[Update] AWS DevOps Agent's Slack integration now has two-way communication functionality added

As the title suggests, bidirectional communication functionality has been added to the DevOps Agent's Slack integration.

September 1, 2026: Chat with AWS DevOps Agent in Slack

You can now start and continue conversations with AWS DevOps Agent directly from a private Slack channel. Enable bidirectional communication when you associate a channel, then run a one-time setup command and chat using app mentions.

– Source: What's new - AWS DevOps Agent

Previously, communication was one-way — meaning "DevOps Agent simply sent messages to a Slack channel" — but with this update, by @mentioning DevOps Agent from our side, DevOps Agent will now perform the necessary investigation and return the results in chat. You can interactively check resource status directly in Slack.

I tried out this feature right away.

Setup 1: Adding a Slack Provider

This assumes you already have an agent space created. This blog post starts from adding the Slack feature provider. If you have already completed this part, feel free to skip ahead.

On the [AWS DevOps Agent > Feature Providers] page, select [Register] for the Slack feature.

Register Slack from the feature provider list

Leave the default settings and select [Next].

Screen for registering Slack with DevOps Agent

The screen switches to the Slack permission page. You will be asked to grant access to the "AWS DevOps Agent - AP (Tokyo)" app, so select your target workspace and click [Allow].

Slack app access permission screen

Setup 2: Associating with an Agent Space

Next is the work on the agent space side. This also involves some operations within the Slack channel along the way. Note that the bidirectional communication feature only supports private channels. Prepare a private channel to integrate with in advance.

Navigate to the page of the agent space you want to configure.

Select [Add Integration] from [Features > Communication].

Communication settings for the agent space

The Slack provider you registered earlier will appear as "Registered", so select [Add].

Adding the registered Slack provider

You will be taken to the "Associate this agent space with a Slack channel" screen. Enter the [Channel ID] of the target channel and configure the [Bidirectional Communication] settings.

For the bidirectional communication settings, specify the IAM role to use. This time, we will create a new one, so select [Next].

Configuring the channel ID and bidirectional communication

In the next step, you will be guided to invite the DevOps Agent to the Slack channel. Run /invite @AWS DevOps Agent - AP (Tokyo) in the Slack channel.

Guidance for inviting DevOps Agent to the channel

Select [Add] to complete the association. The Slack integration has been added to the communication list.

Integration added with bidirectional set to "Enabled"

Trying Out the Chat

Initial Setup

Before starting a chat, a one-time setup is required on the channel side. Send a new message to the channel (not inside a thread), mentioning DevOps Agent with the message setup.

Once Channel bound to agent space is returned, you are ready to go.

Sending "setup" returns "Channel bound to agent space"

Part 1: Hello World

Let's start with a simple chat. When I mentioned it, it replied in a thread like this.

Returned a list of what it can do

Part 2: Resource Investigation

Let me ask it to investigate an AWS resource. I passed a GuardDuty finding ARN and asked for details.

It retrieved the finding, investigated it, and compiled a report. Just like the chat and investigation features in the web app, it properly used tools and skills.

Investigated a GuardDuty Finding using a skill and compiled a report

When you continue to mention it in the same thread, it returns answers that take the previous conversation into account.

Responded with CloudTrail trail information based on the previous Finding

Part 3: Various Other Things

When mentioning partway through a thread, it does not seem to pick up earlier messages in the thread (where you had not mentioned it).

Does not pick up the content at the start of the thread, and asks back for the target

It appears to only reference the content of the thread in which it was mentioned. It cannot retrieve other messages in the channel.

Response stating that it cannot read the channel message history

Note: What Gets Recorded in CloudTrail Events?

When a chat is initiated from Slack, a CreateChat event is recorded. The event source is aidevops.amazonaws.com.

CreateChat event recorded with username

The contents of the event are as follows.

{
  "userIdentity": {
    "type": "AssumedRole",
    "arn": "arn:aws:sts::999999999999:assumed-role/DevOpsAgentChannel-c6p7241t/DevOpsAgentChannel-c6p7241t-U09K654PA5A",
    "sessionContext": {
      "sessionIssuer": {
        # omitted
        "userName": "DevOpsAgentChannel-c6p7241t-U09K654PA5A"
      }
    },
    "invokedBy": "aidevops.amazonaws.com"
  },
  "eventSource": "aidevops.amazonaws.com",
  "eventName": "CreateChat",
  "awsRegion": "ap-northeast-1",
  "requestParameters": null,
  "responseElements": {
    "createdAt": 1788495194.265,
    "executionId": "8ad6d51f-68d8-4c49-8c4e-36552b23bf09"
  },
  "resources": [
    {
      "type": "AWS::AIDevOps::AgentSpace",
      "ARN": "arn:aws:aidevops:ap-northeast-1:999999999999:agentspace/0bce185d-a465-4c2e-a184-531c57855dc7"
    }
  ]
}

The session name and username follow the format DevOpsAgentChannel-c6p7241t-U09K654PA5A. This follows the pattern {bidirectional role name}-{Slack user ID}, which allows you to (at least partially) trace who initiated the chat.

Conclusion

I tried out the Slack bidirectional communication feature of DevOps Agent.

It's great that anyone who is a member of the private channel can use it without having to open the web app separately. Since you can ask about resource status as a natural extension of everyday conversation, the barrier to use should be considerably lower.

On the other hand, as an administrator, I felt that cost tracking could be challenging. Since you can trace who executed what from CloudTrail logs, it seems best to cross-reference that with actual cost information to estimate costs.

That's all — I hope this was helpful.

References

• Connecting Slack - AWS DevOps Agent
• What's new - AWS DevOps Agent