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Connect chat channels

Channels connect a bot you own to Aside. Message the bot from Slack, Telegram, or Discord, and Aside runs the request as a browser task on your device and replies in the same thread.

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How it works

  • You create a bot on the platform and give Aside its credentials.
  • Aside connects to the platform from your device. The bot responds while Aside is running.
  • Each conversation maps to one Aside task. Follow-up messages in the same thread continue that task.
  • Credentials go into your OS secure storage, never into plain files.
You can connect one bot per platform.

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Set up a connection

  1. Open Settings > Channels.
  2. Choose a platform and pick a setup method:
    • Create with Aside starts a task that creates the bot and registers the credentials for you.
    • Manual shows credential fields you fill in yourself.
  3. Follow the platform guide:
  4. Confirm the connection shows as connected on the Channels page.

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Approve senders with pairing

By default, unknown senders cannot start tasks. When someone new messages the bot, Aside records a pairing request for the connection.
  1. Open the connection settings and select the Pairing tab.
  2. Find the pending request and choose Approve.
Pairing requests expire after one hour. This applies to direct messages and group messages, since anyone who finds the bot can message it.

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Talk to the bot

  • In a direct message, every message goes to the bot.
  • In a shared channel, mention the bot to start a root conversation. Replies in that thread then continue the same conversation without another mention.
  • To bring the bot into a thread whose root did not mention it, mention the bot once inside the thread. This starts a new conversation for that thread and later replies continue it without another mention. Turn off Require mentions in threads to let the first unmentioned thread or topic message activate it instead. Earlier messages from paired people in that thread or topic are supplied as context.
  • Send /model [n|id], /effort [level], /sessions [n], /usage, or /new to control the current thread. Slack intercepts a bare /, so type a leading space ( /model) to send it as a message. /reset is an alias for /new.
  • On Telegram, /model opens a provider and model button picker, followed by supported effort levels. /effort opens those effort controls directly. /sessions shows paginated session buttons with titles, ages, and the active session marked. Only the person who opened a picker can use it. Typed arguments still work, and a text list is used if buttons cannot be posted. Slack and Discord retain their text command lists.
  • Send /stop, stop, or cancel to interrupt a running task.
  • Messages sent while a task runs queue as follow-ups by default.
  • Attachments up to 20 MB transfer into the task.

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Connection settings

Open a connection from the Channels page to change its behavior. Settings are grouped into three tabs.

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Options

Only paired people can use the bot. Each sender’s pairing-approval capability is checked again when they act on a pairing request.

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Pairing

Approve or reject pending pairing requests, and review approved senders.

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Credentials

Update stored tokens and bind the connection to a project, so channel tasks share that project’s workspace and memory. From the connection list itself you can also enable, disable, or restart a connection, and remove one entirely. Removing a connection deletes its stored secrets.