Manas in Slack · How-to

What it is

There is a Slack app called Manas in Kapiva's Slack (All@Kapiva). Find it under Apps in the Slack sidebar, or send a message to @manas. You can use it in two ways:

In a DM with Manas (or in Slack's agent panel or split view): Manas answers as you, with your own Manas account, agents and tools.
By mentioning @Manas in a channel: Manas answers in a thread, as the channel. It uses only the agents that are enabled for Slack, never anyone's private tools or memory.

Every answer ends with a small line that says which agent answered and on which model, for example Manas · Gemini 3.8 Flash.

When to use it

You have a quick question and you are already in Slack.
Your team is discussing something in a channel and wants an answer, a summary or a draft right in the thread.
You want a specific agent, such as Kala for a video, without opening Manas in the browser.
You want to check an answer privately before you share it with the channel.

How to use it

In a DM: connect once

Open Manas in Slack: click Manas under Apps in the sidebar, or search for @manas and send it a message.
The first time, Manas replies with a Connect Manas card. Click it. A Connect page opens on manas.kapiva.tech.
If asked, sign in with your Kapiva Google account. If you have never used Manas before, this creates your Manas account.
Press Connect. Go back to Slack and ask your question again. From now on, Manas answers your DMs as you.

Your Slack email must match your Manas email. Manas only links your Slack account to the Manas account with the same email address.

Add Manas to a channel

In the channel, type /invite @Manas (or mention @Manas there).
Manas replies "Setting up Manas for #channel, ready in about a minute." A minute later it says "Manas is ready here." No admin needed.

The channel needs at least 2 people (guests and bots don't count), and only Kapiva members can add Manas; it doesn't work in channels shared with other companies. The channel gets its own budget, separate from yours.

In a channel: mention @Manas

Type @Manas followed by your question in a channel Manas is in, for example "@Manas which agent makes video ads?"
Manas puts 👀 on your message while it works and answers in a thread under it. You see the answer appear as it is written; press Stop if you want it to stop.
To ask a follow-up, reply in the thread and mention @Manas again. Manas only reads messages that mention it, unless the channel has turned on following threads.
Sent another message in the thread while Manas is still answering (here or in your DM with Manas)? It waits its turn: Manas puts ⏳ on it and shows you "Queued — runs after the current answer" with Send now (stops the current answer and runs yours next) and Remove. Only you can press them. Up to 3 messages can wait in a thread; a queued message that has waited over 30 minutes after a Manas restart is dropped, and Manas tells you.

Pick an agent

You don't always have to: ask Manas for an image or a video and it hands the request to the agent that makes it (Image Studio, Kala). The answer shows Handed to Image Studio and its footer says which agent answered.

How hand-offs work in a thread. Every new message in the thread goes to Manas again, and Manas decides each time: it hands off again (for example make it blue after an image) or answers itself (for example write captions for it). Manas can hand off to agents in the Agent Marketplace and to agents shared with you or your channel; for an agent only its owner uses, use +name. Once you pick an agent with +name or Switch agent, the rest of the thread goes straight to that agent and nothing is handed off. To go back, start a message with +manas or press Switch agent and choose Manas.

Start your message with + and the agent's name, for example +kala make a 20 s video about Ashwagandha Gummies in a DM. In a channel, put it right after the mention: @Manas +kala make a 20 s video about…, or just start a new channel message with it: +kala make a 20 s video about… (Manas answers in a thread).
Or press Switch agent under an answer to ask the same question to another agent.
Or use the Ask an agent shortcut in Slack and choose the agent from the list.

A private answer: /manas

Type /manas followed by your question in any channel. The answer is visible only to you. If you want to share it, press Post to channel.

Catch up on a channel: ask Manas "catch me up on the last 7 days"; for a daily recap create a scheduled chat.

Scheduled chats

A scheduled chat is a question Manas asks itself on a schedule and posts as a new message, for example a weekly ROAS summary every Monday morning, or a morning brief in your DM.

Just say it: @Manas every Monday 10:00 post the weekly ROAS summary here in a channel, or every weekday 9am summarise my calendar in your DM with Manas ("create a scheduled chat every …" works too). Manas shows it to you privately; press Create scheduled chat, or Test run (only you see it) first.
Or with /manas: /manas schedule add "Summarise yesterday's orders" every weekday 9:00 (your DM) or add in #channel (that channel). Schedules: every day 9:00, every weekday 9am, every Monday 10:00, every 2 hours, cron 0 9 * * 1-5. Times are IST unless you add a time zone (9:00 Europe/London); at most once an hour. Start the prompt with +name to pick the agent.
In your DM a scheduled chat runs as you, with your agents and tools. In a channel it runs as the channel, and every member can see, run, pause or delete it; Manas announces each change in the channel.
Test run (only you see it): on the create card, after creating, in /manas schedule list, in the ⋯ menu, or /manas schedule test <id>. Manas runs it once as you and answers in your DM with Manas, then lists the tools it used. Nothing is posted in the channel and it doesn't count as a run.
See and change them: /manas schedule list, /manas schedule pause|resume|delete|run <id>, App Home → Scheduled chats, or the channel's settings (/manas settings). Up to 10 scheduled chats per person and 20 per channel.
Built-in: the Morning brief sits at the top of Scheduled chats with a Built-in tag: turn it on or off and change the time; it can't be deleted and doesn't count toward your 10. Dreaming has its own section on the Home tab and /manas dreaming on|off|time|status|forget.
Google Drive files and folders: put Drive links in the prompt (or /manas schedule file <id> <link>), up to 5. In your DM they're read as you. In a channel Manas first shows you, privately, who in the channel can open each one: press Allow for this scheduled chat or Don't include. Allowing a folder lets each run read the files in it and its subfolders (up to 5 files per run). If sharing gets narrower later, or a new file in the folder isn't open to the same people, the run goes ahead without it and Manas DMs you: Allow for this scheduled chat, Allow and re-run now, or Ignore (no more messages about that file; it still isn't read).
From a workflow: an Activepieces flow can run a scheduled chat when something happens (an order, a form) and pass along what happened; ask a Manas admin for the endpoint.
If a scheduled chat fails 5 times in a row, or you disconnect Manas, it pauses and Manas tells you in a DM. Fix the cause, then resume it.

Ask about a message

Hover over a message, open the ⋮ menu and choose Ask Manas about this. Manas answers about that message and its thread.

Files

Attach files to your question (up to 5, 10 MB each): images, PDFs, Word (.docx), Excel (.xlsx and older .xls, every sheet), PowerPoint (.pptx), CSV, Markdown, JSON and other text files, web pages (.html), saved emails (.eml) and EPUB books. Manas reads their text. A photo over 2 MB (or several photos over 2 MB together) is sent as a smaller preview Slack made of it. Manas also sees up to 6 of the newest images posted earlier in the thread, as previews.
Files from earlier in the thread (attachments and Drive links, last 30 days): Manas sees their names and opens one only when your question needs it. Drive files follow the same rules as a link in your question (below).
Files Manas makes, such as a file from your cloud computer, are attached to the thread when the answer links them. If a file can't be attached, the link stays in the answer.
Images from ChatGPT Images arrive in Slack too: ask a ChatGPT agent for a picture and the image is attached to the thread, like any other file Manas makes.
Save to my Drive: under files Manas attaches there is a Save to my Drive button. Anyone in the conversation can press it; the file goes to their own Google Drive (My Drive). Right away only they see "Saving … to your Drive…", then a second note with the link once it's saved. The first time, Manas asks you privately to Connect Google Drive; then press Save to my Drive again. Files up to 100 MB.

Google Drive links

Paste a link to a Google Doc, Sheet, Slides deck or a file in Drive (PDF, Word, Excel…) in your question, or in the message you use Ask Manas about this on. Manas reads it as you, read-only: only files you can open yourself. It never changes, shares or deletes anything in your Drive; the only thing it ever adds is a file you save with Save to my Drive.

Connect Google Drive once. The first time you share a link, Manas replies with a Connect Google Drive button (it's also on the Manas Home tab). Click it, press Continue with Google and choose your @kapiva.in Google account, the same email as your Slack account. Then ask again.
In a DM, Manas reads your links straight away.
In a channel, everyone sees the answer, so Manas first checks who in the channel can open the file, and asks you privately.
- Everyone can open it: "Read Q3 plan with your Google Drive access? The answer will be visible to #channel." Press Allow (answers in the thread; the footer says read with @you's Drive), Allow with review (only you see the answer first, with Post to thread) or Don't allow (answers without it). Tick Remember for #channel to skip this question next time, in that channel only.
- Not everyone can open it: Manas says "3 of 12 members of #channel can open Q3 plan", "Only you can open Q3 plan" or "Manas couldn't check who in #channel can open Q3 plan", and asks every time, even if you ticked Remember. Press Answer just me (the default: the same question, answered as you, only to you), Show me first (only you see the channel's answer, with Post to thread) or Post to channel anyway.
- Don't ask me in #channel, even for files not everyone can open: for your own files you share on purpose, tick it and press Post to channel anyway. Manas then reads your Drive files in that channel without asking, also for your scheduled chats there. It's off unless you turn it on, for that channel only; undo it on the Home tab with Ask me again.
- See or reset your saved choices on the Manas Home tab, under Drive links in channels.

Only your own questions use your Drive. If someone else mentions Manas in the same thread with a link, Manas asks them, about their Drive. Folders aren't read in questions (only in scheduled chats): link the files inside. Up to 5 linked files per question, 10 MB each.

Google Sheets, Docs and Tasks

In your DM with Manas or in Manas web, Manas can work in your own Sheets, Docs and Google Tasks, as you. It never changes anything until you press Confirm on the card it sends.

Sheets: "what's overdue in the launch tracker?" or "add these three rows to the tracker". The card says where the cells go (Goes to "Row 5 (after the last row)"), shows the cells before and after, and says Formulas: off: values go in exactly as typed. Ask for formulas if you want them (on — text starting with = runs). To change the values, cancel and ask Manas again.
Docs: "add these meeting notes under 'Week 42'", "replace 'Q3' with 'Q4' in the plan" (the card says how many places change) or "make me a copy of this doc" (it goes into your Manas folder in My Drive). The answer links the doc's version history, so you can undo.
Tasks: "what's on my task list?", "add a task: send the deck, due Friday", "mark it done". The first time, Manas sends a link to allow Google Tasks; open it, allow, then ask again.

Diagrams, charts and pages

Ask Manas for a flowchart, a diagram, a small dashboard or a web page and it arrives ready to use, not as a wall of code:

Diagrams (Mermaid flowcharts, sequence diagrams, timelines…) and SVG images are attached to the thread as a picture, with Save to my Drive. The answer keeps a short line with a link to the diagram and its source.
Pages and interactive charts (HTML or React) get a card in the thread: press Open live preview. The page opens on manas.kapiva.tech after you sign in with your @kapiva.in Google account.
Who can open it: the same people who can see the Slack message. From your DM: only you. From a private channel: its members. From a public channel: anyone at Kapiva.
Share it: on the card press ⋯ → Share… (or Share on the page). Add people (they get a DM from Manas with the link) or turn on Anyone at Kapiva with the link. Only the person who asked can share it, and ⋯ → Remove… takes it down for everyone.
On the page: Full screen (or click the top bar and press F) shows only the artifact, filling the screen; Esc leaves. A slide deck takes the arrow keys and space straight away. Hide bar tucks the top bar away behind a small Show bar button, and the page remembers it. The page follows your device's light or dark setting.
Your artifacts, the ones shared with you and the ones from your channels are listed on the Manas Home tab under Artifacts. Open in browser there (or All my artifacts on any artifact page) opens the full list at manas.kapiva.tech/artifacts/, with a search by title.

Live pages and versions

A page can do more than show things: ask for "a team checklist everyone can tick" or "a dashboard that summarises my sheet".

It remembers: a page can keep your own data (only you see it) and shared data (everyone who can open the page sees and changes it, such as votes or a checklist).
It can use Manas AI as you, if you agree: the first time, the page asks "Use Manas AI as you?" with Allow / Don't allow. Its questions run with your Manas account and count against your budget. You need to have connected Manas in Slack.
It can read your Google Drive, read-only, if you agree to that separately ("Let this page read your Google Drive?"). You need Google Drive connected in Slack. Only allow pages you trust: what a page reads can show on it and be saved where others who open it see it.
The page's footer shows what you allowed; Reset takes it back.
Versions: ask Manas to change the page in the same thread ("add a total row") and the same link shows the new version; the card in the thread says v2, v3… Older versions stay on the page (the version menu at the top), and its saved data stays too. Only the person who asked for the page updates it this way.

Channel settings: /manas settings

Any member of a channel can type /manas settings to change how Manas works there:

Default agent: the agent that answers when nobody picks one.
Allowed agents: which agents can be used in this channel.
Replies: only when someone mentions Manas, or also follow threads Manas is in.
Channel instructions: things Manas should always keep in mind here.
"Need a human?" contacts: the people Manas tags when someone asks for a person.
Slack read tools: whether agents may read messages in Slack to answer.

Every change is announced in the channel, so everyone knows what changed.

Memory

In a channel, Manas has a memory of its own for that channel, shared by everyone in it. Just ask:

@Manas remember our launch date is 1 Nov
@Manas what do you remember?
@Manas forget the launch date

Every change is posted in the thread (📌 Updated channel memory, 🗑 Removed channel memory), so the channel always sees what Manas keeps. In your DM with Manas it uses your own Manas memory, the same as on the web.

Your Manas home in Slack

Click Manas in the Slack sidebar to open its Home tab. It shows whether you are connected, your default agent, the agents you can use, and a Disconnect button. It also has Connect Google Drive (or Disconnect Google Drive, which also removes Manas's access at Google), your saved Drive links in channels choices, one per channel, each with Reset, the channels where you chose Don't ask me, even for files not everyone can open, each with Ask me again, Scheduled chats, and your newest Artifacts with See all.

Feedback

Press 👍 or 👎 under any answer. 👎 asks what went wrong, which helps the Manas team improve it.

Tips

Not sure which agent to use? Ask Manas, for example "@Manas which agent makes video ads?". It tells you, and how to ask it.
Use /manas when you want to check an answer before the whole channel sees it.
Save things your team repeats, such as the brand tone or a campaign name, with @Manas remember …
Built your own agent in Manas? Make it available in Slack: open the agent in Manas, then Share → Remote access.
The answer's footer shows the agent and model. If the wrong agent answered, press Switch agent.

Good to know

DMs vs channels: in a DM Manas answers as you, with your agents, tools and memory. In a channel it answers as the channel, with only the agents enabled for Slack; it never uses anyone's private tools or memory there.
Budgets: what you ask in DMs counts towards your normal Manas usage. Each channel has its own budget. Each person also has a daily share of channel answers; once it is used up, keep going in a DM with Manas, on your own budget. When 90% of a day's budget is used, the next answer says so once at the bottom, with when it refills.
Rate limit: each person can ask 20 times in 10 minutes.
Chat history: Slack conversations do not appear in your Manas chat history yet. In a DM, Manas web under an answer opens a new chat in Manas with that agent (not this conversation).
Channels set themselves up: invite Manas and it is ready in about a minute, as long as the channel has at least 2 people. Manas works in at most 3 channels with exactly the same people; for a 4th, use one of those or add the teammates the new channel is for. If Manas is removed from a channel, inviting it again sets it up again.
Files Manas can't read: scanned PDFs without a text layer, old .doc/.ppt files, audio, video and zip files. Manas says which files it skipped; paste the text or send screenshots instead. Answers to /manas outside your DM keep file links as links.
Drafts, events and messages as you: when you ask Manas to draft an email, put something in your calendar, answer an invitation or send a Slack message as you, it only prepares it. A Confirm card arrives in your DM with Manas (in the web chat, a confirm link) showing exactly what will be done: Confirm, Edit or Cancel. Nothing happens until you confirm, and the card expires after 15 minutes. Emails are only saved as drafts, never sent. The first time, Manas gives you a link to allow it once. Not available in channels.

If something goes wrong

The Connect page says "Accounts don't match": You are signed in to Manas with a different email from your Slack account. Sign in to Manas with the same account you use in Slack (your Kapiva Google account), then use the link again.
The Connect page says "Link expired" or "Link already used": Links from Manas work for 10 minutes, and only once. Send Manas a new DM to get a fresh Connect card.
Manas says "Manas works in channels with at least 2 people": The channel has fewer than 2 people (guests and bots don't count). Add a teammate, then ask again.
Manas says "Manas already works in 3 channels with exactly these people": It names those channels. Ask in one of them, or add the teammates this channel is for (guests and bots don't count).
Manas says "You've used your share of channel answers today": Each person has a daily share of answers in channels. DM Manas to keep going on your own budget; your share frees up over the next 24 hours.
Manas says "I'm still being set up" or "I couldn't set up Manas for #channel": Setting up takes about a minute; ask again shortly. If it couldn't, ask a Manas admin. Meanwhile you can DM Manas or use /manas.
Manas says "Manas has reached its limit of channels" or that an admin turned Manas off for the channel: Ask a Manas admin.
Manas says "<agent> uses <model>, which isn't available in Manas": That agent is set to a model Manas does not offer right now. Pick another agent, or ask the agent's owner to choose another model in Agent Builder.
Manas says "You've asked 20 times in the last 10 minutes": You have reached the rate limit. Wait for the time it gives, then ask again.
Manas says you or the channel have used today's Manas budget: The budget refills on its own, and the message says when. If it says to ask an admin, or you really need more sooner, ask a Manas admin.
Manas says "<agent> isn't allowed in #channel": The channel's settings do not include that agent. Pick one of the allowed agents it lists, or add it in /manas settings.
Your agent does not show up in Slack: Its owner has to make it available: open the agent in Manas, then Share → Remote access.
Manas says it couldn't read a linked Google Drive file: The note says why. Google Drive not connected: press Connect Google Drive. Access expired or was revoked: press Reconnect Google Drive. No access: you can't open that file yourself; ask its owner to share it with you. The owner turned off downloading, larger than 10 MB or not supported (for example Google Forms): paste the text instead.
The Google Drive page says "Accounts don't match": You chose a Google account other than your @kapiva.in one with your Slack email. Use the link from Slack again and pick that account.
An artifact page says "No access": It came from a DM or a channel you're not in. Ask the person it names to share it with you (⋯ → Share… on its card). Signed in with the wrong Google account? Press Use another account.
A page says "Connect Manas in Slack to use AI here": Its AI features run as you. DM Manas in Slack and press Connect, then reload the page. Pressed Don't allow by mistake? Press Reset in the page's footer.
A diagram arrives without a picture: Manas couldn't draw it (the note under the answer says why, often a mistake in the diagram). Its link still opens the diagram and its source; ask Manas to fix the diagram.

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