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Managing tickets in Front while attending live questions in Slack forces teams into constant tab‑hopping—updates fall through the cracks, SLA clocks keep ticking, and focus disappears.
A direct Slack‑Front integration ends the shuffle by mirroring conversations, ownership, and status in real time. It offers a way to route Slack messages into Front as tickets (called "Conversations") and push notifications about Front activity back to Slack. But it comes with real limitations, especially if you want to reply to email conversations directly from Slack.
In this guide, we’ll break down:
- What Front's Slack integration can and can’t do
- How to integrate Front and Slack via Front’s native Slack app
- How ClearFeed enables full Slack-native ticketing (including email!)
Why Slack‑Front Integration Is Non‑Negotiable
Once your team is juggling 20‑plus apps, the simplest fix is to keep each customer conversation in one place. Let Slack handle live chat and Front handle email, but connect them so nothing gets lost between the two. That’s how you hit your promised response times (SLAs). Here are more reasons to integrate them today.
- Customers now prefer chat over email and expect quick, seamless replies plus a full conversation history no matter where they message you.
- Switching between multiple inboxes raises the odds of missed follow‑ups or double‑sending replies, which can break your SLA.
- Too many tools drain morale; in ClearFeed’s 2024 survey, “app fatigue” was a top‑three cause of agent burnout.
Tip: Use Single Conversation for high‑chatter rooms like #incidents and One per Message for structured queues like #customer‑questions.
How to Connect Front with Slack?
Front’s own Slack app is the easiest and plug-and-play option with minimal setup. Here’s how to turn it on in just a few clicks:
- Click the gear icon at the top‑right of Front. In the sidebar that appears, choose Company, Workspace, or Personal settings depending on where you want the Slack channel to live.
- Create (or pick) the inbox that will hold your Slack conversations. In the left menu, select Inboxes and either create a new Shared Inbox or Individual Inbox, or choose an existing one.
- Still inside settings, click Channels ➜ Connect channels.
- Log in with a Slack account that has access to the channel you want to sync.
- Pick the public Slack channel (Slack Connect channels are allowed) and choose one of two models in the Message threading field:
Here’s what these two options mean:
When to pick which?
- Option 1 (single conversation) is handy when the channel is more of a running chat that you casually monitor. You mostly answer right in the channel, and only the occasional deep‑dive needs its own space.
- Option 2 (one conversation per message) is perfect when every new post is essentially a ticket or request that needs individual status, assignees, and SLA tracking.
Put another way:
- Option 1 keeps your Front inbox tidy (one conversation) but your Slack channel a bit busier.
- Option 2 keeps Slack tidy (everything collapses into threads) but gives you lots of discrete conversations to manage in Front.
Choose whichever layout matches your team’s workflow and noise tolerance.
- Now, enter a display name if you want every message sent from Front to appear with a fixed name/icon; leave blank to let Front use the individual teammate’s name and avatar.
- Click Connect, then select the Front inbox the Slack conversations should route to and press Save changes. You’ll see a new channel named Slack (feel free to rename it to match the actual Slack channel, e.g., #internal_support).
And you’re set to go!
What You Can Do With Slack-Front Integration (And What You Can’t Do)
If you're wondering what exactly Front's Slack integration brings to the where it falls short, I’ve got you covered. Let’s walk through the most common questions support and ops teams ask when trying to make Slack and Front work better together.
Can You Get Live Ticket Alerts in Slack?
Yes. Connect a public or Slack Connect channel and Front will post every new or updated conversation straight into the room you already watch.
Setup → Settings → Channels → Connect Channel → Slack → pick the channel → choose which events trigger alerts.
How Do You Create a Front Conversation From a Slack Message?
Hover any Slack message, choose … → Create a conversation in Front, select inbox, assignee, and tags, and click Create. Instant ticket—no copy‑paste required.
Will Replies You Send From Front Appear Back in Slack?
They do. Type your answer in Front and it lands in the original Slack thread (with your name or bot alias), so requesters stay in the loop.
Can You Triage Tickets Without Leaving Slack?
If a Front admin enables Message actions, you get Assign, Archive, Re‑open, and Move buttons right under each synced message—perfect for on‑the‑fly housekeeping.
Can I Automate Messages Between Front and Slack?
Yes—Front lets you set up rules that automatically push conversations to Slack based on certain triggers. For example, you can route urgent emails tagged in Front directly to a Slack channel where your team can jump in fast. You can configure these automations inside Front’s rule settings.
Is There a Cost Associated With the Front Slack Integration?
There is no separate cost specifically for the Front Slack integration itself. Front includes Slack integration as part of its platform features across its pricing plans. However, using Front requires a paid subscription and it starts at $19 per user per month for the Starter plan.
Can You Reply to Emails From Slack Using Front?
Front’s Slack app mirrors Slack messages only. Customer email threads still live—and must be answered—inside Front. That single gap forces agents into tab‑switch mode.
Can You Compose New Emails in Slack and Send via Front?
No. Outbound outreach remains a Front‑only task. If you’re a field CSM who lives in Slack, that extra trip back to Front gets old fast.
Can You Connect Private Channels or DMs to Front?
Not today. The native app supports public and Slack Connect channels only. Sensitive or VIP conversations in private rooms stay off the radar.
What about Customer Support on Slack using Front?
Yes - Front does allow supporting customers in Slack Connect by converting messages to tickets. But it’s a primitive implementation where there’s no automatic grouping of messages into conversations - unlike modern support systems like ClearFeed, neither is there a centralized place in Slack to reply to all customer Slack conversations from.
In short, if your support culture is Slack‑centric, these gaps can turn a promising bridge into a one‑way notification feed. To put it another way, Front’s Slack app is ideal when you want your support or ops team to live in Front while still collaborating in Slack:
- Works great for public channels & Slack Connect.
- Gives you rule‑based escalations and one‑click ticket creation in both directions.
- Lacks DM/private‑channel coverage, historical back‑fills, and emoji‑reaction mirroring—so if those are critical, you’ll need a workaround or a different tool.
That being said, some teams wonder whether to use Slack + Front or adopt a Slack-first support tool like ClearFeed. ClearFeed is a Slack-native support platform (supporting emails, web chat and slack-connect itself) where all ticket collaboration happens inside Slack channels.
How ClearFeed is a much better fit for Slack based Support
ClearFeed plugs directly into Slack and treats it as the primary helpdesk—emails included.
- Shared inbox inside Slack. support@yourcompany.com forwards into a triage channel; each email becomes its own thread.
- Write and send emails in Slack. Agents reply, close, or escalate without leaving the channel.
- Not just Email. Customer requests on Slack Connect channels, web chat widget, customer portal or even DMs from employees on Slack - can all be bought into Slack triage channels. A unified Slack inbox across all communication channels.
- Built‑in extras. SLA alerts, OOO Replies, GPT-powered automated answers, AI summaries and tagging, emoji‑driven status, and one‑click escalations to Jira, GitHub, Linear, ClickUp or Asana.
Net result: agents stay in one tool, customers still get polished emails, and management keeps an auditable ticket trail.
The table below compares a Slack-based ticketing experience using Slack-Front integration against ClearFeed’s Slack-based email ticketing:
Final Take
Front’s Slack integration shines at visibility and light triage. If you’re happy answering email in Front and just need Slack pings, you’re set. But if your agents live in Slack and need to reply to emails, manage SLAs, and handle private channels without leaving, ClearFeed finishes the job.
Next Step → Watch a 2‑minute video on ClearFeed's Slack-email integration and see how a true Slack‑native inbox can cut your tab count in half. Need more help in Slack support? Contact us for a personalised demo.
