You message an OpenAI Dot in Slack or Microsoft Teams by creating the Dot on desktop, then adding that channel in its profile. The launch post says Slack and Teams are live contact methods, with texting coming soon. ChatGPT documentation treats them as add-ons, not as the place you create the Dot.

As of September 29, 2026, two OpenAI pages describe Teams at different levels of detail. The consumer messaging guide says you can message your Dot in Microsoft Teams. The Enterprise admin guide says Microsoft Teams access is limited to an invite-only alpha. Slack is documented in more depth on both.

#How do I connect Slack or Teams to my Dot?

Create the Dot first in the ChatGPT desktop app or a desktop browser. Set up your first Dot covers that. The live Help Center article checked on September 29, 2026 says to use desktop to connect messaging channels such as Slack or texting.

Then, in ChatGPT Learn’s messaging guide:

  1. Open the Dot’s profile.
  2. Select Add.
  3. Connect the contact methods available to you.

Connect apps and your computer separately. Messaging Slack does not connect your inbox. It does not grant local-computer access.

You reach the same Dot through each connected method. Changing channels does not reset its memory. Slack and Teams show the messages exchanged there. They do not mirror every ChatGPT line. The Dot can still use relevant context across those conversations. Before it shares information from a private conversation with other people, it checks that you have allowed it.

Tell it where different updates should go. OpenAI’s example: keep routine progress in ChatGPT, bring decisions to you in Slack.

#How do I use a Dot inside Slack?

Documented owner actions:

  • Send the Dot a direct message.
  • Add it to a channel and mention it in a thread.

By default, the Dot responds to you. You can instruct it to engage with others. Existing permissions and safeguards still apply to what it shares and does. It can message you privately to ask what you are comfortable sharing before it replies in a channel.

Monitoring is a scheduled or event-based task, not a side effect of joining a channel. Specify which channels to check, what to watch for, and when to notify you. Ask the Dot to confirm the recurring task. ChatGPT Learn is blunt: adding it to a channel does not establish a monitoring schedule.

Enterprise admin documentation adds audience rules that consumer pages do not spell out:

  • Only the owner can direct their Dot through a Slack DM or supported channel mention.
  • Messages from other people do not start work.
  • A Dot may use other participants’ messages as context when its owner brings it into a Slack thread.
  • Anyone with conversation access can see its posts.
  • Context carried across channels does not authorize sharing with a new audience.

If you are rolling Dots out to a company Slack, follow the admin page, not only the consumer one.

#What do workspace admins have to enable?

For personal Dots in Slack, OpenAI’s admin guide splits the work:

  1. ChatGPT workspace owner: enable Use dots and Add dots to Slack for the intended members (workspace default or custom role).
  2. Slack workspace owner or app manager: make sure the ChatGPT app is installed. Approve app requests if your Slack workspace requires that.
  3. Each member: connect the Dot to Slack from its profile.

Enabling the ChatGPT permission does not install the Slack app and does not connect a member’s Dot. Plugin controls still decide which company apps the Dot may call.

Local computer access is a separate admin opt-in, documented in how to get OpenAI Dots.

#What about Microsoft Teams?

OpenAI’s launch post lists Teams next to Slack. Meet dots says you can also message your Dot in Microsoft Teams and points to the Slack and Teams section of the messaging guide.

The Enterprise admin FAQ is narrower: “Microsoft Teams access is limited to an invite-only alpha.” That sentence is about Dots, on the same admin page as the Slack owner rules.

Until OpenAI aligns those pages, a reasonable rollout is: document Slack for eligible members after workspace enablement, and treat Teams as alpha unless your tenant has been invited. This article does not invent a self-serve Teams install path beyond “connect the contact method in the profile” on the consumer guide.

#How is @ChatGPT in Slack and Teams different?

DevDay 2026 also launched @ChatGPT in Slack and Microsoft Teams as its own product. The recap says you mention @ChatGPT in a channel, thread, or DM. It can use tools connected by your admin or your own tools with your permissions. Teammates can add context in the same conversation without needing an individual ChatGPT license. Availability: all Business and Enterprise plans, per the recap.

The admin guide for that surface is separate from the Dots admin guide:

  • A ChatGPT admin connects the platform and creates a surface (where @ChatGPT is available and which plugins it may use).
  • One surface per Slack workspace, including each connected workspace in Enterprise Grid.
  • For a channel pilot, choose Selected channels only. That does not block direct messages.
  • @ChatGPT uses configured connections and conversation context. It does not inherit a person’s file, app, or private-channel access.
  • Shared replies are visible to conversation participants.
  • At launch, @ChatGPT does not include memory or use a person’s ChatGPT memories.

If you want a personal agent with memory, use your Dot. If you want a workspace bot people mention in a channel, that is @ChatGPT. They can both exist in the same Slack workspace. They are not the same object.

Codex Cloud delegation from Slack is another extra setup on the @ChatGPT admin page (enable Codex Cloud, grant the surface’s service account and requesting users access, publish a cloud environment). That path is for @ChatGPT / Codex Cloud, not a substitute for connecting a personal Dot.

#What about texting?

The launch post: “with texting coming soon.” ChatGPT Learn’s messaging page, fetched September 29, 2026: “Texting is coming soon.”

The live Help Center article checked the same day describes a limited beta: Pro users in the US, not Business or Enterprise, access limited, third-party provider, reply STOP to halt outgoing texts. Those two first-party descriptions do not match. This article follows the launch post and the live messaging doc for product availability, and records the Help Center beta language as a same-day conflict.

The Help Center article also says your Dot cannot initiate calls to you at launch. ChatGPT Learn says calls you start from ChatGPT are available, and that calls initiated by the Dot are planned for after launch.

#What to watch next

Watch three pages: Message your dot, the Dots admin guide, and the @ChatGPT Slack/Teams admin guide. As of September 29, 2026, Slack is the contact method with the most complete owner and admin documentation. Teams still carries an alpha caveat on the Enterprise guide. Texting is still labeled coming soon on the live messaging doc.