Managed Agent Quickstart

Create a managed agent with Claude, connect it to Slack, and get a reply in under 10 minutes.

This guide walks you through creating a managed agent powered by Claude, connecting it to Slack, and sending your first message.

By the end, you will have a working agent that receives messages from Slack and replies using Claude's reasoning.

Prerequisites:

A Novu account.
A Slack workspace where you can install apps.
A Claude API key from the Anthropic console (optional, you can use Novu demo credentials to start).

Create your agent

Go to the Novu dashboard.
In the sidebar, click Agents.
Click Add Agent.
Under External connectors, select Claude Managed Agent.

Configure the connector

Fill in the following fields to configure the connector:

Integration name: A display name for your connector.
API Key: Your Claude API key from the Anthropic console.
Workspace ID: Your Claude workspace ID from the Anthropic console.

Set a system prompt

You can create the agent in two ways:

Create from prompt: describe what you want the agent to do, and Novu generates a system prompt. You can also pick a preset template (Customer Support, Marketing, etc.).
Create manually: give a name and identifier and write the system prompt yourself.

For a manual prompt, something like this works well:

You are a helpful support agent for Acme Corp. Answer questions about
our products, pricing, and account setup. Keep responses short and
friendly. If you do not know the answer, say so and offer to connect
the user with a human.

Click Create Agent when you are done.

Connect a provider

On the agent setup page, click Select provider.
Choose Slack.
Follow the Slack setup steps in the dashboard:
- Generate a Slack App Configuration Token.
- Paste it in Novu and click Create app.
- Click Install agent to add the bot to your Slack workspace.

The configuration token is used once to create the Slack app and is not stored by Novu.

Send a message

Open Slack and send a direct message to your new bot. Claude processes the message and the reply appears in the thread.

You can also mention the bot in a channel where it has been added.

What to do next

Enable MCP servers: Give the agent access to tools like Linear, GitHub, or Notion from the agent settings page.
Upload custom skills: Add SKILL.md files to teach the agent domain-specific workflows.
Connect more providers: Add Microsoft Teams, email, or other providers from the agent setup page.
View conversations: Open the Activity Feed in the dashboard and switch to the Agent Conversations tab to see message history.