The coolest Slack client mod for MacOS

Slick runs Slack's own app.asar with a custom Electron (with the handy BYOE acronym, bring your own electron) preload that injects themes and plugins. This method allows us to modify Slack's interface and behavior without altering its files, so auto-updates still work and there's no open debug port or resident watcher.

This client targets MacOS, with a Windows beta (see below). The same method could also work on Linux with some adjustments. PRs welcome!

Installation

You will need the official Slack app (not the App Store version) installed at /Applications/Slack.app, since Slick runs Slack's own code.

The fastest way in is to use the installer script. Re-run it any time to update. Slick also checks for new GitHub Releases about every 6 hours and points you at the latest build when one is available.

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/3kh0/slick/main/install.sh | bash

Prefer doing it by hand? Grab the latest prebuilt app from the releases page and pick the build for your Mac (check > About This Mac > Chip if unsure):

• Slick-build-N-arm64 — Apple Silicon (if there is a M in the name)
• Slick-build-N-x64 — Intel Macs

Each comes as a .dmg (open it and drag Slick to Applications) or a .zip.

But it says "Slick can't be opened!"

If you run into this error, it means the app is not notarized, which is expected. Bypassing this is trivial:

Double click the app to open it. You should see a warning that it can't be opened. Now, go to System Settings > Privacy & Security, scroll down to the Slick message, click Open Anyway, and launch it again. After that it opens normally.

You can also use this terminal command to bypass the warning without opening the app first:

xattr -d com.apple.quarantine /Applications/Slick.app

Build from source

If you'd rather build it yourself (or hack on it), clone the repo and run:

This downloads an Electron matching your installed Slack and builds ~/Applications/Slick.app locally; re-run it any time to stay fresh. You'll need a modern version of Node.js.

If you want to debug or poke around at things, you can find more manual scripts in the scripts/ folder, but the install script should be all you need for normal use.

Windows (beta)

Install Slack first, then run this in PowerShell:

irm "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/3kh0/slick/main/install.ps1" | iex

To uninstall or pass other arguments to the script, try this:

& ([scriptblock]::Create((irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/3kh0/slick/main/install.ps1))) -Uninstall -Purge

Building Windows

Clone the repo and run the following

powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File install.ps1

You also have some nice flags to play around with locally: -Uninstall, -Purge, -RestoreHandler, and -Force to overwrite any existing install.

Release versioning

Slick releases use integer build tags: v13, v14, v15, and so on. The GitHub Release title should read like Slick Build 67.

Internally, release builds use a normal macOS short version (1.0.<build>, e.g. 1.0.67 for build 67), while the bundle build number (CFBundleVersion) is just the integer 67.

To ship the next build, tag and push the next integer:

BUILD=67 # replace with the next build number
git tag "v$BUILD"
git push origin "v$BUILD"

Themes

Themes are defined in the themes/ folder as JSON files exporting the following:

No theme is applied by default, but you can pick one from the Slick tab in Preferences. themes/amoled.json (true black) and themes/ultraviolet.json (violet) are working examples. More documentation pending.

Plugins

Please refer to plugins/README.md for the plugins documentation. I promise it is not boring.

Credits

• Slack for the original app and its delightful internals.
• Electron for the runtime and APIs.
• @ImShyMike for advice on breaking into Slack.
• Vencord for plugin inspiration.
• Claude for cleaning up the code and generally being a good assistant.

Legal

This is under the GNU General Public License v3.0. See the LICENSE file for the legal mumbo jumbo. In short: just don't be a dick. If you're not sure what that means, see choosealicense.com/licenses/gpl-3.0. This code is provided to you for free, use at your own risk. I am not responsible for any harms due to the code here. Don't sue me.