# 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. |

***

### ✅ 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](/how-to-guides/notification-preferences.md).

***

### ⚙️ 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`.

***

### 🧑‍💻 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.

***

### 👩‍⚖️ 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.

***

### 🔒 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.


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# Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation

If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question.

Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter:

```
GET https://docs.getcakewalk.io/connections-and-integrations/cakewalk-for-slack.md?ask=<question>
```

The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.

Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.