Using the Slack App

Run movie night polls without leaving Slack. Voting is free for everyone in the channel; hosting polls requires a Pro account.

Adding the app to a workspace

Go to the Slack integration page and click Add to Slack. Slack's OAuth flow asks you to approve the app for your workspace. Most workspaces allow members to install apps directly; some require workspace- admin approval, which Slack will route automatically.

Right after install, the bot sends you a welcome DM with a quick start guide.

Linking your account

Hosting polls requires a Movie Night Polls Pro account linked to your Slack identity. In any channel where the bot is present, run /movienight link. The bot replies (only to you) with a one-time URL valid for 15 minutes — click it, sign in to Movie Night Polls, and your accounts are linked.

Not on Pro yet? See Pro features and upgrade before linking.

Inviting the bot to a channel

For public channels, the bot can post without being added (it has the chat:write.public scope). For private channels, type /invite @Movie Night Polls once — after that, the bot can post and edit messages there normally.

Creating a poll

In the channel where you want the poll to live, run /movienight create. A modal opens with fields for Title, Description (optional), Movies (one title per line, up to 25 for Pro), a Votes per person dropdown, and checkboxes for unlisted, anonymous, and dark mode. Submit and the bot searches TMDB and posts the finished poll right there in the channel.

Preview before publish

If any of your titles fail to match a movie on TMDB, the bot pauses and sends a preview ephemeral only you can see, with Post poll and Cancel buttons. Hit Cancel and run /movienight create again with corrected spellings if you want to retry — year hints like Heat 1995 help nail down ambiguous titles.

Voting

Voters click a movie button to cast a vote. No account or linking required — anyone in the channel can vote. The message refreshes in place with updated tallies, and voters get a private confirmation showing how many votes they have left.

Closing a poll

When you're ready to announce the winner, run /movienight close. The bot replies with a dropdown of your open polls — pick one and the bot posts a celebration message with the winning movie's poster. Tied polls show a one-tap resolver only you can see: crown a movie or accept the tie.

Sharing a poll into another channel

Run /movienight share in the channel you want to share into. A picker lists your recent polls — pick one and the bot reposts it. Vote tallies stay in sync across every channel and every platform the poll appears in, and closing once announces the result everywhere.

Unlinking

Run /movienight unlink to disconnect your Slack identity from your Movie Night Polls account. You can re-link any time.

Troubleshooting

The slash commands don't show up. Slack propagates slash commands within a minute or two of install. If they're still missing, try reinstalling from the integration page.

I get "Workspace not authorized". Your workspace's install record may have been removed (e.g., the bot was uninstalled and re-added). Run the install flow again.

The bot couldn't find one of my titles. TMDB doesn't recognize every spelling. Add a year hint or try a more canonical title.