list_channels
Retrieve the channels your bot can read on a connection, providing channel IDs, names, and sync status. Use this to obtain a valid channel_id before querying content.
Instructions
List the channels the bot can actually read on one connection — the ground-truth source for what channels exist and their indexing state.
Call this after list_connections/whoami (you need a valid
connection_id), once per connection you care about, BEFORE any retrieval
tool (ask_channel, search_channel_facts, get_wiki_page, ...) so
you can pass a real channel_id. Prefer this over
list_connections.selected_channel_count — that count is a sync pick-list,
not the channel inventory.
Latency: instant for cached results; may take a few seconds when it queries the live platform bridge. Read-only — does not trigger a sync.
Returns {"channels": [<entry>, ...]} (empty list if none/bridge error).
Each entry:
channel_id(str): pass to retrieval/sync tools, e.g."C0A955E29MX".name(str): display name, e.g."engineering".platform(str): e.g."slack","discord","file".last_sync_ts(str|null): ISO timestamp of last index,nullif never.sync_status(str):"synced","never_synced", or"n/a"(file connections)."never_synced"is normal and does NOT mean the channel is inaccessible — it just is not indexed yet; calltrigger_sync(channel_id)to ingest it before querying its content.message_count_estimate(int|null): approx synced messages,nullif not yet synced.
Scoping: matches the dashboard "CONNECTED" view. If the user picked specific channels for sync, those are returned; otherwise every channel where the bot is a member (and thus can read) is returned. File connections return every uploaded file.
Error modes: {"error": "connection_access_denied", "connection_id": ...}
if you do not own the connection (existence is not leaked);
{"error": "invalid_parameter", "parameter": "connection_id"} for a
malformed id; {"error": "authentication_missing"} if no principal.
Input Schema
| Name | Required | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| connection_id | Yes | Id of the connection whose channels to list, obtained from list_connections or whoami. Format: alphanumeric/_/:/- up to 128 chars. Example: "conn_abc123". |
Output Schema
| Name | Required | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
No arguments | |||