Decision: Slack, themed desktop or a TUI? #112

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opened 2026-08-23 15:56:54 +01:00 by joshquinlan · 1 comment

joshquinlan commented

2026-08-23 15:56:54 +01:00

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Research on #111: current Slack desktop has no sanctioned automatable theme. The only no-click path is the private users.prefs.set call with a session token (fragile, unofficial); CSS injection tools are dead except slick, a week-old alpha that runs Slack under its own Electron. The supported path is pasting an 8-colour string into Preferences > Appearance > Custom theme.

Options

wee-slack in WeeChat (recommended as the TUI): actively maintained (v2.11.0, 2026-08-17), threads, reactions, notifications, search, downloads, multiple workspaces; colours fully scriptable so Donbox themes it; auth via a session token extracted from the desktop app (no admin approval) or a Slack app (needs a Krystal admin to approve).
slk: the best-looking Go TUI with TOML themes and inline images, reads the desktop app's session itself, but a week old with one maintainer and no documented search.
Keep the Slack desktop app, themed by hand: Donbox renders the 8-colour string per theme and donbox theme slack copies it to the clipboard with a notification telling you to paste it in Preferences once per theme; nothing automatic, nothing fragile.
slick: run Slack under the slick alpha for full CSS theming; expect breakage and a possible terms problem.

Research on #111: current Slack desktop has no sanctioned automatable theme. The only no-click path is the private `users.prefs.set` call with a session token (fragile, unofficial); CSS injection tools are dead except `slick`, a week-old alpha that runs Slack under its own Electron. The supported path is pasting an 8-colour string into Preferences > Appearance > Custom theme. ## Options 1. **wee-slack in WeeChat** (recommended as the TUI): actively maintained (v2.11.0, 2026-08-17), threads, reactions, notifications, search, downloads, multiple workspaces; colours fully scriptable so Donbox themes it; auth via a session token extracted from the desktop app (no admin approval) or a Slack app (needs a Krystal admin to approve). 2. **slk**: the best-looking Go TUI with TOML themes and inline images, reads the desktop app's session itself, but a week old with one maintainer and no documented search. 3. **Keep the Slack desktop app, themed by hand**: Donbox renders the 8-colour string per theme and `donbox theme slack` copies it to the clipboard with a notification telling you to paste it in Preferences once per theme; nothing automatic, nothing fragile. 4. **slick**: run Slack under the slick alpha for full CSS theming; expect breakage and a possible terms problem.

joshquinlan added this to the 5 Plugins milestone

2026-08-23 15:56:54 +01:00

joshquinlan

2026-08-23 15:56:54 +01:00