workflow · how to

Manage app admins and failed jobs

Follow the manage app admins and failed jobs workflow in Slack.

Goal

Keep the right people in charge of Slash Social admin tasks in Slack, and recover failed generation, render, or publishing jobs before they block your team.

When to use this

Use this workflow when you need to promote or demote a Slash Social app admin, repair the app admin list, retry failed jobs from the unified jobs list, or review dead-letter queue items that need admin attention.

Day-to-day product roles such as owner, reviewer, publisher, creator, and viewer are separate from the Slack app admin list. Use Roles & Permissions in Settings for product roles. Use the steps below when the app admin roster itself or background job recovery is the issue.

Before you begin

You need one of the following:

  • Slack workspace admin or owner access, or
  • An existing Slash Social app admin seat

For job recovery, confirm you are in the workspace where the failure occurred and that you can open the Create work center or App Home. Brand-scoped failures follow the active brand shown in App Home.

Steps

Manage Slash Social app admins

  1. Open Slash Social App Home or type /social and open the Command Palette.
  2. Search for admin to view the current app admin roster and usage instructions.
  3. To promote someone, run the promote action from the palette or admin help flow. Workspace admins and existing app admins can promote others. A user can also self-promote when no app admin exists yet (bootstrap case).
  4. To demote someone, run the demote action. Slash Social blocks removal of the last app admin until another app admin exists.
  5. For product roles (owner, reviewer, publisher, creator, viewer), open Settings, then Roles & Permissions. Changes there do not automatically change the Slack app admin list.

If the app admin list needs a manual repair (wrong mentions, stuck state), contact support with your workspace name and the Slack mentions to add or remove. Support can confirm the current list and repair it without changing your product roles.

Retry failed jobs

  1. Type /social and search for retry or failed jobs, or open the failed jobs list from any of these entry points:
    • The failed count on the Create work center
    • Recent Failures on App Home
    • The retry failed jobs task in the Command Palette
  2. Review the list. It uses the same source and scope as the failed count on Create, so the number on the button should match the rows you see.
  3. Choose Retry on the row you want to recover.

Retry runs in the background. Slack acknowledges the action while jobs re-queue. Duplicate retry clicks do not create duplicate recovery attempts.

Manage dead-letter queue items (advanced admin)

  1. From App Home or the Command Palette, open dead-letter queue management when your org exposes that admin path.
  2. Review dead rows loaded in the management modal.
  3. Retry individual items, retry all transient failures, or discard items you no longer need, based on the actions shown in the modal.

This path is for operators cleaning up stuck outbox or queue deliveries. Most teams recover day-to-day failures through the failed jobs list above.

Confirm it worked

App admins: Promoted users can reach admin-only tasks without a permission error. The admin roster reflects the change. Demoted users lose admin-only paths. The last app admin cannot be removed until a replacement exists.

Failed jobs: Retried jobs move to pending or in-progress states. The failed count on Create drops when recovery succeeds. You may see a background acknowledgment in Slack while work continues.

Dead-letter queue: Retried items leave the dead list or show updated status. Discarded items no longer appear as actionable rows.

Troubleshooting

Permission error on an admin action: Confirm you are a Slack workspace admin or owner, or an existing Slash Social app admin. Product roles from Roles & Permissions do not grant app admin access by themselves.

Cannot demote the last app admin: Promote another app admin first, then retry the demote action.

Retry fails or nothing changes: Read the Slack feedback message. Note any reference ID shown and contact support with that ID. See Recover failed jobs for broader recovery steps.

Failed count does not match the modal list: Confirm you are viewing the same brand scope as the Create work center button. Switch brand in App Home if your org manages multiple brands.

App admin list looks wrong: Contact support with workspace context and the Slack mentions to fix. Do not rely on product role changes alone to repair the app admin roster.