fix(slack): detect control commands when message starts with @mention (#14142)

Merged via /review-pr-v2 -> /prepare-pr-v2 -> /merge-pr-v2.

Prepared head SHA: cb0b4f6a3b
Co-authored-by: beefiker <55247450+beefiker@users.noreply.github.com>
Co-authored-by: gumadeiras <gumadeiras@gmail.com>
Reviewed-by: @gumadeiras

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ Docs: https://docs.openclaw.ai
 ### Fixes
 
 - Ollama: use configured `models.providers.ollama.baseUrl` for model discovery and normalize `/v1` endpoints to the native Ollama API root. (#14131) Thanks @shtse8.
+- Slack: detect control commands when channel messages start with bot mention prefixes (for example, `@Bot /new`). (#14142) Thanks @beefiker.
 
 ## 2026.2.9
 

src/slack/monitor/commands.ts

@@ -1,5 +1,16 @@
 import type { SlackSlashCommandConfig } from "../../config/config.js";
 
+/**
+ * Strip Slack mentions (<@U123>, <@U123|name>) so command detection works on
+ * normalized text. Use in both prepare and debounce gate for consistency.
+ */
+export function stripSlackMentionsForCommandDetection(text: string): string {
+  return (text ?? "")
+    .replace(/<@[^>]+>/g, " ")
+    .replace(/\s+/g, " ")
+    .trim();
+}
+
 export function normalizeSlackSlashCommandName(raw: string) {
   return raw.replace(/^\/+/, "");
 }

src/slack/monitor/message-handler.ts

@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import {
   createInboundDebouncer,
   resolveInboundDebounceMs,
 } from "../../auto-reply/inbound-debounce.js";
+import { stripSlackMentionsForCommandDetection } from "./commands.js";
 import { dispatchPreparedSlackMessage } from "./message-handler/dispatch.js";
 import { prepareSlackMessage } from "./message-handler/prepare.js";
 import { createSlackThreadTsResolver } from "./thread-resolution.js";
@@ -50,7 +51,8 @@ export function createSlackMessageHandler(params: {
       if (entry.message.files && entry.message.files.length > 0) {
         return false;
       }
-      return !hasControlCommand(text, ctx.cfg);
+      const textForCommandDetection = stripSlackMentionsForCommandDetection(text);
+      return !hasControlCommand(textForCommandDetection, ctx.cfg);
     },
     onFlush: async (entries) => {
       const last = entries.at(-1);

src/slack/monitor/message-handler/prepare.sender-prefix.test.ts

@@ -76,4 +76,79 @@ describe("prepareSlackMessage sender prefix", () => {
     const body = result?.ctxPayload.Body ?? "";
     expect(body).toContain("Alice (U1): <@BOT> hello");
   });
+
+  it("detects /new as control command when prefixed with Slack mention", async () => {
+    const ctx = {
+      cfg: {
+        agents: { defaults: { model: "anthropic/claude-opus-4-5", workspace: "/tmp/openclaw" } },
+        channels: { slack: { dm: { enabled: true, policy: "open", allowFrom: ["*"] } } },
+      },
+      accountId: "default",
+      botToken: "xoxb",
+      app: { client: {} },
+      runtime: {
+        log: vi.fn(),
+        error: vi.fn(),
+        exit: (code: number): never => {
+          throw new Error(`exit ${code}`);
+        },
+      },
+      botUserId: "BOT",
+      teamId: "T1",
+      apiAppId: "A1",
+      historyLimit: 0,
+      channelHistories: new Map(),
+      sessionScope: "per-sender",
+      mainKey: "agent:main:main",
+      dmEnabled: true,
+      dmPolicy: "open",
+      allowFrom: ["U1"],
+      groupDmEnabled: false,
+      groupDmChannels: [],
+      defaultRequireMention: true,
+      groupPolicy: "open",
+      useAccessGroups: true,
+      reactionMode: "off",
+      reactionAllowlist: [],
+      replyToMode: "off",
+      threadHistoryScope: "channel",
+      threadInheritParent: false,
+      slashCommand: {
+        enabled: false,
+        name: "openclaw",
+        sessionPrefix: "slack:slash",
+        ephemeral: true,
+      },
+      textLimit: 2000,
+      ackReactionScope: "off",
+      mediaMaxBytes: 1000,
+      removeAckAfterReply: false,
+      logger: { info: vi.fn() },
+      markMessageSeen: () => false,
+      shouldDropMismatchedSlackEvent: () => false,
+      resolveSlackSystemEventSessionKey: () => "agent:main:slack:channel:c1",
+      isChannelAllowed: () => true,
+      resolveChannelName: async () => ({ name: "general", type: "channel" }),
+      resolveUserName: async () => ({ name: "Alice" }),
+      setSlackThreadStatus: async () => undefined,
+    } satisfies SlackMonitorContext;
+
+    const result = await prepareSlackMessage({
+      ctx,
+      account: { accountId: "default", config: {} } as never,
+      message: {
+        type: "message",
+        channel: "C1",
+        channel_type: "channel",
+        text: "<@BOT> /new",
+        user: "U1",
+        ts: "1700000000.0002",
+        event_ts: "1700000000.0002",
+      } as never,
+      opts: { source: "message", wasMentioned: true },
+    });
+
+    expect(result).not.toBeNull();
+    expect(result?.ctxPayload.CommandAuthorized).toBe(true);
+  });
 });

src/slack/monitor/message-handler/prepare.ts

@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@ import { resolveSlackThreadContext } from "../../threading.js";
 import { resolveSlackAllowListMatch, resolveSlackUserAllowed } from "../allow-list.js";
 import { resolveSlackEffectiveAllowFrom } from "../auth.js";
 import { resolveSlackChannelConfig } from "../channel-config.js";
+import { stripSlackMentionsForCommandDetection } from "../commands.js";
 import { normalizeSlackChannelType, type SlackMonitorContext } from "../context.js";
 import { resolveSlackMedia, resolveSlackThreadStarter } from "../media.js";
 
@@ -249,7 +250,9 @@ export async function prepareSlackMessage(params: {
     cfg,
     surface: "slack",
   });
-  const hasControlCommandInMessage = hasControlCommand(message.text ?? "", cfg);
+  // Strip Slack mentions (<@U123>) before command detection so "@Labrador /new" is recognized
+  const textForCommandDetection = stripSlackMentionsForCommandDetection(message.text ?? "");
+  const hasControlCommandInMessage = hasControlCommand(textForCommandDetection, cfg);
 
   const ownerAuthorized = resolveSlackAllowListMatch({
     allowList: allowFromLower,