---
title: "General Purpose recipe for Slack and Telegram | Agent Barn"
canonical: "https://agentbarn.dev/recipes/general-purpose/platform"
updatedDate: "2026-08-29T16:41:32.000Z"
author: Agent Barn
description: A flexible starting template for a broad range of configured Slack tasks. Set it up on Slack or Telegram with Agent Barn.
tags: [Flexible assistant, AI agents, workflow automation]
categories: [Recipes]
---

# General Purpose recipe for Slack and Telegram

A general-purpose teammate that can be shaped for a specific role through its instructions, skills, tools, and access policy.

## Choose a platform

### Slack

**Shared with a team.** Gives the assistant a channel where several people can ask, see each other's requests, and build on the answers.

Choose when the assistant serves a team and its work should stay visible to them.

### Telegram

**Owned by one person.** Keeps the assistant in a one-to-one chat, with every request and answer private to its operator.

Choose when one person shapes and uses the assistant on their own.

## Recipe overview

- Category: Flexible assistant
- Tools: Selected skills + Slack
- Trigger: A request arrives in an allowed Slack channel or direct message.

## Workflow

1. **Receive request:** Read the message and the allowed conversation context.
2. **Apply role:** Follow the configured template, restrictions, and identity.
3. **Use skills:** Call only the skills and connected tools it has been given.
4. **Return answer:** Respond in Slack with the result and relevant context.

## Initial setup

1. **Template:** The selected model, role, restrictions, and instructions.
2. **Skills:** Only the capabilities needed for the intended workflow.
3. **Policies:** Explicit channel allowlists and direct-message behavior.

## Integrations

### Selected skills only

Add only the platforms required by the role you define for this agent.

- Requirement: optional
- Credential: A dedicated, least-privilege credential for each selected platform.

#### Permissions

- No default integrations
- Grant read before write where possible
- Add one capability at a time and test it

#### Setup

1. Write the role and success criteria before selecting tools.
2. Connect the minimum useful skill set.
3. Re-run representative tests whenever a new integration is added.

## Human review

Start with the narrowest useful scope and add tools only when the workflow genuinely needs them.