Build your own Slack.
A complete AI build prompt for a team messaging workspace with channels, threads, and direct conversations. Your own code, identity, and workflow.
What your Slack-inspired app will do
Build an original team messaging app called Gather, inspired by the channel-based communication workflows of Slack. It is for small teams that want searchable conversations and fewer scattered messages. The primary flow is joining a workspace, opening a channel, sending a message, and following replies in a thread.
- Workspaces and channels: create a workspace, invite members, create public or private channels, join accessible channels, and edit channel topics. Only channel members can read private channels.
- Messaging: send plain text with safe lightweight formatting; edit and delete your own messages; preserve timestamps; use optimistic sending with clear failed-message retry states.
- Threads and reactions: reply to a message in a separate thread, show reply counts, and add or remove an emoji reaction once per user and emoji.
- Direct conversations: create a direct conversation with another workspace member; show unread counts derived from last-read message position.
- Search and updates: search permitted messages by text and channel; receive new messages through a real-time subscription or reliable polling. Show connection and reconnect states.
Is a DIY Slack alternative right for you?
A DIY Slack alternative makes sense as an experiment in a narrow communication workflow. You can customize channel organization and message interactions, but operating dependable team chat requires ongoing work.
A useful first project: A small private team chat with a limited channel structure and a clear separation between public and private discussions.
Start with a smaller version
Use two test accounts to verify a complete send-and-reply flow. Confirm that a nonmember cannot retrieve a private-channel message through a direct URL or API request.
Know the tradeoffs
Messages must be persisted on a backend and protected by membership checks. Delivery ordering, pagination, reconnects, unread counts, and search permissions are core requirements. Calls, bots, and integrations are outside the starter brief.
Understand the build-vs-buy tradeoffsBuilding your own Slack: useful answers
Is this a ready-to-use Slack alternative?
This page provides a customizable build brief for a team messaging workspace with channels, threads, and direct conversations. It is not a hosted app. Your AI coding agent implements the software; you then need to test, run, and maintain it.
Can I customize the Slack clone prompt?
Yes. Choose Product & audience, Design, Features, Tech stack, or Data & behavior in the editor. Save and copy the complete assembled prompt, or download it as Markdown. Edits are saved in this browser.
What does the starting version leave out?
Test with two users: a message arrives for the other user, a thread updates, reconnect does not duplicate messages, and a user outside a private channel cannot read it by URL or API. Validate message length, preserve ordering, and paginate old messages. Exclude audio/video calls, bots, third-party integrations, and file uploads from this first version.
Original software. Familiar inspiration.
Use your own brand, code, layout, and assets. Clone4.me is independent and is not affiliated with Slack. Read our approach.
Curated by Clone4.me · AI-assisted build briefs · Scope reviewed October 14, 2026
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The complete Slack clone prompt
# Build an original app inspired by Slack
You are an experienced product designer and full-stack engineer. Build a working, polished MVP from the brief below. Implement the core journeys end to end; a static mockup is not sufficient. Inspect the current environment, make sensible implementation decisions, and get started. Ask a question only if a missing answer genuinely blocks implementation.
Starting platform: Web. Explicit customized Product & audience and Tech stack requirements take precedence over this starting target.
## Product & audience
Build an original team messaging app called Gather, inspired by the channel-based communication workflows of Slack. It is for small teams that want searchable conversations and fewer scattered messages. The primary flow is joining a workspace, opening a channel, sending a message, and following replies in a thread.
## Design
Use a clear three-part layout: workspace and channel navigation, a chronological conversation, and an optional thread panel. Use a deep plum sidebar, light message surfaces, distinct unread markers, and compact author and timestamp rows. Keep the composer anchored and make mobile navigation comfortable. Create your own name, visual identity, and assets.
## Features
1. Workspaces and channels: create a workspace, invite members, create public or private channels, join accessible channels, and edit channel topics. Only channel members can read private channels.
2. Messaging: send plain text with safe lightweight formatting; edit and delete your own messages; preserve timestamps; use optimistic sending with clear failed-message retry states.
3. Threads and reactions: reply to a message in a separate thread, show reply counts, and add or remove an emoji reaction once per user and emoji.
4. Direct conversations: create a direct conversation with another workspace member; show unread counts derived from last-read message position.
5. Search and updates: search permitted messages by text and channel; receive new messages through a real-time subscription or reliable polling. Show connection and reconnect states.
## Tech stack
Use the existing repository and conventions if there is one. If starting from scratch, use React with TypeScript and a practical, lightweight styling approach. Pick well-maintained libraries only when they materially help. Keep components, domain logic, and data access separate. Explain your chosen stack briefly, then begin implementation.
Follow the persistence requirements in Data & behavior. Personal tools may use IndexedDB. Products with public submission, bookings, permissions, or shared messaging require an authenticated backend with server-side authorization and durable storage. Use infrastructure already available in the environment. Do not put secrets in frontend code. If external infrastructure is unavailable, build a clearly labeled local demo, provide the schema and setup instructions, and state which shared features need configuration. Do not present simulated sharing or authentication as production functionality.
## Data & behavior
User; Workspace; Membership {userId, workspaceId, role}; Channel {id, workspaceId, name, visibility, topic}; ChannelMember; Conversation; ConversationMember; Message {id, channelId OR conversationId, authorId, parentId, text, editedAt, deletedAt, createdAt}; Reaction {messageId, userId, emoji}; ReadPosition {userId, channelId OR conversationId, messageId}. Use authenticated server storage and enforce membership for every read, write, search, and real-time subscription.
Acceptance checks and scope:
Test with two users: a message arrives for the other user, a thread updates, reconnect does not duplicate messages, and a user outside a private channel cannot read it by URL or API. Validate message length, preserve ordering, and paginate old messages. Exclude audio/video calls, bots, third-party integrations, and file uploads from this first version.
## Originality and assets
The named product is a reference for general workflows only. Use an original product name, visual identity, wording, layout, and assets. Do not copy proprietary code, branded logos, distinctive screens, private APIs, paid templates, or protected media. Use original or appropriately licensed sample data and assets. Build from this brief rather than scraping the reference service. Do not imply affiliation with the referenced company.
## Implementation quality
- Make every visible control work, with clear loading, success, empty, validation, and failure states. Remove controls for unimplemented features.
- Support the target platform and responsive or resizable layouts where appropriate. Use platform-appropriate accessibility semantics, labels, keyboard operation, visible focus, sufficient contrast, and reduced-motion preferences. Provide alternatives for drag-only interactions.
- Validate inputs at the relevant boundary. Treat imported or user-generated content as untrusted; render it safely. Confirm destructive actions or offer undo.
- Keep state changes reliable across navigation and reloads. Never silently lose edits. Handle persistence and network errors with an actionable message.
- Keep the scope realistic. Prioritize the complete primary journey. If a custom Features section differs from the baseline, update the data model, design, and acceptance checks to match it; explicit custom requirements take precedence over baseline assumptions.
- Provide realistic original sample content and a useful empty state. Keep sample data clearly separate from user-created data.
## Delivery and verification
1. Inspect the repository and outline the implementation in a few sentences.
2. Implement the app and connect its actual data flow. Continue until the primary journey works.
3. Run appropriate checks and test the acceptance cases above on the target platform. Verify responsive layouts and keyboard navigation when browser tools are available. For native projects, build with the available SDK and test an emulator or device when possible; report any missing native verification honestly. For games, verify the rules and gameplay loop, not only the menus.
4. Fix observed failures, then provide the runnable result, setup/run instructions, a brief explanation of what is implemented, and any specific configuration or verification limits.
This is a focused MVP. Do not add billing, AI services, or unrelated features unless explicitly requested in the brief. Start building now.
Change just what matters. Customize a section and keep the rest of the brief included.