Set a Slack listener on a Grok Bot routine

Wake a saved Grok Bot routine when a matching Slack message arrives by adding a Slack listener under When to run. Official Routines explains that a Slack listener is a routine trigger, separate from the Slack plugin that lets a Bot post and read as the connected Slack user. Connect Slack on the Cursor account that owns the Bot before you rely on the listener. Routines run in the cloud while your laptop is closed.

What you need

A Bot that already owns a routine with a clear instruction, Slack connected on the Cursor account that owns that Bot, and a channel where you control the traffic. Create or refine the routine first with Save a Grok Bot skill and schedule a routine. Keep the match narrow so a busy channel does not burn a week of usage in a day.

Add the Slack listener

1. Open the Bot, choose View conversation details, then open Routines.
2. Select the routine that should wake on Slack, or create one and save it first.
3. Open When to run and add Slack.
4. Pick the channel the listener should watch.
5. Set containing to a phrase when the routine should wait for specific text. The match ignores capitalization and looks for that text anywhere in the message, so deploy matches Deploy and ready to deploy.
6. Leave containing empty only when every new message in that channel should start a run. Empty-phrase listeners ignore thread replies; with a phrase set, a thread reply can start the routine too.
7. Turn Active on, then send a new matching message. Old messages do not count — only a new message after the routine is saved and Active starts a run.

Confirm the owning Bot, the channel, the phrase, the expected result, and the approval boundary for anything that sends, purchases, deletes, or changes production systems. A Bot can own up to 50 routines, and Run history keeps the 20 most recent runs.

After the first match

Open Run history on the routine to see whether the listener fired. No runs yet means the panel has no run record yet — saving does not create one. Use Test run only with a safe input, because a test performs real work and can change files or call connected tools. If Weekly usage falls faster than you expect, widen schedules, pause unused routines, and narrow Slack listeners before you raise a plan. For an external HTTP wake, see Trigger a Grok Bot routine with a webhook.

Pitfalls

Connecting the Slack plugin without connecting Slack on the Cursor account that owns the Bot leaves the listener without a source. Watching every new message in a busy channel spends usage on noise. Expecting old channel history to backfill runs fails — only new messages after Active count. Leaving Active off keeps the routine saved while nothing fires.