Slack API - chat.update : "message_not_found"
I'm using the 'slack-node' npm package to build a simple Slack App for my team. The initialization of the bot works great so far. I got it to post a message to a channel after using a custom slash command. This message contains an interactive button, which after the user pressed on it, the message should update.
From my log:
// User uses /event slash command
18:48:50 UTC - - Received [POST] to path [/event]
// API response after posting the message
{ ok: true, message_ts: '1506538130.000343' }
// Incoming request after user pressed the button
18:49:32 UTC - - Received [POST] to path [/button_reply]
// Extracted channel id and message ts
C3PEQESP5 1506538130.000343
// respond after using chat.update
{ ok: false, error: 'message_not_found' }
I made sure I am passing the correct channel ID and message ts, i am 100% sure these parameters are correct since you only have to compare the response (objects).
This is the package I am using: https://www.npmjs.com/package/slack-node
Here is the code snippet I am using:
module.exports = {
postEphemeral : function(text, body, callback) {
slack.api('chat.postEphemeral', {
attachments:JSON.stringify(text.attachments) ,
channel:body.channel_id,
user:body.user_id
}, function(err, response){
console.log(response);
return callback(null);
});
},
updateMessage : function(text, body, callback) {
console.log(body.channel.id, body.message_ts)
slack.api('chat.update', {
attachments:JSON.stringify(text.attachments) ,
channel:body.channel.id,
ts:body.message_ts
}, function(err, response){
console.log(response);
return callback(null);
});
}
}
I think the slack-node package uses the web-api from slack but not sure. According to Slack 'message_not_found' means No message exists with the requested timestamp, which is not true, the message is right there.
Does anyone had the same/similar problem before ?
Thanks for any advice.
I can confirm the chat.postEphemeral generates messages that cannot be updated :
curl -X POST 'https://slack.com/api/chat.postEphemeral?token=xoxp-mytoken&channel=C143CVGRE&text=blabla&user=U334D3FFF&pretty=1'
{
"ok": true,
"message_ts": "1506544109.000059"
}
Then :
curl -X POST 'https://slack.com/api/chat.update?token=xoxp-mytoken&channel=C143CVGRE&text=updated&ts=1506544109.000059&pretty=1'
{
"ok": false,
"error": "channel_not_found"
}
Whereas, messages sent with chat.postMessage can be :
curl -X POST 'https://slack.com/api/chat.postMessage?token=mytoken&channel=C143CVGRE&text=blabla&pretty=1'
{
"ok": true,
"channel": "C143CVGRE",
"ts": "1506544023.000474",
"message": {
"text": "blabla",
"username": "Slack API Tester",
"bot_id": "B4X35D333",
"type": "message",
"subtype": "bot_message",
"ts": "1506544023.000474"
}
}
Then :
curl -X POST 'https://slack.com/api/chat.update?token=mytoken&channel=C143CVGRE&text=updated&ts=1506544023.000474&pretty=1'
{
"ok": true,
"channel": "C143CVGRE",
"ts": "1506544023.000474",
"text": "updated",
"message": {
"text": "updated",
"username": "Slack API Tester",
"bot_id": "B4X35D333",
"type": "message",
"subtype": "bot_message"
}
}
I think it's just because of the very nature of ephemeral messages, that are directed to an end user in a channel and are not persistent. Quoted from https://api.slack.com/methods/chat.postEphemeral :
Ephemeral message delivery is not guaranteed — the user must be currently active in Slack and a member of the specified channel. By nature, ephemeral messages do not persist across reloads, desktop and mobile apps, or sessions.
Hope this helps!