Skip to main content
The Slack AI Analyst queries the same warehouse tables that power your SourceMedium dashboards. Before you install it, your data must already be flowing and your Slack email must be approved for your SourceMedium workspace.

​
Prerequisites

1

Connect your data sources

The analyst can only answer about platforms you have connected. See all integrations.
2

Confirm data is flowing

Check your connection statuses and confirm your dashboard shows data. If a source needs attention, open its connection page. If the status is unclear, open a support request.
3

Confirm warehouse access

The analyst queries the sm_transformed_v2 dataset in your SourceMedium BigQuery project. Your SourceMedium team provisions this. See BigQuery essentials.
If you already use SourceMedium dashboards, your data is ready. Go straight to installation.

​
Install the Slack app

The analyst is a Slack app named SourceMedium. There is one shared app for every customer. Your organization is chosen from the installing user’s email, not from an organization-specific link.
1

Open the install URL

Go to https://uni.sourcemedium.com/slack/install and click Add to Slack.
2

Review the permissions

Slack shows what the app can access. The table below explains each group.
3

Authorize

Click Allow. Installation fails if your email is not on your organization’s allowlist.
4

Invite the bot or DM it

Use /invite @SourceMedium in a channel, or open a direct message with the bot.
You need permission to install apps in your Slack workspace. Your email must also match your organization’s allowed domain or exact-email list. Ask a Slack admin to install it if you cannot.
There are no slash commands. In channels and group DMs, mention @SourceMedium. In a 1:1 DM, type normally.

​
Permissions the app requests

The bot only sees messages in channels where it has been invited, plus DMs and group DMs sent to it. It cannot join channels on its own.
Many teams create a dedicated #analytics channel. Everyone can then learn from each other’s questions.

​
Who can use it

Slack workspace membership is not enough. Each time a user asks a question, the analyst checks that user’s Slack email against your organization’s access policy:
  • Allowed email domains, such as yourcompany.com
  • Exact allowed emails, useful for approved contractors and external partners
The same check runs at install time. If your email is not approved, you see an access-denied message. Ask your SourceMedium admin to add your domain or exact email. Approved users can query every SourceMedium table available to your organization. You cannot yet set per-user table or metric permissions.

​
Store scope

Each thread works on one store. If your organization has one store, you never see a selector. If it has several, the analyst asks you to confirm a store before it runs anything. sm_store_id is the identifier SourceMedium uses to keep each store’s data separate. See the Glossary.

​
How confirmation works

  1. You ask a question.
  2. The selector preselects your last-used store or the workspace default.
  3. Confirm with Use this store, choose a different store, or type a reply.
  4. The thread locks to that store. Your original question then runs on its own.
A typed reply while the thread is waiting counts as confirmation, not as a new question. To switch stores, start a new thread. Older selector messages can expire. If a click does nothing, use the latest selector in the thread or start a new thread.

​
Where to see your stores

Start a new DM thread with the bot and click Data Availability Report in the opening message. The report includes an Available stores section listed by sm_store_id.

​
Shared Slack and Slack Connect

The analyst also works in Slack Connect channels shared with SourceMedium and in group DMs. Access is the intersection of what every workspace in the conversation can see, never the union. There are two ways the bot gets into a conversation:
  1. Install the app in your workspace, as above.
  2. Share SourceMedium into a Slack Connect channel. The channel works even if not every company installs the app.
Direct messages and group DMs still need the app installed in that person’s own workspace.

​
How store scope is chosen in a shared conversation

Results in a shared channel are visible to everyone in that channel.

​
Messages you may see

I can’t answer in this shared channel yet because one workspace isn’t connected to SourceMedium. Ask an admin to connect that workspace, or use a channel where every company is already connected. I can’t find a data scope that works for everyone here. The people in this conversation do not share a store. Move to an approved shared channel, or ask an admin to update access. I can’t answer in this conversation; install the SourceMedium app in the named workspace before DMs or group DMs will work. Each person in a DM or group DM needs the app installed in their own workspace. Use an approved shared channel until then. This thread is scoped to a different organization. Your Slack account cannot use this thread’s organization. Start a new thread. In a channel, that new thread is still visible to the other participants. Access denied: your Slack account is not approved. Your email is not on this organization’s allowlist. Ask your admin to add the domain or the exact email. SourceMedium access for this workspace is currently paused. Billing or account status has paused the workspace. Contact your SourceMedium administrator or support@sourcemedium.com.

​
Common setup problems

“You don’t have permission to install apps” Ask your Slack workspace admin to install the app or to grant you app installation rights. “Installation denied” or “access denied” The installer’s email is not approved for this organization. Ask your SourceMedium admin to update access. The bot does not respond Confirm it has been invited to the channel, that you mentioned @SourceMedium, or try a direct message instead. “I’m not seeing recent data” Ask “How is my data health?” to check table freshness. See Data and attribution health. “The analyst doesn’t know about my tables” It only reads SourceMedium’s standard tables. Custom tables and views you created in BigQuery are not visible to it. If you are still stuck, open a support request with the workspace name and a description of the issue.

Asking questions

Question types, example prompts, and tips.

Troubleshooting

Wrong numbers, empty results, queued questions, and access errors.

Connect an AI assistant

Use ChatGPT, Claude, or another MCP-capable assistant instead of Slack.

All integrations

Every data source SourceMedium supports.