narkq / ultron

A Slack Bot for UNIX-style ChatOps

ultron

A Slack Bot for UNIX-style ChatOps

Most ChatOps bots require that all plugins are written in the bots' host language.

ultron follows The UNIX Philosophy wherein every command is just a program.

This allows commands to be written in any programming language.

ultron uses slack-bot-async and slack-api-types.

Usage

$ ultron --help
ultron - A Slack Bot for UNIX-style ChatOps

Usage: ultron [-d|--debug] CONFIG

Available options:
  -h,--help                Show this help text
  -d,--debug               Set log level to DEBUG

Build

stack build

Configure

See example.cfg

Built-In Commands

• help -- list available commands

Features

• Single and Double Quoted Arguments

Writing Commands

Commands are just programs (The UNIX Philosophy).

If the exit code of the command program is zero, STDOUT is written directly to slack unformatted. Formatting is up to the command program. See Slack Message Formatting.

If the exit code of the command program is non-zero, the command is treated as a failure and the STDOUT and STDERR printed if they had any output.

The following environment variables are passed to command programs:

• ULTRON_UID -- the user id that called the command
• ULTRON_CID -- the channel id where the command was called

Security

Be cognizant of the security implications of the command programs that you write.

Make sure command programs:

• Do not allow access to arbitrary files.
• Prevent path traversals.
• Properly escape input arguments.
• Do not allow users to call eval functions or shells.

Do not trust user input if you want protect ultron's host system from malicious input.

For example, it might seem convenient to add a link to grep in the path, but grep can accept a file path as an argument. A proper solution would be to wrap grep, escape input, and whitelist specific arguments.

Access Control

Access control to bot commands is only done via channels.

If a user doesn't not have access to the Slack channel that the bot is listening in, then they will not have access to the commands.

More granular controls can be implemented in the command's program, using the ULTRON_UID environment variable.

Wishlist (PRs Welcome)

• UNIX pipes
• Process Control (list running commands and kill them)
• Attachments Support