Command

nylas slack messages list

List recent messages in a Slack channel.

Written by Qasim Muhammad Staff SRE

What does nylas slack messages list do?

The nylas slack messages list command retrieves recent messages from a Slack channel. Specify the channel by ID or name with --channel. Use --limit to control how many messages are returned, and --json for machine-readable output in scripts and automations.

Usage

nylas slack messages list --channel CHANNEL [--limit N]

Flags

FlagDescription
--jsonOutput as JSON
--no-colorDisable color output
--verbose(-v)Enable verbose output
--configCustom config file path
--help(-h)Show help for the command
--limitMaximum number of messages to return
--yes(-y)Skip confirmations
--channelChannel ID or name
--allFetch all messages (paginate through entire history)
--channel-idChannel ID
--expand-threadsExpand thread replies inline
--idShow message timestamps/IDs
--threadThread timestamp to show replies

Examples

The nylas slack messages list command retrieves recent messages from a Slack channel.

List recent messages

nylas slack messages list --channel general --limit 20

Pipe to jq for filtering

nylas slack messages list --channel C0AH3S94DNF --json | jq '.[] | select(.user != null)'

Example output

#general (last 3 messages)

Alice Chen   10:02  Deploy is green, shipping now
Bob Smith    10:05  Nice, thanks for the heads up
Alice Chen   10:06  Following up in the release thread

3 messages

Troubleshooting

Channel not found

Use the channel ID (starts with C) instead of the display name. Find it in Slack channel settings.

Missing messages from private channels

Ensure your Slack token has the channels:history and groups:history scopes.

Run nylas slack messages list --help for full help output.