Getting Started with Bolt

Bolt for Java is a framework on the JVM that offers an abstraction layer to build Slack apps quickly using modern platform features.

This guide explains how to start your first-ever Bolt app.

• Project Setup
  • Maven
  • Gradle
• Run Your Bolt App in 3 Minutes
  • Use bolt-jetty
  • Start the App with Two Env Variables
  • Enable /hello Command
  • OK, What about Spring Boot?
• Getting Started in Kotlin
  • Make Sure If It Works
• Next Steps

If you’re not yet familiar with Slack app development in general, we recommend reading An introduction to Slack apps.

Project Setup

Let’s start building a Slack app using Bolt! This guide includes instructions on how to set up a Bolt project with Maven and Gradle, so use whichever section you’d like.

Maven

After you create your Maven project, you need to add the bolt dependency to your pom.xml file. The bolt dependency is a framework-agnostic module. If you use Bolt along with Spring Boot, Quarkus (Undertow), or any others on top of Servlet environment, the bolt-servlet library is required for your app. Adding only bolt-servlet also works for you.

<dependency>
  <groupId>com.slack.api</groupId>
  <artifactId>bolt</artifactId>
  <version>1.39.0</version>
</dependency>
<dependency>
  <groupId>com.slack.api</groupId>
  <artifactId>bolt-servlet</artifactId>
  <version>1.39.0</version>
</dependency>
<dependency>
  <groupId>org.slf4j</groupId>
  <artifactId>slf4j-simple</artifactId>
  <version>1.7.36</version>
</dependency>

If you run the Bolt app on the Jetty HTTP server without any frameworks, you can simply go with bolt-jetty module. If you prefer using the latest Jetty server, which is compatible with Jakarta EE Servlet APIs, bolt-jakarta-jetty is available for you.

<dependency>
  <groupId>com.slack.api</groupId>
  <artifactId>bolt-jetty</artifactId> <!-- will resolve "bolt" and "bolt-servlet" artifacts as its dependencies -->
  <version>1.39.0</version>
</dependency>

You will also need to ensure you set the compiler source and target to at least 1.8:

<properties>
  <maven.compiler.source>1.8</maven.compiler.source>
  <maven.compiler.target>1.8</maven.compiler.target>
</properties>

Gradle

After you create your Gradle project, add the bolt dependencies to build.gradle.

dependencies {
  implementation("com.slack.api:bolt:1.39.0")
  implementation("com.slack.api:bolt-servlet:1.39.0")
  implementation("com.slack.api:bolt-jetty:1.39.0")
  implementation("org.slf4j:slf4j-simple:1.7.36")
}

Run Your Bolt App in 3 Minutes

Use bolt-jetty

bolt-jetty is a handy way to start your Slack app server. It allows developers to build a Slack app backend service by writing only a main method that initializes App and starts an HTTP server.

build.gradle

The following build settings should be working as-is. Put it in the root directory of your project.

plugins {
  id("application")
}
repositories {
  mavenCentral()
}
dependencies {
  implementation("com.slack.api:bolt-jetty:1.39.0")
  implementation("org.slf4j:slf4j-simple:1.7.36")
}
application {
  mainClassName = "hello.MyApp"
}
run {
  // gradle run -DslackLogLevel=debug
  systemProperty "org.slf4j.simpleLogger.log.com.slack.api", System.getProperty("slackLogLevel")
}

src/main/java/hello/MyApp.java

Coding with this framework is much simpler than you think.

Only single source code is required to run your first-ever Bolt app. All you need to do is define the main method that starts SlackAppServer. Your server with the default configuration will listen to the 3000 port but it’s configurable. Check other constructors of the class to customize the behavior.

package hello;

import com.slack.api.bolt.App;
// If you use bolt-jakarta-jetty, you can import `com.slack.api.bolt.jakarta_jetty.SlackAppServer` instead
import com.slack.api.bolt.jetty.SlackAppServer;

public class MyApp {
  public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
    // App expects env variables (SLACK_BOT_TOKEN, SLACK_SIGNING_SECRET)
    App app = new App();

    app.command("/hello", (req, ctx) -> {
      return ctx.ack(":wave: Hello!");
    });

    SlackAppServer server = new SlackAppServer(app);
    server.start(); // http://localhost:3000/slack/events
  }
}

If you go with JDK 10+, thanks to Local Variable Type Inference, your code could be much more concise. To take advantage of it, install OpenJDK 11 and set the compatible Java versions in build.gradle as below. Also, configure the same on your IDE.

java {
  sourceCompatibility = JavaVersion.VERSION_11
  targetCompatibility = JavaVersion.VERSION_11
}

Now, you don’t need to repeat the same type in a single line.

var app = new App();
app.command("/hello", (req, ctx) -> {
  return ctx.ack(":wave: Hello!");
});
var server = new SlackAppServer(app);
server.start();

Start the App with Two Env Variables

The default constructor expects the following two env variables exist when starting the app.

If you prefer configuring an App in a different way, write some code to initialize AppConfig on your own.

Set the two environment variables and run:

• Gradle users: gradle run (for more detailed logging: gradle run -DslackLogLevel=debug),
• Maven users: mvn compile exec:java -Dexec.mainClass="hello.MyApp" (for more detailed logging you can also provide the -Dorg.slf4j.simpleLogger.defaultLogLevel=debug flag)

The command runs your main method.

# Visit https://api.slack.com/apps to know these
export SLACK_BOT_TOKEN=xoxb-...your-own-valid-one
export SLACK_SIGNING_SECRET=123abc...your-own-valid-one

# run the main function
# gradle users should run:
gradle run
# maven users should run:
mvn compile exec:java -Dexec.mainClass="hello.MyApp"

You will see the message saying “⚡️ Bolt app is running!” in stdout.

If you get stuck this setup, go through the following checklist:

• ✅ JDK 8 or higher installed (if not, run brew install openjdk@11 for macOS / visit OpenJDK website for others)
• ✅ Gradle installed (if not, run brew install gradle for macOS / visit their website for others)
• ✅ build.gradle has bolt-jetty dependency and valid application plugin settings
• ✅ src/main/java/hello/MyApp.java with a class having its main method
• ✅ Create a Slack App, add app_mentions:read bot scope, install the app to your development workspace
• ✅ Copy Bot User OAuth Access Token and Signing Secret from your Slack App admin pages and set them to env variables

Enable /hello Command

Your app is up now! However, the slash command /hello in the code is still unavailable. To enable it, follow the steps below:

• Set up some way to allow Slack API server to access your Bolt app
  • A well-known way is to use ngrok - install it and run ngrok http 3000 on another terminal
• Configure & Reinstall the Slack App
  • Visit Slack App configuration pages
  • Choose your app, go to Features > Slash Commands on the left pane
  • Click Create New Command button
  • Input the command information on the dialog:
    • Command: /hello
    • Request URL: https://{your domain here}/slack/events - if you use ngrok for development, the URL would be https://{random}.ngrok.io/slack/events
    • Short Description: whatever you like
  • Click Save Button
  • Go to Settings > Install App and click Reinstall App button

Now you can hit the /hello command in your development workspace. If your app is successfully running, the app should respond to the command by replying 👋 Hello!.

OK, What about Spring Boot?

As Spring Boot is one of the most popular web frameworks in the Java world, you may be curious about the possibility to let this Bolt live together with it.

Rest assured about it! It’s quick and easy to inject Bolt into Spring Boot apps.

All you need to do is add implementation("com.slack.api:bolt:1.39.0") to dependencies in build.gradle and write a few lines of code.

@Configuration
public class SlackApp {
  @Bean
  public App initSlackApp() {
    App app = new App();
    app.command("/hello", (req, ctx) -> ctx.ack("Hi there!"));
    return app;
  }
}

@WebServlet("/slack/events")
public class SlackAppController extends SlackAppServlet {
  public SlackAppController(App app) {
    super(app);
  }
}

Check the detailed guide here for further information.

Getting Started in Kotlin

For code simplicity, Kotlin language would be a great option for writing Bolt apps. In this section, you’ll learn how to set up a Kotlin project for Bolt apps.

build.gradle

Most of the build settings are necessary for enabling Kotlin language. Adding bolt-jetty dependency is the only one that is specific to Bolt.

plugins {
  id("org.jetbrains.kotlin.jvm") version "1.7.21"
  id("application")
}
repositories {
  mavenCentral()
}
dependencies {
  implementation(platform("org.jetbrains.kotlin:kotlin-bom"))
  implementation("org.jetbrains.kotlin:kotlin-stdlib-jdk8")
  implementation("com.slack.api:bolt-jetty:1.39.0")
  implementation("org.slf4j:slf4j-simple:1.7.36") // or logback-classic
}
application {
  mainClassName = "MyAppKt" // add "Kt" suffix for main function source file
}

If you’re already familiar with Kotlin and prefer the Gradle Kotlin DSL, of course, there is nothing stopping you.

src/main/kotlin/MyApp.kt

Here is a minimum source file that just starts a Bolt app on your local machine.

import com.slack.api.bolt.App
import com.slack.api.bolt.jetty.SlackAppServer

fun main() {
  val app = App()

  // Write some code here

  val server = SlackAppServer(app)
  server.start() // http://localhost:3000/slack/events
}

Make Sure If It Works

OK, you should be done. Just in case, here is the checklist:

• ✅ JDK 8 or higher installed (if not, run brew install openjdk@11 for macOS / visit OpenJDK website for others)
• ✅ Gradle installed (if not, run brew install gradle for macOS / visit their website for others)
• ✅ build.gradle with valid Kotlin language settings and bolt-jetty dependency
• ✅ src/main/kotlin/MyApp.kt with a main method
• ✅ Create a Slack App, add app_mentions:read bot scope, install the app to your development workspace
• ✅ Copy Bot User OAuth Access Token and Signing Secret from your Slack App admin pages and set them to env variables

If all are ✅, bootstrapping your first-ever Kotlin-flavored Bolt app will succeed.

# Visit https://api.slack.com/apps to know these
export SLACK_BOT_TOKEN=xoxb-...your-own-valid-one
export SLACK_SIGNING_SECRET=123abc...your-own-valid-one

# run the main function
gradle run

… Did you see the message saying “⚡️ Bolt app is running!” in stdout?

If yes, that’s all settled! 🎉

From here, all you need to do is write code and restart the app. Enjoy Bolt app development in Kotlin! 👋

Pro tip: We strongly recommend using IntelliJ IDEA here even if you don’t prefer using IDEs. The IDE is the smoothest way to try Kotlin application development.

Next Steps

Read the Bolt Basics for further information.

If you want to know ways to run Bolt app with Spring Boot, Micronaut, Quarkus, or Helidon SE, refer to Supported Web Frameworks.

Also, many examples are available in the GitHub repository.

• Example apps with Spring Boot
• Example apps with Micronaut
• Example apps with Quarkus
• Example apps in Kotlin
• Example apps with Docker