Slack Message Formatting

Slack uses mrkdwn format, NOT standard Markdown.

Text Formatting

| Style | Slack mrkdwn | Standard Markdown (WRONG) | | -------- | ------------ | ------------------------- | | Bold | *text* | ~~**text**~~ | | Italic | _text_ | ~~*text*~~ | | Code | `text` | `text` ✓ | | ~Strike~ | ~text~ | ~text~ ✓ |

Headers

Slack does NOT support markdown headers.

• ❌ Wrong: ## Header
• ✅ Correct: Use *Bold Text* with line breaks

Links

Format: <url|link text>
Example: <https://jira.example.com|View in Jira>
Auto-link: <https://example.com>

Lists

• Bullet points: • item or - item
• Numbered lists: 1. item

Code Blocks

Use triple backticks (same as standard markdown)

Block Quotes

> This is a quote

Common Emoji Shortcodes

| Shortcode | Emoji | | -------------------- | ----- | | :white_check_mark: | ✅ | | :warning: | ⚠️ | | :rocket: | 🚀 | | :fire: | 🔥 | | :thinking_face: | 🤔 | | :tada: | 🎉 | | :x: | ❌ |

Example Comparison

❌ Wrong (Standard Markdown)

## **Breakdown by Status:**

### 🔨 **In Progress (2 issues)**

- **PROJ-25519** - Create analytics events (Tom)
- **PROJ-26838** - Export Case Details (Unassigned)

✅ Correct (Slack mrkdwn)

*Breakdown by Status:*

*🔨 In Progress (2 issues):*
• `PROJ-25519` - Create analytics events (Tom)
• `PROJ-26838` - Export Case Details (Unassigned)

*✅ Ready for Deployment (2 issues):*
• `PROJ-25731` - HPO term fix (Daniel)
• `PROJ-25607` - Fix text highlighting (Amitai)

MCP Tools

• ai_first_slack_send_dm - Send direct message
• ai_first_slack_send_channel_message - Send to channel
• ai_first_slack_lookup_user_by_email - Look up user

Verification Checklist

• [ ] Bold text uses *single asterisks*
• [ ] No ## header symbols visible
• [ ] Issue keys appear in monospace with backticks
• [ ] Emoji render properly
• [ ] Links use <url|text> format