What causes "slack: resolve channel name for %s: %w" in chenhg5/cc-connect?

Verify the channel ID exists and the bot can see it (try conversations.list with the same token)

slack: resolve channel name for %s: %w

Error message

slack: resolve channel name for %s: %w

What it means

ResolveChannelName maps a Slack channel ID to its human-readable name via client.GetConversationInfo. This error wraps any failure from that API call — invalid or unknown channel ID, missing scope, rate limit, or network error — and includes the channel ID for context.

Source

Thrown at platform/slack/slack.go:649

	if err != nil || name == "" {
		return channelID
	}
	return name
}

func (p *Platform) ResolveChannelName(channelID string) (string, error) {
	p.channelCacheMu.RLock()
	if name, ok := p.channelNameCache[channelID]; ok {
		p.channelCacheMu.RUnlock()
		return name, nil
	}
	p.channelCacheMu.RUnlock()

	info, err := p.client.GetConversationInfo(&slack.GetConversationInfoInput{
		ChannelID: channelID,
	})
	if err != nil {
		return "", fmt.Errorf("slack: resolve channel name for %s: %w", channelID, err)
	}

	p.channelCacheMu.Lock()
	p.channelNameCache[channelID] = info.Name
	p.channelCacheMu.Unlock()

	return info.Name, nil
}

// FormattingInstructions returns Slack mrkdwn formatting guidance for the agent.
func (p *Platform) FormattingInstructions() string {
	return `You are responding in Slack. Use Slack's mrkdwn format, NOT standard Markdown:
- Bold: *text* (single asterisks, not double)
- Italic: _text_
- Strikethrough: ~text~
- Code: ` + "`text`" + `
- Code block: ` + "```text```" + `
- Blockquote: > text

View on GitHub (pinned to 4000b2338a)

Solutions

Verify the channel ID exists and the bot can see it (try conversations.list with the same token)
Add the required scope (channels:read for public, groups:read for private) and reinstall the app
Check whether the error wraps a rate-limit (rate_limited) and retry with backoff
Invite the bot to the channel or use a channel ID from a fresh session

Example fix

// before
// token lacks channels:read, GetConversationInfo fails
// after
// In Slack app settings: OAuth & Permissions -> add channels:read / groups:read, reinstall app

Defensive patterns

Strategy: try-catch

Validate before calling

// pre-flight: can this token resolve channels at all?
_, err := p.client.GetConversations(&slack.GetConversationsParameters{Limit: 1})

Try / catch

name, err := p.ResolveChannelName(channelID)
var rl *slack.RateLimitedError
if errors.As(err, &rl) { time.Sleep(rl.RetryAfter); name, err = p.ResolveChannelName(channelID) }
if err != nil { name = channelID /* fallback to raw ID */ }

Prevention

Grant channels:read and groups:read scopes at install time
Cache resolved channel names (the adapter already does) to limit API calls
Fall back to displaying the raw channel ID on failure
Re-add the bot after it is removed from channels

When it happens

Trigger: GetConversationInfo returns an error: channel ID no longer exists (channel deleted/archived), bot is not a member and lacks the scope, Slack rate limit hit, or network/API failure.

Common situations: Bot token missing groups:read/channels:read scope; messaging a channel the bot was removed from; stale channel ID stored in an old session after the channel was deleted; Slack 429 rate limiting under heavy traffic.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of chenhg5/cc-connect@4000b2338a (2026-09-06). Data as JSON: /api/errors/39a4c06b877d1b6a. Report an issue: GitHub.