# Cakewalk for Slack

### 👥 **Who It Applies To**

| Role           | Capabilities                                                                             |
| -------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Admins**     | Install, configure and monitor the Cakewalk app for Slack.                               |
| **Managers**   | Approve and complete tasks in Slack. Request access on behalf of team members.           |
| **App Owners** | Approve and complete tasks in Slack.                                                     |
| **Users**      | Request, change or remove access. Check request status. Get reminders sent to approvers. |

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### ✅ What the Slack App Supports

* **Request Access** (for yourself or on behalf of others)
* **Change Permissions** ("Upgrade my Salesforce to Reports access")
* **Remove Access** ("Remove my Looker access")
* **Bulk Requests** ("I need Miro, Jira and Notion")
* **Status Lookups** ("What's happening with my Datadog request?")
* **Reminders** ("Remind my approver about my pending request")
* **Find App Owner** ("Who owns Miro?")
* **App Suggestions** (alternative apps when a requested app is not tracked)
* **Complete Tasks** (approve/decline, action tasks)
* **System Notifications** (overdue Access Reviews, provisioning updates). You can customize which Slack notification categories you receive in your [Notification Preferences](https://docs.getcakewalk.io/how-to-guides/notification-preferences).

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### ⚙️ Install & Connect

1. In Cakewalk, go to Settings → Account → *Slack*.
2. Click **Connect** and authorize with a **Slack admin** account.
3. The app is ready. Employees interact with it directly from their Slack sidebar. No channel invites required.

To also allow channel mentions, invite the app to your chosen channel(s) using `/invite @Cakewalk`.

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### 🧑‍💻 User Experience

#### Starting a Conversation

Open the **Cakewalk** app from your Slack sidebar and start typing. The app uses a conversational assistant that understands natural language.

When you start a new thread, you'll see suggested prompts:

* **Request access to an app**
* **Find app owner**
* **Check my pending requests**

You can pick a prompt or type your own message in plain language.

You can also mention **@Cakewalk** in any channel where the app has been added. The app will redirect you to a direct conversation.

#### How Conversations Work

The assistant processes your message in real time. You'll see status updates as it works:

* *Searching for apps...*
* *Getting app details...*
* *Processing your request...*

The assistant replies in the same thread. All follow-ups, clarifications and status updates stay in that thread.

#### What You Can Ask

**Request access:**

> "I need access to Figma"

The assistant finds the app, confirms the permission level and asks for a reason. Your request is created and routed through the approval policy.

**Change permissions:**

> "Change my Salesforce access to Reports"

The assistant confirms the change (e.g., Standard User → Reports) and creates a permission change request.

**Remove access:**

> "Remove my access to Looker"

The assistant validates your current access, asks for a reason and submits a removal request.

**Bulk requests:**

> "I need access to Miro, Jira and Notion"

The assistant handles all three. It confirms permissions for each app and creates separate requests, keeping everything in one thread.

**Request on behalf of someone** (managers and admins):

> "Request Figma for @alex"

The assistant confirms the user, app and permission level, then creates the request on their behalf.

**Check status:**

> "What's happening with my Datadog request?"

The assistant looks up your pending requests and tells you the current state and who needs to act next.

**Send a reminder:**

> "Remind my approver"

The assistant sends a Slack message to the person blocking your request.

**Find an app owner:**

> "Who owns Miro?"

The assistant returns the designated App Owner.

#### Smart Behaviors

* **Disambiguation**: If your request matches more than one app (e.g., "Zoom" could mean Zoom Meetings or ZoomInfo), the assistant asks which one you mean.
* **Alternative suggestions**: If you request an app your company does not track but a similar approved app exists, the assistant suggests it.
* **Follow-up questions**: If the assistant can't find your app, it asks clarifying questions before giving up.
* **Pending requests**: If you already have a pending request for the same app, the assistant shows its status instead of creating a duplicate.
* **Existing access**: If you already have access, the assistant lets you know.

#### First-Time Setup

If the assistant can't match your Slack profile to your Cakewalk account, you'll be prompted to log in once to link both.

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### 👩‍⚖️ Assignee Experience

* Receive **interactive task cards** in Slack (Approve / Decline / Done / View details).
* Complete **review** and **action** tasks directly in Slack.
* All actions are **audited** in Cakewalk automatically.

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### 🔒 Security & Compliance

* Users are mapped by **verified email**. Only authenticated employees can submit or act.
* All Slack actions write to **Requests**, **Tasks** and the **Audit Log** in Cakewalk.
* Permissions are enforced. Only policy-compliant assignees see action buttons.
* One thread per request keeps the full conversation auditable.