How to Install Dobbin in Your Slack Workspace
5 mins
Dobbin works where your team works: in Slack. Your decisions, client conversations and projects in motion already live in your channels, and Dobbin learns from them. That's what sets it apart from a general AI that starts from zero every time. Dobbin builds on what your team has already said and decided.
Once it's installed, anyone can tag @Dobbin to ask what was decided on a project, where a client conversation landed, or what's still open, and then get the next piece of work done from there. The whole team benefits, even people who never tag it.
The one thing to get right: add Dobbin to every channel where work happens, not a test channel. Dobbin can only learn from what it sees, so the channels you choose decide how much it knows.
The Most Important Step: Adding Dobbin to Your Channels
Dobbin only knows what it can see. It works well when it's in the channels where your team is working right now. It can't help with work that happens in channels it hasn't been added to.
When Dobbin joins a channel, it reads the last 90 days of conversation and files, so it's up to speed on day one without anyone uploading or organizing anything. Every channel you add gives it more of your team's work to learn from and build on.
Add Dobbin to channels that are:
Active: people are posting there this week, not last quarter.
Relevant: the work you'd want Dobbin's help with, like clients, projects, teams and operations.
Where you work right now: the channels you open every day, including private ones.
Instead of | Select |
|---|---|
A test channel or one quiet sandbox | Every active channel: clients, projects, teams, and private channels where work happens |
Why it doesn't work: There's no work happening there, so Dobbin has nothing to learn from and ends up guessing about your business. | Why it works: Dobbin learns from your team's real work, so its answers and suggestions fit how your company actually operates. |
Note: You can always add Dobbin to more channels later, but start with all of the important ones so it has your team's work to learn from on day one.
Installation Options
Dobbin must be installed by a Slack admin, or anyone with permission to add apps to your company's Slack workspace. If that's you, follow Scenario 1. If someone else manages your Slack, follow Scenario 2.
Scenario 1: Self-Serve Install (You Are a Slack Admin)
When your Dobbin build is complete, click Add to Slack.
On the Slack authorization screen, choose your company's workspace from the Workspace dropdown.
Review the permissions Dobbin is requesting, then click Allow.
Back in Dobbin, review the channels it will join. Dobbin suggests the relevant public channels it found. Click Choose channels to add every channel where your team's work happens.
Click Add Dobbin to public channels only to finish.
Click Message Dobbin to open Slack and say hello.
Scenario 2: Sending These Instructions to Your Slack Admin
Under the Add to Slack button, click Copy an install link.
Make a list of the channels you want Dobbin in: every active client, project and team channel, including private ones.
Send your admin the install link and channel list, or copy and send the note below.
Once your admin has added Dobbin, we'll email you. Come back to the Add to Slack screen to choose which channels Dobbin reads.
Note: The install link expires after 30 days. If it expires, generate a new one from the same screen.
Copy and send this note to your admin:
Hi [Admin name],
I'm setting up Dobbin, an AI that works inside Slack and learns from our team's channels. Could you add it to our workspace? It takes a couple of minutes.
Click this install link (it works for 30 days): [paste your install link]
Approve Dobbin for our Slack workspace.
If you're asked to choose channels, please add these: [list of channels]
On security: Dobbin is SOC 2 Type 2 compliant and ISO 27001 certified. Our data stays in a dedicated, isolated instance, is encrypted (AES-256 at rest, SSL in transit), and is never used to train outside AI models. Full install steps are here: [link to this page]
What Happens After Install
Dobbin joins your selected channels. It reads the last 90 days of conversation and files, starting with the biggest channels, and answers from what it has read so far while it catches up.
It introduces itself once. Dobbin posts a single welcome message in your most active channel. No announcements in every channel.
Your team gets a quick intro. Everyone in Dobbin's channels gets a short DM explaining what Dobbin is and how to use it.
The installer gets a setup confirmation. Whoever installed Dobbin receives a private DM confirming setup, followed by what Dobbin has learned from each channel.
Note: DMs from Dobbin are automatically organized in each person's Slack sidebar under Apps and Agents.
Working With Dobbin in Slack
Tag @Dobbin in any channel it's in, or DM it, and give it a real job. Anyone in the channel can ask.
"@Dobbin, what did we decide about [project] this month, and what's still open?"
"@Dobbin, catch me up on [client]: where things stand and what we owe them."
"@Dobbin, based on what's been discussed in this channel, which three projects are most at risk of slipping? Rank them, tell me why, and draft the message I should send to get each one back on track."
Feature | How it works | Can it be turned off? |
|---|---|---|
@Dobbin mentions | Tag @Dobbin in a channel or DM to start a conversation, and it responds directly to your message. | n/a |
Adding more channels | Tag @Dobbin and click Add them | n/a |
Ambient learning | Dobbin keeps learning from conversations in its channels and turns what it learns into suggested updates in HQ. A Dobbin admin approves each update before it changes your Foundation or Knowledge Base. | Updates only apply with admin approval |
Weekly summaries | Dobbin posts a weekly summary of what's happened in its channels. | Yes, by a Dobbin admin in HQ |
Helpful nudges | Occasionally, Dobbin offers to help on a thread by surfacing past conversations that relate to it. | Yes, by a Dobbin admin in HQ |
Security & Data Privacy
Isolated: Your data lives in a dedicated, isolated instance.
Never used for training: Your data is never used to train outside AI models.
Certified: SOC 2 Type 2 compliant and ISO 27001 certified.
Encrypted: AES-256 at rest and SSL in transit.
Only what you choose: Dobbin reads only the channels it's added to.
Deleted if you don't continue: If you don't continue after your trial, your data is deleted. We don't keep it.
Support & Contact
For questions, technical support, or enterprise deployment assistance:
Support Email: support@dobbin.ai
