fix(slack): return non-image downloads as files

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ Docs: https://docs.openclaw.ai
 
 ### Fixes
 
+- Slack/files: return non-image `download-file` results as local file paths instead of image payloads, and include Slack file IDs in inbound file placeholders so agents can call `download-file`. Fixes #71212. Thanks @teamrazo.
 - Discord/replies: run `message_sending` plugin hooks for Discord reply delivery, including DM targets, so plugins can transform or cancel outbound Discord replies consistently with other channels. Fixes #59350. (#71094) Thanks @wei840222.
 - Control UI/commands: carry provider-owned thinking option ids/labels in session rows and defaults so fresh sessions show and accept dynamic modes such as `adaptive`, `xhigh`, and `max`. Fixes #71269. Thanks @Young-Khalil.
 - Image generation: make explicit `model=` overrides exact-only so failed `openai/gpt-image-2` requests no longer fall through to Gemini or other configured providers, and update `image_generate list` to mention OpenAI Codex OAuth as valid auth for `openai/gpt-image-2`. Fixes #71290 and #71231. Thanks @Young-Khalil and @steipete.

docs/channels/slack.md

@@ -436,7 +436,7 @@ Available action groups in current Slack tooling:
 | memberInfo | enabled |
 | emojiList  | enabled |
 
-Current Slack message actions include `send`, `upload-file`, `download-file`, `read`, `edit`, `delete`, `pin`, `unpin`, `list-pins`, `member-info`, and `emoji-list`.
+Current Slack message actions include `send`, `upload-file`, `download-file`, `read`, `edit`, `delete`, `pin`, `unpin`, `list-pins`, `member-info`, and `emoji-list`. `download-file` accepts Slack file IDs shown in inbound file placeholders and returns image previews for images or local file metadata for other file types.
 
 ## Access control and routing
 
@@ -606,7 +606,7 @@ Notes:
 
 <AccordionGroup>
   <Accordion title="Inbound attachments">
-    Slack file attachments are downloaded from Slack-hosted private URLs (token-authenticated request flow) and written to the media store when fetch succeeds and size limits permit.
+    Slack file attachments are downloaded from Slack-hosted private URLs (token-authenticated request flow) and written to the media store when fetch succeeds and size limits permit. File placeholders include the Slack `fileId` so agents can fetch the original file with `download-file`.
 
     Runtime inbound size cap defaults to `20MB` unless overridden by `channels.slack.mediaMaxMb`.
 

extensions/slack/src/action-runtime.test.ts

@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ import { parseSlackBlocksInput } from "./blocks-input.js";
 
 const originalSlackActionRuntime = { ...slackActionRuntime };
 const deleteSlackMessage = vi.fn(async (..._args: unknown[]) => ({}));
-const downloadSlackFile = vi.fn(async (..._args: unknown[]) => null);
+const downloadSlackFile = vi.fn(async (..._args: unknown[]): Promise<unknown> => null);
 const editSlackMessage = vi.fn(async (..._args: unknown[]) => ({}));
 const getSlackMemberInfo = vi.fn(async (..._args: unknown[]) => ({}));
 const listSlackEmojis = vi.fn(async (..._args: unknown[]) => ({}));
@@ -266,6 +266,43 @@ describe("handleSlackAction", () => {
     );
   });
 
+  it("returns non-image downloadFile results as file metadata instead of image content", async () => {
+    downloadSlackFile.mockResolvedValueOnce({
+      path: "/tmp/openclaw-media/report.pdf",
+      contentType: "application/pdf",
+      placeholder: "[Slack file: report.pdf (fileId: F123)]",
+    });
+
+    const result = await handleSlackAction(
+      {
+        action: "downloadFile",
+        fileId: "F123",
+      },
+      slackConfig(),
+    );
+
+    expect(result.content).toHaveLength(1);
+    expect(result.content[0]).toEqual(
+      expect.objectContaining({
+        type: "text",
+        text: expect.stringContaining("/tmp/openclaw-media/report.pdf"),
+      }),
+    );
+    expect(result.content.some((entry) => entry.type === "image")).toBe(false);
+    expect(result.details).toEqual(
+      expect.objectContaining({
+        ok: true,
+        fileId: "F123",
+        path: "/tmp/openclaw-media/report.pdf",
+        contentType: "application/pdf",
+        media: {
+          mediaUrl: "/tmp/openclaw-media/report.pdf",
+          contentType: "application/pdf",
+        },
+      }),
+    );
+  });
+
   it("forwards resolved botToken to action functions instead of relying on config re-read", async () => {
     downloadSlackFile.mockResolvedValueOnce(null);
     await handleSlackAction({ action: "downloadFile", fileId: "F123" }, slackConfig());

extensions/slack/src/action-runtime.ts

@@ -137,6 +137,10 @@ function readSlackBlocksParam(params: Record<string, unknown>) {
   return slackActionRuntime.parseSlackBlocksInput(params.blocks);
 }
 
+function isImageContentType(value: string | undefined): boolean {
+  return value?.trim().toLowerCase().startsWith("image/") === true;
+}
+
 export async function handleSlackAction(
   params: Record<string, unknown>,
   cfg: OpenClawConfig,
@@ -395,11 +399,28 @@ export async function handleSlackAction(
             error: "File could not be downloaded (not found, too large, or inaccessible).",
           });
         }
+        if (!isImageContentType(downloaded.contentType)) {
+          return jsonResult({
+            ok: true,
+            fileId,
+            path: downloaded.path,
+            contentType: downloaded.contentType,
+            placeholder: downloaded.placeholder,
+            media: {
+              mediaUrl: downloaded.path,
+              ...(downloaded.contentType ? { contentType: downloaded.contentType } : {}),
+            },
+          });
+        }
         return await imageResultFromFile({
           label: "slack-file",
           path: downloaded.path,
           extraText: downloaded.placeholder,
-          details: { fileId, path: downloaded.path },
+          details: {
+            fileId,
+            path: downloaded.path,
+            ...(downloaded.contentType ? { contentType: downloaded.contentType } : {}),
+          },
         });
       }
       default:

extensions/slack/src/actions.download-file.test.ts

@@ -38,11 +38,12 @@ function makeSlackFileInfo(overrides?: Record<string, unknown>) {
   };
 }
 
-function makeResolvedSlackMedia() {
+function makeResolvedSlackMedia(overrides?: Record<string, unknown>) {
   return {
     path: "/tmp/image.png",
     contentType: "image/png",
     placeholder: "[Slack file: image.png]",
+    ...overrides,
   };
 }
 
@@ -118,6 +119,51 @@ describe("downloadSlackFile", () => {
     expect(result).toEqual(makeResolvedSlackMedia());
   });
 
+  it("preserves non-image download metadata", async () => {
+    const client = createClient();
+    client.files.info.mockResolvedValueOnce({
+      file: makeSlackFileInfo({
+        name: "report.pdf",
+        mimetype: "application/pdf",
+        url_private_download: "https://files.slack.com/files-pri/T1-F123/report.pdf",
+      }),
+    });
+    resolveSlackMedia.mockResolvedValueOnce([
+      makeResolvedSlackMedia({
+        path: "/tmp/report.pdf",
+        contentType: "application/pdf",
+        placeholder: "[Slack file: report.pdf (fileId: F123)]",
+      }),
+    ]);
+
+    const result = await downloadSlackFile("F123", {
+      client,
+      token: "xoxb-test",
+      maxBytes: 1024,
+    });
+
+    expect(resolveSlackMedia).toHaveBeenCalledWith({
+      files: [
+        {
+          id: "F123",
+          name: "report.pdf",
+          mimetype: "application/pdf",
+          url_private: undefined,
+          url_private_download: "https://files.slack.com/files-pri/T1-F123/report.pdf",
+        },
+      ],
+      token: "xoxb-test",
+      maxBytes: 1024,
+    });
+    expect(result).toEqual(
+      makeResolvedSlackMedia({
+        path: "/tmp/report.pdf",
+        contentType: "application/pdf",
+        placeholder: "[Slack file: report.pdf (fileId: F123)]",
+      }),
+    );
+  });
+
   it("returns null when channel scope definitely mismatches file shares", async () => {
     const client = createClient();
     client.files.info.mockResolvedValueOnce({

extensions/slack/src/file-reference.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+import { normalizeOptionalString } from "openclaw/plugin-sdk/text-runtime";
+import type { SlackFile } from "./types.js";
+
+export function formatSlackFileReference(file: SlackFile | undefined): string {
+  const name = normalizeOptionalString(file?.name) ?? "file";
+  const fileId = normalizeOptionalString(file?.id);
+  return fileId ? `${name} (fileId: ${fileId})` : name;
+}
+
+export function formatSlackFileReferenceList(files: readonly SlackFile[] | undefined): string {
+  if (!files?.length) {
+    return "file";
+  }
+  return files.map((file) => formatSlackFileReference(file)).join(", ");
+}

extensions/slack/src/monitor/media.test.ts

@@ -558,8 +558,8 @@ describe("resolveSlackMedia", () => {
 
     const result = await resolveSlackMedia({
       files: [
-        { url_private: "https://files.slack.com/a.jpg", name: "a.jpg" },
-        { url_private: "https://files.slack.com/b.png", name: "b.png" },
+        { id: "FA", url_private: "https://files.slack.com/a.jpg", name: "a.jpg" },
+        { id: "FB", url_private: "https://files.slack.com/b.png", name: "b.png" },
       ],
       token: "xoxb-test-token",
       maxBytes: 1024 * 1024,
@@ -567,9 +567,9 @@ describe("resolveSlackMedia", () => {
 
     expect(result).toHaveLength(2);
     expect(result![0].path).toBe("/tmp/a.jpg");
-    expect(result![0].placeholder).toBe("[Slack file: a.jpg]");
+    expect(result![0].placeholder).toBe("[Slack file: a.jpg (fileId: FA)]");
     expect(result![1].path).toBe("/tmp/b.png");
-    expect(result![1].placeholder).toBe("[Slack file: b.png]");
+    expect(result![1].placeholder).toBe("[Slack file: b.png (fileId: FB)]");
   });
 
   it("caps downloads to 8 files for large multi-attachment messages", async () => {
@@ -867,7 +867,7 @@ describe("resolveSlackThreadHistory", () => {
   it("includes file-only messages and drops empty-only entries", async () => {
     const replies = vi.fn().mockResolvedValueOnce({
       messages: [
-        { text: "  ", ts: "1.000", files: [{ name: "screenshot.png" }] },
+        { text: "  ", ts: "1.000", files: [{ id: "FSCREEN", name: "screenshot.png" }] },
         { text: "   ", ts: "2.000" },
         { text: "hello", ts: "3.000", user: "U1" },
       ],
@@ -885,7 +885,7 @@ describe("resolveSlackThreadHistory", () => {
     });
 
     expect(result).toHaveLength(2);
-    expect(result[0]?.text).toBe("[attached: screenshot.png]");
+    expect(result[0]?.text).toBe("[attached: screenshot.png (fileId: FSCREEN)]");
     expect(result[1]?.text).toBe("hello");
   });
 
@@ -982,7 +982,7 @@ describe("resolveSlackThreadStarter", () => {
           text: "   ",
           user: "U1",
           ts: "1.000",
-          files: [{ name: "root.png", mimetype: "image/png" }],
+          files: [{ id: "FROOT", name: "root.png", mimetype: "image/png" }],
         },
       ],
     });
@@ -997,11 +997,11 @@ describe("resolveSlackThreadStarter", () => {
     });
 
     expect(result).toEqual({
-      text: "[attached: root.png]",
+      text: "[attached: root.png (fileId: FROOT)]",
       userId: "U1",
       botId: undefined,
       ts: "1.000",
-      files: [{ name: "root.png", mimetype: "image/png" }],
+      files: [{ id: "FROOT", name: "root.png", mimetype: "image/png" }],
     });
     expect(vi.mocked(logVerbose)).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
   });

extensions/slack/src/monitor/media.ts

@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import { normalizeHostname } from "openclaw/plugin-sdk/host-runtime";
 import { resolveRequestUrl } from "openclaw/plugin-sdk/request-url";
+import { formatSlackFileReference } from "../file-reference.js";
 import type { SlackAttachment, SlackFile } from "../types.js";
 export { MAX_SLACK_MEDIA_FILES, type SlackMediaResult } from "./media-types.js";
 import { MAX_SLACK_MEDIA_FILES, type SlackMediaResult } from "./media-types.js";
@@ -281,7 +282,7 @@ export async function resolveSlackMedia(params: {
         return {
           path: saved.path,
           ...(contentType ? { contentType } : {}),
-          placeholder: label ? `[Slack file: ${label}]` : "[Slack file]",
+          placeholder: `[Slack file: ${formatSlackFileReference({ ...file, name: label })}]`,
         };
       } catch {
         return null;

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

@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import { runTasksWithConcurrency } from "openclaw/plugin-sdk/infra-runtime";
 import { logVerbose } from "openclaw/plugin-sdk/runtime-env";
 import { normalizeOptionalString } from "openclaw/plugin-sdk/text-runtime";
+import { formatSlackFileReference } from "../../file-reference.js";
 import type { SlackFile, SlackMessageEvent } from "../../types.js";
 import { MAX_SLACK_MEDIA_FILES, type SlackMediaResult } from "../media-types.js";
 import type { SlackThreadStarter } from "../thread.js";
@@ -125,7 +126,7 @@ export async function resolveSlackMessageContent(params: {
     !mediaPlaceholder && fallbackFiles.length > 0
       ? fallbackFiles
           .slice(0, MAX_SLACK_MEDIA_FILES)
-          .map((file) => normalizeOptionalString(file.name) ?? "file")
+          .map((file) => formatSlackFileReference(file))
           .join(", ")
       : undefined;
   const fileOnlyPlaceholder = fileOnlyFallback ? `[Slack file: ${fileOnlyFallback}]` : undefined;

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

@@ -364,14 +364,17 @@ describe("slack prepareSlackMessage inbound contract", () => {
     const prepared = await prepareWithDefaultCtx(
       createSlackMessage({
         text: "",
-        files: [{ name: "voice.ogg" }, { name: "photo.jpg" }],
+        files: [
+          { id: "FVOICE", name: "voice.ogg" },
+          { id: "FPHOTO", name: "photo.jpg" },
+        ],
       }),
     );
 
     expect(prepared).toBeTruthy();
     expect(prepared!.ctxPayload.RawBody).toContain("[Slack file:");
-    expect(prepared!.ctxPayload.RawBody).toContain("voice.ogg");
-    expect(prepared!.ctxPayload.RawBody).toContain("photo.jpg");
+    expect(prepared!.ctxPayload.RawBody).toContain("voice.ogg (fileId: FVOICE)");
+    expect(prepared!.ctxPayload.RawBody).toContain("photo.jpg (fileId: FPHOTO)");
   });
 
   it("falls back to generic file label when a Slack file name is empty", async () => {

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

@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ import {
 } from "openclaw/plugin-sdk/text-runtime";
 import type { ResolvedSlackAccount } from "../../accounts.js";
 import { reactSlackMessage } from "../../actions.js";
+import { formatSlackFileReference } from "../../file-reference.js";
 import { hasSlackThreadParticipation } from "../../sent-thread-cache.js";
 import type { SlackMessageEvent } from "../../types.js";
 import {
@@ -455,11 +456,9 @@ export async function prepareSlackMessage(params: {
   if (isRoom && shouldRequireMention && mentionDecision.shouldSkip) {
     ctx.logger.info({ channel: message.channel, reason: "no-mention" }, "skipping channel message");
     const pendingText = (message.text ?? "").trim();
-    const fallbackFile = message.files?.[0]?.name
-      ? `[Slack file: ${message.files[0].name}]`
-      : message.files?.length
-        ? "[Slack file]"
-        : "";
+    const fallbackFile = message.files?.length
+      ? `[Slack file: ${formatSlackFileReference(message.files[0])}]`
+      : "";
     const pendingBody = pendingText || fallbackFile;
     recordPendingHistoryEntryIfEnabled({
       historyMap: ctx.channelHistories,

extensions/slack/src/monitor/thread.ts

@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import type { WebClient as SlackWebClient } from "@slack/web-api";
 import { pruneMapToMaxSize } from "openclaw/plugin-sdk/collection-runtime";
 import { formatErrorMessage } from "openclaw/plugin-sdk/error-runtime";
+import { formatSlackFileReferenceList } from "../file-reference.js";
 import type { SlackFile } from "../types.js";
 import { logVerbose } from "./thread.runtime.js";
 
@@ -32,7 +33,7 @@ function evictThreadStarterCache(): void {
 }
 
 function formatSlackFilePlaceholder(files: SlackFile[] | undefined): string {
-  return `[attached: ${files?.map((file) => file.name ?? "file").join(", ") ?? "file"}]`;
+  return `[attached: ${formatSlackFileReferenceList(files)}]`;
 }
 
 export async function resolveSlackThreadStarter(params: {