Are you looking to add a splash of creativity and life to your Slack channels? Enter Slacknimate, a powerful tool designed for real-time text animation within Slack messages. Perfect for ChatOps, this nifty utility makes process monitoring more engaging and even adds a touch of humor or art to your conversations. Let’s dive into how to install and use Slacknimate effectively!
Primary Use Case: ChatOps
Slacknimate is primarily created for ChatOps, transforming mundane message exchanges into lively choreographed animations. Pictures speak louder than words, so here’s an example of what it does:

Alternative Uses
Slacknimate hasn’t just stopped at ChatOps. It has also become a hit in other fun use cases like:
- Comedy
- Art
Check out these vibrant animations:


Installation
Getting started with Slacknimate is easy. Follow these simple steps:
- Download a binary suitable for your OS architecture from the Releases Page.
- If you’re a Homebrew user, simply run:
brew install slacknimate - Ensure that the downloaded binary is available on your
$PATH.
Authentication
Next, authenticate your Slack app and generate an API token. Keep in mind that your app should have the appropriate OAuth scopes to post messages in your desired channels. You can supply this token via the --api-token flag or set it as the SLACK_TOKEN environment variable.
Usage Instructions
Now that everything is set up, let’s look at how to utilize Slacknimate to animate your messages:
NAME: slacknimate - text animation for Slack messages
USAGE: slacknimate [options]
VERSION: 1.1.0-development
GLOBAL OPTIONS:
--token value, -a value Slack API token
--channel value, -c value Slack channel
--username value Slack username
--icon-url value Slack icon from url
--icon-emoji value Slack icon from emoji
--delay value, -d value minimum delay between frames (default: 1)
--loop, -l loop content upon reaching EOF (default: false)
--preview preview on terminal only (default: false)
--help, -h show help (default: false)
--version, -v print the version (default: false)
Creating Simple Animation Loops
To start a basic animation loop in a channel, simply execute the following command:
$ slacknimate -c #general --loop examples/emoji.txt
Here’s a preview of it in action:

Realtime Process Monitoring
Want to avoid cluttering your chatroom with repeated monitoring messages? Use Slacknimate for real-time status updates. Here’s how:
$ .examples/process.sh 5 slacknimate -c #devops
This command will give you dynamic updates in your chosen channel:

Preview in Terminal
Not sure how your animation will look? Use the --preview flag to see it in the terminal before sending it across:
$ slacknimate --preview --loop -d 0.25 examples/sample.txt
Here’s a sneak peek of the preview:

Troubleshooting
If you run into issues while using Slacknimate, consider the following troubleshooting tips:
- Ensure your Slack app is properly authenticated with the correct OAuth scopes.
- Check that the binary is installed correctly and is accessible on your
$PATH. - Confirm that your Slack token is valid and not expired.
For personalized assistance and further insights, feel free to connect with us at fxis.ai.
Conclusion
At fxis.ai, we believe that such advancements are crucial for the future of AI, as they enable more comprehensive and effective solutions. Our team is continually exploring new methodologies to push the envelope in artificial intelligence, ensuring that our clients benefit from the latest technological innovations.

