What is channelsreply?

The channels/reply skill enables Claude to engage in organized, threaded conversations by responding to specific messages within communication channels. By maintaining context through message threading, this skill enhances automated communication for issue tracking, support, and team collaboration, ensuring that responses are always linked to their original queries.

When should I use channelsreply?

channelsreply is useful in the following scenarios: • Automated Issue Tracking: Respond to reported bugs or system alerts in technical channels with status updates, root cause analyses, or resolution confirmations. • Customer Support & Helpdesk: Provide instant, contextual answers to user inquiries in direct messages or support channels while keeping the conversation history organized. • Project Management: Acknowledge task assignments and provide progress reports or request additional information within specific project threads. • Threaded Information Retrieval: Automatically reply to specific questions in a channel with data, logs, or documentation requested by team members.

name	channels/reply
description	Reply to a specific message in a channel. Use this to respond to issues, answer questions, or continue threaded conversations.
license	MIT

Reply to Message

Post a reply to an existing message, creating a threaded conversation.

When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when:

Responding to a reported issue with a fix or update
Answering a question in a DM
Providing status updates on an ongoing issue
Continuing a conversation thread
Acknowledging receipt of a message

Process

Step 1: Identify the Message

You need the message ID to reply to. Get this from:

The output of channels read
The message path (e.g., 2025-12-15T10:30:00.000Z)

Step 2: Compose Reply

Write your response to the original message.

Step 3: Post Reply

npx dot-agents channels reply "<channel>" "<message-id>" "<reply>"

For multi-line replies:

npx dot-agents channels reply "<channel>" "<message-id>" "$(cat <<'EOF'
Your multi-line
reply here
EOF
)"

Examples

Example 1: Reply to an Issue

Original message in #issues:

[2025-12-15T10:30:00.000Z] from: morning-paper
**Issue:** Calendar API timeout

Reply:

npx dot-agents channels reply "#issues" "2025-12-15T10:30:00.000Z" "$(cat <<'EOF'
**Status:** Resolved

Root cause: Network timeout due to VPN disconnection.
Fix: Added retry logic with exponential backoff.

Verified working in subsequent run.
EOF
)"

Example 2: Quick Acknowledgment

npx dot-agents channels reply "@human" "2025-12-15T14:00:00.000Z" "Understood. Will proceed with the archive operation."

Example 3: Request More Information

npx dot-agents channels reply "#issues" "2025-12-15T09:00:00.000Z" "$(cat <<'EOF'
Need more details to investigate:

1. Which workflow triggered this?
2. What was the exact error message?
3. Has this happened before?
EOF
)"

Example 4: Status Update on Ongoing Issue

npx dot-agents channels reply "#issues" "2025-12-15T08:00:00.000Z" "$(cat <<'EOF'
**Update:** Still investigating

Tried:
- Restarting daemon (no effect)
- Clearing cache (no effect)

Next steps:
- Check system logs
- Test with fresh config
EOF
)"

Best Practices

Keep replies focused on the original topic
Use structured formats for status updates
Reference specific actions taken or planned
Close the loop on issues when resolved
Use replies rather than new messages for ongoing threads

Thread Structure

Replies create a nested structure:

channels/#issues/
  2025-12-15T10:30:00.000Z/
    message.md          # Original message
    replies/
      2025-12-15T11:00:00.000Z/
        message.md      # First reply
      2025-12-15T11:30:00.000Z/
        message.md      # Second reply

Error Handling

Message not found: Verify the channel and message ID are correct.

Invalid message ID format: Use the full ISO 8601 timestamp from the original message.

channelsreply

When & Why to Use This Skill

Use Cases