I Use Slack to Boss Around My Local Claude Code Terminal (And It's Glorious)

The Setup That Changed Everything

Here's a scenario: you're grabbing coffee, a bug crosses your mind, and you think "I should fix that before I forget." You pull out your phone, open Slack, type a message in your #claude-terminal channel — and by the time you're back at your desk, it's already done.

That's not science fiction. That's my actual workflow, and it's been one of the most unexpectedly fun things I've set up this year.

How It Actually Works

The backbone of this is the Slack MCP plugin for Claude Code. MCP (Model Context Protocol) lets Claude connect to external services at runtime — and Slack is one of them. Once it's wired up, Claude can read channels, reply to threads, search messages, and send notifications directly from my terminal session.

The flow looks like this:

1. I create a dedicated private Slack channel: #claude-terminal
2. I start a Claude Code session with the Slack MCP connected
3. I send prompts as Slack messages from anywhere
4. Claude picks them up, works through them, and posts results back into the thread

It's essentially a chat interface to my local dev environment — except the "chat" is just... Slack. The thing I already have open all day.

Real Examples From My Week

The Pre-Lunch Commit

I was heading out for lunch and remembered I wanted to generate static post pages after adding a new blog post. I sent this from my phone:

run the static post generator and tell me if anything failed

By the time I got back, Claude had run node scripts/generate-static-posts.js, confirmed it succeeded, and posted the output to the thread. Zero desk time required.

The Meeting Prompt

I was in a call and had a half-baked idea for refactoring a section of the blog listing logic. Instead of writing it on a sticky note (and inevitably losing it), I typed it into Slack mid-meeting. Not as a reminder — as an actual instruction:

in blog-ui.js, see if there's a cleaner way to handle the post filtering — don't change anything yet, just read the file and share your thoughts

When the call ended, I had a thread with Claude's analysis ready to review. I didn't lose the idea. I didn't have to re-explain it. I just read the response and decided whether to proceed.

The Late Night Non-Starter

Sometimes I think of something at 11pm that I want done before I start work the next morning. But I'm done working for the day. With this setup, I just send the prompt from my couch:

check if the sitemap.xml is missing any pages from the posts directory and list what's off

Claude runs the check, posts the diff, and I wake up to a Slack thread with the answer instead of having to figure it out at 9am.

Why This Is Actually Useful (Not Just Gimmicky)

When I first set this up, I thought it'd be a fun party trick. Turns out there are real, practical benefits:

Async by Default

Claude Code sessions take time to run — especially when reading lots of files or doing multi-step tasks. Sending a prompt and walking away is way more efficient than sitting there watching it. Slack turns the interaction model from synchronous to async, which fits how I actually think throughout the day.

Your Phone Becomes a Terminal

Not literally — but effectively. I can now delegate dev tasks from anywhere I have Slack. Commuting, in line for coffee, between meetings. My local machine is doing work while I'm not at it.

Everything Is Logged

Slack threads are persistent and searchable. Every prompt I've sent, every response Claude gave — it's all there. Way better than trying to scroll through terminal history or remember what I asked two days ago.

The Context Window Stays Clean

Because Slack messages are just text that Claude reads via MCP, sending prompts this way doesn't bloat the conversation context with back-and-forth chatter. The Claude session stays focused on actual work.

The Weird Part: It Feels Like Having a Teammate

This is the part that caught me off guard. When you're used to Claude as a tool you actively drive, shifting to a model where you send it tasks and check back later feels different. It starts to feel collaborative in a way that's hard to explain.

You're not babysitting the AI. You're delegating — and the results show up in your Slack like a message from a colleague who's been quietly grinding while you were doing other things.

I caught myself writing "thanks" in the Slack thread once. Zero regrets.

Gotchas and Honest Limitations

To be fair, this isn't magic. A few things to keep in mind:

• Claude needs an active session. This doesn't work if your terminal is closed. I keep a long-running Claude Code session open on my work machine, which is how prompts get picked up.
• It's not real-time push. Claude reads Slack when it's checking in — it's not sitting idle waiting for pings. I usually structure sessions to check for new Slack messages at the start.
• Permissions matter. Whatever Claude can do in a normal session, it can do via Slack. Set your allowed commands and permissions thoughtfully — don't give it keys to the kingdom without thinking it through.
• Write clear prompts. This forces good prompting habits. Without a back-and-forth conversation, you need to be specific upfront. Honestly, that's made my prompts better across the board.

What I'm Doing Next

I'm experimenting with setting up a lightweight hook that has Claude check the Slack channel at the start of every session automatically — so any messages sent while the terminal was idle get picked up when I resume work. Basically a message queue for my dev environment.

I'm also toying with adding a second channel for notifications — so when Claude finishes a longer task (like regenerating all static pages), it posts a Slack summary I can check on my phone. Closing the loop without needing to be at my desk.

Try It

If you're already using Claude Code and Slack is part of your daily life, this integration takes about 15 minutes to set up and adds a level of flexibility that I didn't know I was missing. The async workflow alone is worth it — but the "coding from your phone" angle is just genuinely fun.

Give it a shot. Your couch-self will thank your desk-self.