Configure the shared account for Rovo in Slack

The Rovo app for Slack works in direct messages with the app and in channels without any admin setup. By default, Rovo replies privately in channels: only the person who asked sees the answer, and they choose whether to post it to the channel.

Admin setup is only needed if a team wants Rovo to reply publicly in a channel. That option appears as Shared account in /rovo manage, and it uses a managed bot account in your Atlassian organization. Configuring it is a one-time task per Slack workspace, with 3 steps:

1. Create the bot account

2. Connect your Slack workspace, Atlassian site, and bot account

3. Give the bot account access to knowledge and tools

Custom agents your organization has built in Rovo Studio normally get their access from Rovo Studio instead, set by the agent's owner, so they don't depend on this setup. The exceptions are channels set up before agent accounts existed and some Atlassian sites, where a custom agent uses the shared account just as Rovo does. To learn how team members use Rovo in direct messages and channels, see Use the Rovo app for Slack.

Before you begin

You need:

• Atlassian organization admin access

• Rovo enabled on your Atlassian site

• Permission to authorize apps in your Slack workspace

• A verified domain in your Atlassian organization, so you can create a managed account to use as the bot account

Step 1: Create the bot account

The bot account decides what Rovo can see when it replies publicly in a channel. Everyone in the channel sees those replies, so only give the account access to information you're comfortable with everyone in the channel reading.

The bot account must be:

• A managed Atlassian account in your organization (for example, rovo-slack-bot@yourcompany.com). Create it the same way you create any managed account in a verified domain.

• Licensed for every product you want Rovo to answer from, such as Jira and Confluence. An account without product access can still connect, but Rovo will give empty or incomplete answers.

• A member of exactly one Atlassian organization.

Step 2: Connect your Slack workspace, Atlassian site, and bot account

This step links your Slack workspace to one Atlassian site and tells Rovo which bot account to use for public channel replies.

To connect your Slack workspace:

1. Go to the Rovo Slack setup page. Alternatively, in Slack, open the Rovo app profile and select App homepage.

2. Select your Slack workspace, then select Allow to authorize the Rovo app.

3. Select the Atlassian site you want to connect (for example, yoursite.atlassian.net). Only sites with Rovo enabled can be selected.

4. Enter the bot account you created in Step 1.

5. Save your configuration.

The change usually takes effect immediately, but can take up to an hour to reach everyone in your organization.

Step 3: Give the bot account access to knowledge and tools

Rovo can only answer from what the bot account can reach, so grant access deliberately.

Keep these limits in mind:

• Private Slack channels: The bot account isn't a member of your private channels, so it can't read their contents.

• Actions always run as the person asking: Even in a shared account channel, actions such as creating or transitioning a work item use the requesting person's own permissions and are confirmed privately to them. A shared account never performs actions on someone else's behalf.

Turn on public replies in a channel

After Steps 1 to 3 are complete, anyone in a channel can switch Rovo to public replies in that channel.

To turn on public replies in a channel:

1. In the channel, type /rovo manage.

2. Select More actions (•••) on the first agent.

3. Select Rovo.

4. Set its access to Shared account.

5. Save your changes.

Rovo now answers publicly in that channel, using the bot account's access.

Requesting user is the default and needs none of this setup. In that mode, Rovo uses the asking person's own permissions and replies privately to them, and they choose whether to post the answer to the channel.

Shared account is always shown as an option. If no managed bot account has been configured, selecting it shows a warning that the shared account isn't configured for the site. Complete Steps 1 and 2 first.

For a custom agent, this setting usually isn't offered in Slack at all, because the agent's owner controls its access in Rovo Studio. It only appears in channels set up before agent accounts existed, and on sites that aren't using the Rovo Studio model.

Change the bot account or reinstall Rovo

Run the setup again when you want to change the bot account or the connected Atlassian site, when you see the "connected to more than one organization" message, or when an Enterprise Grid workspace isn't recognized.

1. Go to the Rovo Slack reinstallation page.

2. Complete the same steps as Step 2, entering the new bot account.

3. Give the new bot account the same access as the old one, so your channels keep working.

The change usually takes effect immediately, but can take up to an hour.

Verify the shared account is working

Go to a channel where Rovo is set up, type /rovo manage, confirm the agent shows Shared account, then mention @Rovo with a test question. Rovo should reply publicly in the thread within a few seconds.

If it doesn't, check the following:

How this relates to agent accounts in Rovo Studio

There are two ways a channel reply can be public, and which one applies depends mainly on which agent is answering.