Anthropic is launching Claude Code in Slack, allowing developers to delegate coding tasks directly from chat threads. The beta feature, available Monday as a research preview, builds on Anthropic’s existing Slack integration by adding full workflow automation. The rollout signals the next frontier in coding assistants isn’t the model; it’s the workflow.
Previously, developers could only get lightweight coding help via Claude in Slack – like writing snippets, debugging, and explanations. Now they can tag @Claude to spin up a complete coding session using Slack context like bug reports or feature requests. Claude analyzes recent messages to determine the right repository, posts progress updates in threads, and shares links to review work and open pull requests.
The move reflects a broader industry shift. Cursor offers Slack integration for drafting and debugging code in threads, while GitHub Copilot recently added features to generate pull requests from chat. OpenAI’s Codex is accessible via custom Slack bots.
These integrations signal that AI coding assistants are migrating from IDEs (Integrated Development Environment AKA where software development happens) into collaboration tools where teams already work.
For Slack, positioning itself as an “agentic hub” where AI meets workplace context creates a strategic advantage: whichever AI tool dominates Slack – the center of engineering communication – could shape how software teams work.
By letting developers move seamlessly from conversation to code without switching apps, Claude Code and similar tools represent a shift toward AI-embedded collaboration that could fundamentally change developer workflows.
