46 Control when Claude Tag responds
Claude Tag replies to DMs, threads it’s already in, and channel messages it judges warrant a reply, all without an @-mention. See what triggers a response, how to tell an unprompted reply from a task reply, how to turn automatic replies on or off with the Respond automatically setting, how to quiet a thread or channel, when Claude quiets itself, how to remove Claude from a channel, and which messages never get a reply.
export const BetaNote = () => Claude Tag is in public beta. Features and behavior described here may change before general availability.;
Claude replies without an @-mention in DMs, in any thread it’s already part of, and to channel messages it judges warrant a reply. It’s an ambient presence in the channel, and the @-mention is how you guarantee a response, not a requirement for one. Claude also turns unprompted replies off on its own in a channel whose messages stop giving it anything to respond to. Any channel member can quiet Claude further, give it standing work that posts on a schedule, or remove it from the channel.
46.1 What triggers a response
Where you send the message decides whether you need the mention.
| Where you write | Replies without an @-mention? |
|---|---|
| A DM with Claude | Always. Every message is addressed to Claude already |
| A thread Claude is already in | Yes, unless you’ve quieted the thread. Once Claude has joined, every reply there reaches it without another mention |
| A channel, top-level | Sometimes, when it can answer a question or pick up a task. Include @Claude to guarantee a reply, or turn unprompted replies off |
All of this is adjustable. You can quiet a single thread, turn automatic replies off across a channel, or tell Claude which kinds of messages to respond to.
For work that should happen without anyone typing a message, use a routine: scheduled posts, channel watches, and pull-request subscriptions run on their own trigger and post into the channel.
46.2 Turn automatic replies on or off
The Respond automatically setting controls whether Claude replies to a channel’s messages without an @-mention. Each channel has its own. When it’s on, Claude may reply to a message it judges warrants one, as What triggers a response describes. When it’s off, Claude replies in that channel only when someone @-mentions it.
All three places below change the same setting, so a change you make in one appears in the others.
| Where | How |
|---|---|
| In Slack | Ask Claude in the channel, for example “@Claude only respond in this channel when someone @-mentions you” or “@Claude respond to messages here even when nobody mentions you.” Claude confirms the change. |
| The channel’s Configure page | Open the Configure link in the footer of any Claude reply and switch the Respond automatically toggle. See Configure Claude for a channel. |
| The Claude Tag admin page (admins only) | At claude.ai/admin-settings/claude-tag, on the Slack tab under Claude Tag’s access, open the channel’s scope and switch Respond automatically in its Advanced settings. |
The setting covers the channel’s messages, not DMs. To quiet a single thread instead of the whole channel, ask Claude in that thread. Work that runs on a schedule or an event rather than in response to a message is a routine, which has its own controls.
46.3 The name on a reply
Claude doesn’t post every reply under the same display name. The name shows which kind of work produced the reply, in two forms:
- Claude, the name alone: the reply comes from Claude’s ambient presence in the channel, including unprompted replies
- Claude followed by a short description of the task in square brackets: the reply comes from a working session handling that task in its thread. The description changes with every task, so a channel might show something like
Claude [reviewing the launch checklist],Claude [debugging a failing deploy], orClaude [summarizing customer feedback].
46.4 Make a channel quieter
If Claude is replying to messages that weren’t meant for it, turn that down from inside the channel.
46.4.1 Quiet one conversation
Tell Claude in the thread to respond only when mentioned.
text wrap theme={null} @Claude only respond when I @-mention you
Claude stops following that thread, and the rest of the channel is unaffected. This is the fix when one busy thread is the noise. The !mute command goes further and silences the thread entirely; any direct @Claude mention turns it back on.
46.4.2 Quiet the whole channel
Turn the channel’s Respond automatically setting off, so Claude replies there only when @-mentioned. From Slack, ask Claude directly.
text wrap theme={null} @Claude only respond in this channel when someone @-mentions you directly.
Claude confirms the change, which is channel-wide, not just for you. You can make the same change with the toggle on the channel’s Configure page, and an admin can make it from the Claude Tag admin page.
Threads Claude already joined keep forwarding replies, so quiet those individually with the in-thread line above. The !mute command quiets one thread at a time and does nothing at a channel’s top level.
46.4.3 Remove Claude Tag from the channel
When quieting isn’t enough, end Claude’s presence in the channel.
text wrap theme={null} /remove @Claude
Claude can no longer read or post in that channel. Any member can run this unless your Slack admin restricts the command. Admins have further options, through full removal from the workspace, on Restrict where Claude Tag operates.
46.5 When Claude quiets itself
When a channel’s messages stop giving Claude anything to respond to, with no questions it can answer and no tasks it can pick up, Claude turns unprompted replies off there on its own. Mentioning @Claude turns unprompted replies back on.
A channel whose Respond automatically setting is off stays that way until someone changes the setting.
46.6 Messages that never get a reply
A few cases produce silence even when the message includes a mention:
- Editing a message to add the mention. An edit doesn’t trigger a response. Delete the message and send a new one with
@Claudeincluded. - Channels with guest accounts. By default, Claude is off in channels that include guests; your admin can turn it on per scope. Ask whoever runs your Claude plan, or send them the guest access setting.
- Channels shared across workspaces connected to different Claude organizations. Every workspace where Claude runs is connected to a Claude organization, the account a company sets up for Claude. When a channel is shared across workspaces connected to different Claude organizations, Claude won’t reply there and posts a refusal message instead. You can’t tell from Slack how a workspace is connected; the refusal message itself is the signal. Use a channel that belongs to one workspace, or send Claude a DM.
- Slack Connect channels. Channels shared with another company are always off.
When the workspaces sharing a channel all belong to one Claude organization, Claude replies there, but with only your organization’s default access and settings. The repositories, instructions, and memory set up for that channel or its workspaces don’t apply, and Claude posts a notice in the thread explaining this from time to time. The guest check above still applies first where guest access is restricted.
To confirm a channel’s setting, check the Respond automatically toggle on its Configure page. To confirm an instruction Claude saved, ask @Claude what do you remember about responding in this channel?, and see What Claude Tag remembers for where instructions are stored and how to change them.