pasting slack messages into notes

[trashhalo]

One of my workflows is exporting conversations from slack so I can annotate them and remember information. Slack messages copy and paste terribly in obsidian. This cleans them up so it presents cleanly in markdown. Does not work on mobile. I highlight the text starting from their user name.

<%*
const clip = await navigator.clipboard.read();
if(clip[0] && clip[0].types.includes('text/html')) {
	const htmlBlob = await clip[0].getType('text/html');
	const html  = await (new Response(htmlBlob)).text();
	//tR += "```\n"+html+"\n```\n\n"
	const parser = new DOMParser();
	const doc =  parser.parseFromString(html, "text/html"); 
	const messages = Array.from(doc.querySelectorAll('.c-message_kit__message'));
	messages.forEach((m) => {
		const sender = m.querySelector('.c-message__sender_link');
		if(sender) {
			tR += `[[${sender.innerText}]]\n`;
		}
		const body = m.querySelector('.c-message_kit__blocks');
		if(body) {
			tR += `${tp.obsidian.htmlToMarkdown(body.innerHTML)}\n`;
		}
		const text = m.querySelector('.c-message_kit__text');
		if(text) {
			tR += `${text.innerText}\n`;
		}
		tR += '\n'
	});
} else {
	tR = 'no html in clipboard';
}
%>

[AB1908]

Could you add a picture?

[trashhalo]

Copy and paste without template

Using template

[AB1908]

That looks pretty cool, thanks for taking the time.

[mikevalstar]

They changed the format of their HTML a little, here's a quick update:

<%*
const clip = await navigator.clipboard.read();
if(clip[0] && clip[0].types.includes('text/html')) {
	const htmlBlob = await clip[0].getType('text/html');
	const html  = await (new Response(htmlBlob)).text();
	//tR += "```\n"+html+"\n```\n\n"
	const parser = new DOMParser();
	const doc =  parser.parseFromString(html, "text/html"); 
	const messages = Array.from(doc.querySelectorAll('.c-message_kit__message'));
	messages.forEach((m) => {
		const sender = m.querySelector('.c-message__sender_button');
		if(sender) {
			tR += `[[${sender.innerText}]]\n`;
		}
		const body = m.querySelector('.c-message_kit__blocks');
		if(body) {
			tR += `${tp.obsidian.htmlToMarkdown(body.innerHTML)}\n`;
		}
		const text = m.querySelector('.c-message_kit__text');
		if(text) {
			tR += `${text.innerText}\n`;
		}
		tR += '\n'
	});
} else {
	tR = 'no html in clipboard';
}
%>

[volker-fr]

the htmlToMarkdown doesn't handle the <span block well. I use a modified version that replaces the span with a paragraph.

	        if(body) {
	                 var inner = body.innerHTML;
	                 var spanFix = inner.replace(/<span\s[^>]*class="c-mrkdwn__br".*?><\/span>/g, '<p/>');
	                 msg += `${tp.obsidian.htmlToMarkdown(spanFix)}\n`;
	        }

[marshes]

I might be doing something wrong but I used the block that mikevalstar posted and replaced his if(body) block with yours, and the templater engine ends up failing to parse it.

Does this still work for you? can you share your full template?

[othmanbbm]

Thanks! it really helped. I'm trying to remove spaces between lines, if anyone has an idea. Cheers

[TheStapher]

Hello from the future 👋😅

I’ve been trying to get this to work and can’t seem to get it to work correctly. @trashhalo is there any chance you can take a peak at this and share the script you’re currently using? (If you are still using it / if it has changed)

Thanks a million!

[iesope]

This is fantastic, any way you can make it placed inside quote?

[mr-mustash]

This was fantastic, thank you! We heavily use Slack threads, so I've made a version specifically for capturing those. It also includes the following nice-to-haves:

• Captures all users in the thread and adds them to the document's property
  • Allows for display name overriding in the property if someone's name doesn't match what you have in Obsidian
• Converts relative timestamps to absolute timestamps
• Colorizing names for an easier reading experience

Slack Thread.md

I've had GPT-4o annotate the script below to hopefully give others a chance to use and modify it to their liking.

<%*
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
// Slack Thread → Obsidian Chat Note Template
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

// --- Helper Functions -------------------------------------------------------

// Strip leading Slack emoji codes like `:headphones:` or `:party-blob:`
// from the start of a string.
function stripLeadingEmojis(line) {
    let result = line.trim();
    // Repeatedly remove colon-delimited tokens from the start (e.g. ":abc:")
    // along with any trailing spaces.
    while (true) {
        let match = result.match(/^:([^:\s]+):\s*/);
        if (!match) break;
        result = result.substring(match[0].length).trim();
    }
    return result;
}

// Attempt to detect if a line is a Slack-style timestamp line
// after removing leading emojis/status. Returns cleanedTimeLine if matched, else null.
function detectTimestamp(line) {
    let stripped = stripLeadingEmojis(line);

    // Regex to match a variety of Slack time stamps:
    //  1) Today at HH:MM
    //  2) Yesterday at HH:MM
    //  3) Monday at HH:MM, Tuesday at HH:MM, etc. (Mon|Tues|Wednes|... might be refined)
    //  4) Jan 19th at HH:MM (or any other month + st|nd|rd|th)
    //  5) X (minute|hour|day)s? ago
    let tsRegex = new RegExp(
      '^(' +
        '(Today at \\d{1,2}:\\d{2})' +
        '|(Yesterday at \\d{1,2}:\\d{2})' +
        '|((?:Mon|Tues|Wednes|Thurs|Fri|Satur|Sun)day at \\d{1,2}:\\d{2})' +
        '|((?:Jan|Feb|Mar|Apr|May|Jun|Jul|Aug|Sep|Oct|Nov|Dec)\\s+\\d{1,2}(?:st|nd|rd|th)?\\s+at\\s+\\d{1,2}:\\d{2})' +
        '|(\\d+\\s+(?:minute|hour|day)s?\\s+ago)' +
      ')$',
      'i'
    );

    return tsRegex.test(stripped) ? stripped : null;
}

// Convert a Slack-like relative or textual time into a best-guess ISO date (YYYY-MM-DD).
function parseSlackTimeStringToDate(slackTimeString) {
    const now = new Date();

    // Helper to set just the HH:MM on a Date
    function setTimeOnDate(dateObj, hhmm) {
        let [hh, mm] = hhmm.split(':');
        dateObj.setHours(parseInt(hh), parseInt(mm), 0, 0);
    }

    let raw = slackTimeString.trim().toLowerCase();

    // 1) "X minutes/hours/days ago"
    let mAgo = raw.match(/^(\d+)\s+(minute|hour|day)s?\s+ago$/);
    if (mAgo) {
        let [unused_ago, amountStr, unit] = mAgo;  // changed '_' to unused_ago
        let amount = parseInt(amountStr);
        let dateObj = new Date(now);
        switch (unit) {
            case 'minute': dateObj.setMinutes(dateObj.getMinutes() - amount); break;
            case 'hour':   dateObj.setHours(dateObj.getHours() - amount); break;
            case 'day':    dateObj.setDate(dateObj.getDate() - amount); break;
        }
        return dateObj.toISOString().split('T')[0];
    }

    // 2) "Today at HH:MM"
    let mToday = raw.match(/^today at (\d{1,2}:\d{2})$/);
    if (mToday) {
        let [unused_today, timePart] = mToday;  // changed '_' to unused_today
        let dateObj = new Date(now);
        setTimeOnDate(dateObj, timePart);
        return dateObj.toISOString().split('T')[0];
    }

    // 3) "Yesterday at HH:MM"
    let mYesterday = raw.match(/^yesterday at (\d{1,2}:\d{2})$/);
    if (mYesterday) {
        let [unused_yest, timePart] = mYesterday;  // changed '_' to unused_yest
        let dateObj = new Date(now);
        dateObj.setDate(dateObj.getDate() - 1);
        setTimeOnDate(dateObj, timePart);
        return dateObj.toISOString().split('T')[0];
    }

    // 4) "[Mon|Tues|Wednes|etc]day at HH:MM"
    let mWeekday = raw.match(/^((mon|tues|wednes|thurs|fri|satur|sun)day) at (\d{1,2}:\d{2})$/);
    if (mWeekday) {
        let [unused_week, fullDay, shortDay, timePart] = mWeekday;  // changed '_' to unused_week
        let dateObj = new Date(now);
        let targetDayIndex = ['sun','mon','tues','wednes','thurs','fri','satur']
          .findIndex(d => fullDay.startsWith(d));
        let currentDayIndex = dateObj.getDay(); // 0=Sun,1=Mon,...
        // Move backwards in time until dayOfWeek matches target
        while (dateObj.getDay() !== targetDayIndex) {
            dateObj.setDate(dateObj.getDate() - 1);
        }
        setTimeOnDate(dateObj, timePart);
        return dateObj.toISOString().split('T')[0];
    }

    // 5) "Jan 19th at 14:03" (or other months)
    let mMonthDay = raw.match(/^([a-z]{3,})\s+(\d{1,2})(st|nd|rd|th)?\s+at\s+(\d{1,2}:\d{2})$/);
    if (mMonthDay) {
        let [unused_mon, monthStr, dayStr, unused_suffix, timePart] = mMonthDay;  // changed '_' 
        let dateObj = new Date(now);
        let months = {
            jan: 0, feb: 1, mar: 2, apr: 3, may: 4, jun: 5,
            jul: 6, aug: 7, sep: 8, oct: 9, nov: 10, dec: 11
        };
        let monthIndex = months[monthStr.substring(0,3)];
        let year = dateObj.getFullYear();
        dateObj.setMonth(monthIndex);
        dateObj.setDate(parseInt(dayStr));
        setTimeOnDate(dateObj, timePart);
        return dateObj.toISOString().split('T')[0];
    }

    // If nothing matched, fallback to null
    return null;
}

// --- Main Template Logic ----------------------------------------------------

let outputText = "";
let participants = new Set();
let conversationDate = null;

// Define custom mappings for Obsidian participant names
const userMapping = {
    "Alice": "Alice Smith",
    "Bob Johnson": "Me"
};

// Get current timestamp for relative time calculations
const now = new Date();

// Read clipboard contents
const clip = await tp.system.clipboard();
console.log("Raw Clipboard Content:\n", clip);

if (!clip) {
    tR = "No clipboard content detected.";
} else {
    let lines = clip
      .split("\n")
      .map(line => line.trimEnd())  // preserve leading spaces if necessary, remove trailing
      .filter(line => line.length > 0);

    console.log("Lines Detected:", lines.length);
    console.log("Lines Preview:\n", lines.slice(0, 10));

    let currentUser = "";
    let currentTimeRaw = "";  // store the line exactly as Slack gave
    let messageBuffer = [];

    for (let i = 0; i < lines.length; i++) {
        let line = lines[i];

        if (i + 1 < lines.length) {
            // Attempt to see if next line is a timestamp (with possible emojis).
            let candidateTimestamp = detectTimestamp(lines[i + 1]);
            if (candidateTimestamp) {
                // We found a new user + timestamp scenario.
                // 1) Output the previous user block, if any
                if (currentUser && messageBuffer.length > 0) {
                    outputText += `**<span class="chat-user" data-user="${currentUser}">${currentUser}</span>** (${currentTimeRaw})\n`
                                + messageBuffer.join("\n")
                                + "\n\n";
                }
                // 2) Reset for the new user
                currentUser = line.trim();
                participants.add(currentUser); // track Slack name
                currentTimeRaw = candidateTimestamp;

                // Attempt to parse out a normalized date for conversationDate
                let parsedDate = parseSlackTimeStringToDate(candidateTimestamp);
                if (!conversationDate && parsedDate) {
                    conversationDate = parsedDate;
                } else if (!conversationDate) {
                    // If we STILL don't have a conversation date, store raw
                    conversationDate = candidateTimestamp;
                }

                // Skip the timestamp line so it doesn't become message text
                i++;
                messageBuffer = [];
                continue;
            }
        }

        // If we reach here, it’s either:
        //   - additional lines of the current user’s message
        //   - or random text that doesn't match the pattern
        if (currentUser) {
            // Belongs to the current user's message
            messageBuffer.push(line);
        } else {
            // If there's no currentUser yet, store or discard as you prefer.
            // We'll discard for cleanliness (typical Slack threads).
        }
    }

    // Flush last user’s message if any
    if (currentUser && messageBuffer.length > 0) {
        outputText += `**<span class="chat-user" data-user="${currentUser}">${currentUser}</span>** (${currentTimeRaw})\n`
                    + messageBuffer.join("\n")
                    + "\n\n";
    }

    console.log("Participants Found:", Array.from(participants));
    console.log("Conversation Date:", conversationDate);

    // Build frontmatter if there's any content
    if (participants.size > 0 || outputText.trim().length > 0) {
        let dateToStore = conversationDate || "Unknown";
        outputText =
          `---\n` +
          `participants:\n` +
           Array.from(participants)
                .map(name => `  - "[[${userMapping[name] || name}]]"`)
                .join("\n") +
          `\ndate: ${dateToStore}\n` +
          `link:\n` +
          `---\n\n` +
          outputText;
    }

    // Final result
    tR = outputText;
}
%>

slack-user-names.css

Here is how you can override colors so that you get pretty display names in Obsidian.

.chat-user {
    font-weight: bold;
}

.chat-user[data-user] {
    color: var(--user-color);
}

/* Generate unique colors dynamically */
.chat-user[data-user="Alice"] { --user-color: #D67BDA; }
.chat-user[data-user="Bob Johnson"] { --user-color: #AAA841; }
.chat-user[data-user="George Smith"] { --user-color: #9A8FE8; }

All of this allows the document to look like the following when you create a new document from a template and have a slack thread in your paste buffer.

[ana-tarrisse]

Thank yooou!

[MelGrubb]

I found this because I'm looking for a way to preserve a Slack thread before it disappears. I'm not sure I'm understanding how it works, though. I've highlighted an entire Slack thread, copied it to my clipboard, and started a new document from this as a templater template. I get an empty note. Any tips?

[NMassarelli]

I had this issue too with mr-mustache's, its because the regular expression that figures out the dates does not account for some date phrasings as well as AM and PM. They might be related to language or other settings so results may vary. I changed that regex to this:

let tsRegex = new RegExp(
       '^(' +
         '(\\d{1,2}:\\d{2} (?:AM|PM))' +
         '|(Today at \\d{1,2}:\\d{2} (?:AM|PM))' +
         '|(Yesterday at \\d{1,2}:\\d{2} (?:AM|PM))' +
         '|((?:Mon|Tues|Wednes|Thurs|Fri|Satur|Sun)day at \\d{1,2}:\\d{2} (?:AM|PM))' +
         '|((?:Jan|Feb|Mar|Apr|May|Jun|Jul|Aug|Sep|Oct|Nov|Dec)\\s+\\d{1,2}(?:st|nd|rd|th) \\s+at\\s+\\d{1,2}:\\d{2})' +
         '|(\\d+\\s+(?:minute|hour|day)s?\\s+ago)' +
       ')$',
       'i'
    );

It seems to be working as expected
I hope this helps!

[mr-mustash]

Ohhh, apologies. I believe this happened because I have Slack set to use 24 hour time, so I never see AM/PM in the timestamps and didn't account for it.

Thank you @NMassarelli for the fix!

[MelGrubb]

I've swapped out the regex, but it makes no difference. I AM using 12-hour time in Slack, so this fix would have been needed, but I still end up with a blank note. Am I even using this correctly?

I have created a template called "Slack Thread", and pasted in everything in the code block above, and replaced the regex definition with the updated version from NMasserelli. I go to Slack (the app), highlight the entire thread I'm interested in, and hit ctrl-c. I verify that it's in my clipboard by pasting it into a text editor. So far, so good. Then, I go to Obsidian, right-click on a folder, and then <% Create new note from template. I choose the "Slack thread" template defined above and I get a blank note with nothing in it. What am I missing?