Slack Issues

Fix Tenali not answering in Slack, missing channel replies, failed file uploads, and stuck CRM approval cards.

Most Slack problems are one of three things: the connection needs refreshing, Tenali isn't in the channel, or the question landed on a surface where Tenali doesn't have access to the answer. Tenali usually tells you which — this page maps each message to its fix.

For adding channels as sources, see Connect Slack Channels. For what each surface can see, see Tenali in Slack.

Tenali doesn't answer my DM

Nothing happens at all. Check that Slack still shows Connected on the Integrations page. If it does and Tenali is still silent, Disconnect and Connect again — a revoked token can leave the row looking healthy.

"Your Slack connection to Tenali looks disconnected. Reconnect it…" Exactly what it says: reconnect Slack from the Integrations page.

"I need updated Slack permissions for that — an admin (or you) can reconnect Slack from Tenali → Integrations → Slack to grant them, then try again." Your workspace's install predates a capability you just tried to use — commonly file uploads or channel replies. Reconnect Slack and the permission is granted.

"You're sending questions faster than I can answer — give me a minute and try again." You've hit the limit of 20 questions a minute. Wait a minute and continue.

"Your Tenali plan doesn't include chat right now — you can upgrade at app.tenali.ai." The trial or subscription has lapsed. See Billing and Plan Management.

"Got it — I'll answer this as soon as I finish the current one." Nothing's wrong — you sent a follow-up while Tenali was still answering in the same thread, and it's holding it. It answers as soon as the current reply lands. If you send several in a row, it answers your latest.

"I'm still working on your previous question — please send that one again in a moment." The previous answer in this thread is taking unusually long, so Tenali stopped holding your follow-up rather than keep you waiting indefinitely. Send it again once the current answer arrives.

"There's a CRM change above waiting for your approve or deny. Once you've answered it, send this again:" Your follow-up arrived while Tenali was preparing a CRM card. Tenali won't answer past a card you haven't looked at, so it quotes your question back. Approve or discard the card above, then send the question again.

Tenali doesn't answer in a channel

"I can't post in this channel — add me to it and mention me again." Tenali was tagged in a channel it hasn't been invited to. Type /invite @Tenali in that channel — or mention it and click Invite when Slack offers — then mention it again.

"Ask a teammate who's connected to Tenali to tag me and I'll answer here." The person who tagged Tenali hasn't connected Slack to their own Tenali account. Each person connects their own — see Connect Slack. Anyone who has connected can tag Tenali in that same channel and get an answer.

"Include a question with the mention and I'll answer here in the thread." The mention had no question in it. Tag Tenali and ask something in the same message.

"I don't have anything on that in the shared knowledge base — someone from the team can follow up." This is the most common channel surprise, and it usually isn't a bug.

In a channel, Tenali answers only from sources published to the whole organization. It cannot reach meetings, transcripts, CRM records, or anyone's private files there — by design, so a channel reply can never expose one person's private material to the room.

If Tenali answers the same question fine in a DM but not in a channel, the source behind that answer hasn't been published org-wide. An admin can publish it from the admin sources view — see Organization Sources & Question Analytics.

File uploads

"I take up to 3 files per message — send the rest separately." Split the upload across several messages.

"…it's larger than my 25MB limit." The file exceeds the per-file cap. Upload it from the Sources page in the web app instead, or split it.

"I couldn't finish training on filename." Training failed after the file was accepted. Retry it from Tenali → Sources.

The file uploaded, but a teammate can't use it. That's expected. A file sent through Slack is private to whoever sent it — even for admins. To make it answerable for everyone, an admin shares it from Tenali → Sources.

Nothing happens when I drop a file in a channel. Only files sent in the DM with Tenali are ingested.

CRM approval cards

No card appears when I ask for a CRM update. Write-back needs a healthy HubSpot account connected to your own account — that's the CRM requirement, so there's nothing to enable and nothing to ask support for. With Salesforce, Tenali answers from your records and drafts the update for you to paste instead. Check that HubSpot is connected under your own login, that it isn't flagged as needing re-authorization, and that you haven't got both HubSpot and Salesforce active at once — Tenali stops writing rather than guessing between them. Also make sure you're in a DM with Tenali: channel replies never write to your CRM. See How CRM Connections Work and CRM Issues.

"This approval isn't yours to action." Someone else clicked the button on a card that belongs to a different person's conversation. The person who asked for the change has to approve it.

"I couldn't safely apply that just now, so nothing was changed. Ask me again and I'll re-propose the changes." Two approvals collided, or a previous click was still running, so Tenali stopped rather than risk applying the wrong batch. Nothing was written and the buttons are gone from the card. Clicking again won't help — that click is treated as a duplicate and ignored. Ask Tenali for the change again in the DM and it posts a fresh card.

"This approval is out of date — ask me again and I'll re-propose the changes." / "This approval expired — ask me again and I'll re-propose." The card no longer matches the live proposal — usually because the conversation moved on after the card was posted. Nothing was written. Ask for the change again and approve the new card.

"I couldn't resume that just now — nothing was applied. Ask me again and I'll re-propose the changes." Tenali couldn't pick the approval back up. As the message says, nothing reached your CRM. Ask again and approve the fresh card.

The card shows fewer changes than Tenali described. Large batches show the first 18 changes with a note of how many more there are. Approve all still applies the entire batch.

I only want some of the changes. The Slack card is all-or-nothing. Discard it and ask Tenali for a narrower set, or make the change from chat in the web app, where each row has its own tick box. See Update Your CRM from Chat.

Channel content isn't showing up in answers

A channel's recent messages aren't answerable yet. New messages are picked up automatically but not instantly — typically within the same day.

Messages I expected are missing. Tenali filters out chatter before indexing, keeping the messages that carry real information. A channel that's mostly quick reactions may contribute very little. See Signal Filtering.

A reply inside a thread never became answerable. This isn't the filter — it's how the automatic update works. Updates follow the channel's main timeline, so replies added inside an existing thread aren't picked up on their own, however long you wait. Use the source's Refresh action to re-import the channel and bring those replies in. (The initial import does cover threads; it's only later replies that need a Refresh.)

Edits and deletions in Slack aren't reflected. These aren't picked up automatically. Use the source's Refresh action to re-import the channel.

I can't share a channel with the whole organization. Private channels and channels shared with an outside organization can't be promoted to organization sources.