workflow · how to

Use Engage home and the inbox

Follow the use engage home and the inbox workflow in Slack.

Goal

Open the Engage inbox, triage conversations and flags, and move items through claim, snooze, and close states from App Home or the inbox modal.

When to use this

Use this workflow for daily inbox triage in Slack:

  • You need a single view of inbound social conversations and flags for the active brand.
  • You want to claim ownership, defer follow-up, or close items without opening each platform separately.
  • You need the full inbox modal for pagination, tabs, or filters on a long list.

Start here before you reply, assign, or match CRM contacts. Those actions live on individual conversation rows after you open an item.

Before you begin

Confirm these prerequisites:

  • Connected social accounts receive inbound conversations for the brand you will work.
  • Your organization is on the Team plan or Scale plan. Unified inbox is not included on Free or Starter.
  • You can select the correct brand in App Home. If no brand exists, Slack prompts you to create or select one before the inbox loads.

Admins, creators, and approvers with Engage access can open and work the inbox.

Steps

Open the inbox from Engage home

  1. Type /social and switch to the Engage work center.
  2. On the inbox card, choose Open Inbox.
  3. Confirm the active brand when Slack prompts you.

If no brand is available, Slack opens a prompt to create or select a brand before the inbox loads.

You can also open the inbox from the Command Palette or other Engage entry actions when they appear for your role.

Work the conversation list on App Home

  1. Use inbox views to switch between Conversations, Alerts, Content, and Performance.
  2. Open a row to see conversation detail and reply actions on the conversation detail row.
  3. Claim an item when you are taking ownership of follow-up.
  4. Snooze an item when you need to defer follow-up to a later time.
  5. Resolve or close an item when the conversation is answered and needs no further action.

Tab changes save to your App Home state and refresh the Engage view.

Use the full inbox modal

When the list is easier to scan in a modal:

  1. Open the full inbox modal from Open Inbox or the inbox card.
  2. Move between tabs inside the modal for the same views as App Home: Conversations, Alerts, Content, and Performance.
  3. Use pagination controls when the list spans multiple pages.
  4. Open filters from the modal toolbar when you need a narrower slice of work.

Row actions inside the modal match the actions available on App Home.

Work a single inbox item

  1. Open a row from the list or modal.
  2. Review the item detail view.
  3. Use the actions on the row or detail view to claim, snooze, close, reply, or assign as needed.

If an item was already claimed or closed by a teammate, Slack shows an error and asks you to refresh before you retry.

Success criteria

You finished a triage pass when:

  • Claimed items show your ownership on the thread or row.
  • Snoozed items leave the active queue until the snooze window ends.
  • Closed or resolved items no longer appear in open tabs.
  • Tab and filter choices persist when you return to Engage home.

Troubleshooting

Open Inbox is missing or the inbox is empty

Confirm connected accounts receive inbound traffic and that your organization is on Team or Scale. Follow Set up inbox and saved replies if this is a new brand.

No brand prompt or inbox will not load

Create or select a brand when Slack prompts you. If the no-brands modal appears, finish brand setup before you reopen the inbox.

Item claim or close fails

Another teammate may have claimed or closed the item first. Refresh App Home, reopen the Inbox, and check the item state before you retry.

Tabs or pagination look stale

Switch tabs again or close and reopen the inbox modal. App Home refreshes when you change work centers.

Conversations never arrive

See Inbox events missing if inbound events do not appear after accounts are connected.