Approvals and files in Slack and Teams

Qubit asks you before it runs an action that changes something, and it can read the files you send and post charts and files back. This page covers the approval cards, sending files and screenshots, and receiving files in Slack and Teams. The general rules for approvals and for file types are in Approving Qubit's actions and Files and charts in chat; this page says what is different in Slack and Teams.

Before you start: you ask Qubit as described in Qubit in Slack and Teams. Which actions need approval is set by your organisation's tool policy, not here.

Approve or deny an action

When Qubit needs your approval, it posts a card in the conversation. The card shows Approval needed, the tool Qubit wants to run, the reason, and the details it would run with. Long details are cut after 1,500 characters.

1. Read the tool and the details.
2. Select Approve to let Qubit run it, or Deny to stop it.
3. The card is replaced by a line that says the action was approved or denied, and by whom. Qubit then carries on with the answer in the same thread or conversation. In Teams, a short message first says Running the approved action… or Recording the denial….

Rules for approvals:

• Only the person whose question led to the approval can decide it. If someone else selects a button, Qubit replies Only the person who asked can approve this action. and the card stays for the person who asked.
• An approval works once. A second click on the same card does nothing.
• When several actions are waiting, each has its own card, and the answer shows Waiting for your approval above. After you decide one, Qubit replies Recorded. Waiting for your decision on the other approval above. until you have decided them all. Qubit goes on with the answer after the last decision.
• The cards in Slack and Teams have only Approve and Deny. They do not have the standing-approval choices you may see in the chat pane in QuantumOps.
• Approval cards in a conversation that is open in QuantumOps cannot be decided there. The chat pane says to decide them on their card in Slack or Teams.

If you ask privately in Slack with /qubit or Ask Qubit, the approval card is private too, and so is the rest of the answer (Commands and private answers).

Routines never ask for approval. A routine runs while nobody watches, so when it needs an approval it says what it would have done instead of doing it.

Send a file or a screenshot to Qubit

1. In Slack, attach the file to a direct message with Qubit, or to a message that mentions Qubit. In Teams, attach the file or paste the screenshot into your personal chat with the bot.
2. Add your question. You can also send the file with no text, and Qubit treats it as a question about the file.
3. Qubit reads the file together with your question and answers.

A message with a file is always read as a question. Words such as status or help in it are part of your question and do not run a command.

Limits that apply in Slack and Teams:

• Up to 20 files go with one message.
• Images can be about 3.75 MB. In Slack, a larger image is read at Slack's own smaller preview size when Slack has one.
• Other files can be up to 32 MB. The types Qubit can read are listed in Files and charts in chat.
• Until you link your account, you can send images, PDF and text files only (.png, .jpg, .jpeg, .gif, .webp, .pdf, .txt, .log, .csv), 10 MB each and 10 per conversation. Linking lifts these limits; see Linking your Slack or Teams account.
• Teams cannot pass on files that are shared in a channel or a group chat. Send the file to Qubit in your personal chat instead.

Read the Not included line

When Qubit cannot use a file, the answer starts with a line that begins Not included and names each file with the reason. The rest of your message is still answered.

If none of your files can be used and you wrote no text, Qubit replies with the line alone, or says I couldn't read the files you sent.

Receive a chart or a file from Qubit

When Qubit makes a chart or a file, it posts it right after the answer.

• Slack: Qubit uploads the file into the same thread. Charts arrive as pictures. Qubit must be a member of the channel, and the Slack app needs permission to upload files (see below). A private answer cannot carry a file, because Slack has no private file message: the private reply holds a download link instead.
• Teams: a chart or picture up to 1 MB appears in the chat as a picture (PNG, JPEG or GIF). A larger picture arrives as a card with Open image. Any other file arrives as a card with its name, kind and size, and Download.

Download links work for 24 hours for anyone who has the link and need no sign-in. A Teams file card also has Open in QuantumOps, and a note about a file Qubit could not post ends with a link to open the file in QuantumOps any time. That link asks you to sign in and works only for the person whose question produced the file, signed in with the QuantumOps account their link uses. Colleagues use the 24-hour link.

If Qubit cannot post a file, it says so in a note, for example I couldn't post chart.png here, with the reason, the 24-hour download link and the link to open the file in QuantumOps. Files made by a routine are posted in the same way, after the routine's text.

What the Slack app needs for files

Files work in Slack only when the Slack app has two permissions, files:read to read what you send and files:write to post what Qubit makes. An Administrator adds them to the Slack app and reinstalls it in the workspace; see Setting up the Slack app. Until then, a file you send shows in the Not included line with a message about the missing permission, and a file Qubit makes arrives as a download link instead of an upload.

Related pages

• Qubit in Slack and Teams: asking Qubit.
• Approving Qubit's actions: how approvals work everywhere.
• Files and charts in chat: the file types and limits in the web app.
• Setting up the Slack app: the Slack permissions.