workflow · how to

Reply, assign, and resolve conversations

Follow the reply, assign, and resolve conversations workflow in Slack.

Goal

Reply to social conversations, assign an owner, snooze follow-up, or mark a thread resolved without leaving Slack.

When to use this

Use these actions when a conversation in the Inbox needs a public response, a clear owner, a deferred follow-up time, or a closed state. Pick the action that matches what happens next:

  • Reply or Write Reply: you are ready to send a message on the platform.
  • Assign or Assign to me: someone specific should own the next response.
  • Snooze: the thread can wait until a later time.
  • Mark resolved: no further response is needed.

Before you begin

Confirm these prerequisites:

  • Your organization is on the Team plan or Scale plan. Unified inbox and reply workflows are not included on Free or Starter.
  • The correct brand is active. Conversation actions apply to the brand you have selected in App Home.
  • You can open the conversation from the Inbox. If the Inbox is empty or unavailable, complete inbox setup first.

Admins, creators, and approvers with inbox access can use these actions from the conversation detail row.

Steps

Open the conversation

  1. Type /social and open the Inbox work center.
  2. Open the conversation you need to work.
  3. Review the conversation detail row. Action buttons appear on that row.

Reply to a conversation

  1. Choose Reply or Write Reply on the conversation detail row.
  2. In the reply modal, write your message.
  3. Insert a saved reply if your team uses templates. Saved reply variables are available on Team and Scale plans.
  4. Review tone and facts before you send.
  5. Submit the reply modal.
  6. When Slack offers a mark-resolved option in the same step, choose it only if the thread is fully handled.

The reply publishes to the connected social platform when publishing succeeds.

Assign a conversation

  1. Open the conversation from the Inbox.
  2. Choose Assign to pick a teammate, or Assign to me to take ownership yourself.
  3. In the assignment modal, select the person who should own the next response.
  4. Submit the assignment modal.

The assignee should see the conversation in their work when routing is configured for your brand.

Snooze a conversation

  1. Open the conversation.
  2. Choose Snooze on the conversation detail row.
  3. Pick a return time in the snooze modal.
  4. Confirm the snooze.

Snoozed conversations leave the active queue until the snooze time passes.

Mark resolved

  1. Open the conversation.
  2. Choose Mark resolved when no further response is needed.
  3. Confirm if Slack prompts you.

Resolved conversations no longer appear as open work in the Inbox.

Success criteria

You finished the workflow when these outcomes match your intent:

  • Reply sent: your message appears on the social platform after publishing succeeds.
  • Assigned: the conversation shows the new owner on the thread.
  • Snoozed: the item is out of the active queue until the snooze window ends.
  • Resolved: the conversation no longer appears as open work.

Troubleshooting

Reply or assign buttons are missing

Confirm your organization is on Team or Scale and that unified inbox is enabled for your brand. Check that you opened the conversation from the Inbox, not a stale notification link.

Reply submit fails or the message does not appear on the platform

Reopen the conversation and try again. Confirm the connected social account is still active. If publishing keeps failing, ask an admin to check account connection status.

Assignee does not see the conversation

Confirm you selected the correct teammate and submitted the assignment modal. Routing rules may affect which items appear in each person’s queue. An admin can review inbox rules if ownership looks wrong.

Snooze or resolve did not stick

Refresh App Home and reopen the Inbox. If the conversation still shows as open, repeat the action from the conversation detail row.

Saved replies are unavailable

Saved reply variables require Team or Scale. Ask an admin to confirm plan access and saved reply setup.