atom

using atom in slack

atom has three surfaces in slack: slash commands for configuration, mentions for everything conversational, and dms for standups.

slash commands

commandwhat it does
/atom helphow to work with atom, with setup links if something is not connected yet.
/atom connectlink your slack identity to your github account. this is what routes review requests to you and lets atom act as you on github.
/atom remindersconfigure pr reminders for the channel you are in. the form pre-loads the existing config and pre-selects the channel's repos.
/atom reminders offturn reminders off for this channel.
/atom standupconfigure the standup: participants, nudge time, board time, days. the board posts to the channel you run this in.
/atom standup offpause the standup. config and history are kept.

configuration confirmations post in the channel so the whole team sees what changed.

mention atom in a channel

saywhat happens
@atom pending prsa summary of open pull requests for this channel's repos, grouped by repo with authors and ages.
@atom my prseverything waiting on you across the workspace: your prs, assignments, and requested reviews. visible only to you.
@atom reminder configthis channel's reminder schedule.
@atom standup configthe standup schedule and participants.
@atom feedback ...send us feedback, right from slack.
@atom helpwhat atom can do in a channel.

plain language works: atom understands phrasing like "@atom what's waiting on me?".

mention atom in a pull request thread

inside a pr thread, mentions act on that pull request, on github, as you:

saywhat happens
@atom approveapproves the pr. add a message after it if you like. @atom lgtm works too.
@atom request changes needs testsrequests changes with your feedback.
@atom comment deploying after lunchcomments on the pr.
@atom request review from @teammaterequests a review.
@atom assign @teammateassigns them.
@atom add labels docs, do not mergeadds labels, comma separated, validated against the repo's real labels.
@atom remove labels docsremoves labels.
@atom close and @atom reopencloses or reopens the pr.

a successful action gets a checkmark reaction on your message and nothing else: the thread stays clean because your command is the record. errors are visible only to you. approving never falls back to a bot account, so an approval from slack is a real approval from you.

notifications you can live with

  • one message per event, never two.
  • the pr message edits itself through open, changes requested, approved, merged, and closed.
  • dms only when something waits on you, and the dm badge updates itself when it no longer does.
  • pushes show the real commit count and messages, linked to the compare view.