Working with OpenTag
Where to talk to OpenTag
Channels, threads, direct messages, and the web app: what each one is good for, and what OpenTag can see from each.
Four places, and the difference between them is mostly about who else can see the work.
In a channel
@mention OpenTag in any channel it's been invited to. This is the main way to use it, and the one worth defaulting to.
OpenTag has the channel's context here, which changes the quality of what you get: it knows what the channel is for, who's in it, and what's been decided in it. "Can you chase this?" means something in #deals that it doesn't mean in a DM.
Everyone in the channel sees the ask and the result. That's usually the point: the work lands where the team is, and nobody has to relay it.
In a thread
Reply in a thread OpenTag is already in and it picks up where you left off, without being @mentioned again. Use this to correct a result, ask a follow-up, or approve something.
A thread is one conversation. Starting a new job in an old thread muddles both: @mention it fresh in the channel instead.
In a DM
Direct-message OpenTag for anything you don't want to do in front of the team: a draft you're not ready to share, a question about your own numbers, a first attempt at something.
The trade is context. In a DM, OpenTag has your connections and what it knows about the company, but not a specific channel's history. Say which team or project you mean if it matters.
In the web app
app.tryopentag.com is where you go to see things rather than ask for them:
- Dashboard: what's running now and what just finished
- Chats: the same conversations, with more room than Slack gives you
- Routines: everything running on a schedule, and the history of each
- Wiki: what OpenTag has written down about your company
- Integrations: connect a tool, check what's connected, revoke access
- Skills: the procedures OpenTag follows
- Usage: credits spent, and on what
Nothing there is Slack-only or web-only. It's the same agent and the same workspace either way.
#opentag is for experiments
The #opentag channel created at install is a fine place to try a phrasing, test
a routine before pointing it at a real channel, or ask something you'd rather
not clutter a working channel with.
What OpenTag can see from each
| From | It has |
|---|---|
| A channel | That channel's history, the company wiki, your connections, your team's skills |
| A thread | Everything above, plus the thread |
| A DM | The company wiki, your connections, your team's skills, but no channel history |
| The web app | The same as a DM, plus whatever you open |
Two things hold everywhere. OpenTag can only read channels it has been invited to, and it acts with your access to a connected tool, never a shared master key. How connections work explains why that matters more than it sounds.