Slack Plan Requirements for Archiving

Comma connects to Slack via a workspace OAuth app. What gets captured automatically — and what requires extra steps — depends on which Slack plan your organization is on.

Team plan

Most organizations run on Slack’s standard Team plan. Comma works on this plan, but there are three things to know before you set up archiving:

1. Each user must authorize the integration

Comma cannot capture direct messages (DMs) for a user until that user individually authorizes the Comma app. After the workspace admin installs Comma, every user who sends or receives DMs covered by your retention policy needs to complete a one-time authorization step.

Users who have not yet authorized appear as unlinked in the Comma dashboard. Their DMs are not captured until they connect.

2. The app must be invited into every private channel

Comma only captures private channels it has been explicitly invited to. The Comma bot cannot see or discover private channels on its own — a channel member must type /invite @Comma (or use the Add Apps menu) before capture begins for that channel.

Public channels are captured automatically once the workspace is connected.

3. Private channels are invisible until a member invites the app

There is no admin-level view of private channels on the Team plan. Even as a Comma or Slack admin, you cannot see which private channels exist until the app has been added to one. This means coverage gaps are not always visible — you may not know a channel is uncaptured until someone reports it.

Enterprise Grid

Slack’s Enterprise Grid tier provides the Discovery API, which gives Comma organization-wide access without per-user authorization or per-channel invitations:

• All users are covered from day one — no individual auth steps
• All private channels are captured automatically
• Admins have full visibility into channel coverage from the Comma dashboard

Note

Enterprise Grid capture via the Discovery API is currently in limited availability for Comma customers. If your organization is on Enterprise Grid and wants to enable organization-wide capture, contact support@commacompliance.com.

Summary

	Team plan	Enterprise Grid
Public channels	Automatic	Automatic
Private channels	Invite required per channel	Automatic
Direct messages	Per-user authorization required	Automatic
Admin channel visibility	Only invited channels	All channels

What’s next

• Setting Up Slack Archiving — Connect your workspace
• Personal Integration Guide — How per-user authorization works for other platforms