alley, returns top results in an ephemeral message.
- /aa post <post-id> — post a public link into the channel, unfurled with cover + metadata.
- /aa upload — opens the upload modal in a new tab (deep link).
Unfurl: when an Artist Alley URL appears in any Slack message the bot is in, the workspace shows a rich preview without divulging restricted content (a blur badge if sensitivity gates the URL).
DM notifications: per-user opt-in. Users connect their Slack account in account settings.

Channel routing rules

Admin surface defines per-event channel routing:

event:upload.completed in team:Concept Art → #concept-art-feed
event:review.requested for user:art-director → DM art-director
event:share-link.opened where target.sensitivity=embargo → #security-audit

The rules engine is a small DSL that mirrors the existing notification-rule shape coming in Phase 1.18 — chat is a delivery channel within that subsystem.

Auth

Slack: standard OAuth 2.0 with the chat:write, commands, links:write, links:read, app_mentions:read scopes.
Workspace tokens stored encrypted at rest in the local DB.
Signing secret validates every inbound Slack request.

Teams + Discord later

The interface is designed so Teams + Discord providers can land in follow-up sub-phases (1.30.B Teams, 1.30.C Discord) without touching the call sites. Each adds a package + an OAuth client.

Federation interaction

A federated peer notifies its own Slack workspace for events that happen on the local instance. Cross-instance chat routing would be a v2 enhancement.

Per-tier behaviour

Community: Slack only, single workspace, default channel routing.
Pro: Slack + Teams + Discord, multiple workspaces, custom channel routing rules.
Enterprise: Pro plus organization-owned Slack app (using their own signing secret instead of the artist-alley-issued shared app).

Enforced via the tangled-derivation model from ADR 0017.

Consequences

Positive

Brings Artist Alley into the studio’s actual operating surface without forcing a context switch.
Slash-command + unfurl pattern is what every modern dev tool (Linear, Figma, GitHub) does — reviewers already know how to use it.
The chat-provider abstraction parallels the content-platform abstraction in ADR 0021; adding new chat platforms is bounded work.

Negative

Slack app distribution + the app directory submission is real ops work, not just code. Mitigation: pre-directory, ship as a self- install workspace app with operator-supplied secrets.
Slack API rate limits constrain notification bursts. Mitigation: outbound message queue + per-channel rate-limit awareness in the delivery layer.

Alternatives considered

Pure webhook out (no Slack app). Loses slash commands, unfurl, and DM routing. Rejected — half-measure.
One opinionated platform. Studios use whichever is in their Microsoft / Google / Slack contract. Multi-provider is table stakes.
Build internal user-to-user messaging within Artist Alley. Already rejected in the audit: studios use Slack/Discord/Teams; building a chat surface is rebuilding what every customer already has. Confirmed via user override 2026-05-30 — they want Slack integration, not internal messaging.

Reference

Phase 1.30 in docs/roadmap.md.
Notification rules (Phase 1.18 Integrations) consume chat providers as one of the delivery channels alongside email + in-app + webhook.
ADR 0021 (external platform integrations) for the parallel content-platform abstraction.