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https://github.com/ramanshah/slack_standup_snitch

A Slack bot that counts the days each user was active on a channel, calling out the inactive users.
https://github.com/ramanshah/slack_standup_snitch

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A Slack bot that counts the days each user was active on a channel, calling out the inactive users.

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# Slack Standup Snitch



![snitch_bot_in_action](https://cloud.githubusercontent.com/assets/8029092/7402900/f85095c0-ee95-11e4-91e7-940717732f3b.jpg)



The Slack Standup Snitch is a [Slack](https://slack.com/) bot that

counts the unique days that each user was active on a specified

channel and calls out the inactive users. It runs on Python 3 without

any further dependencies. It does the timestamp math to grab the posts

from Slack between midnight the previous night and n days before

that. It aggregates the *unique* days - if you posted five times on

Monday and once on Wednesday, that counts for two days. It returns a

text histogram of the activity and "ats" the users who checked in zero

times.



## Setup instructions



1. Clone this repo.

2. [Get a Slack API token.](https://api.slack.com/web) Save it to the

   repo's directory under `api_token.txt`. (You can save it wherever

   you want, but the `.gitignore` is put together to make this a

   convenient choice. The same is true for the other filenames below.)

3. Get a list of your users along with their internal Slack IDs:



   ```

   python3 list_users.py < api_token.txt > users.csv

   ```



   Typically you'll manually edit `users.csv` to pare the list down to

   the active people you want to monitor.

4. Get a list of your channels along with their internal Slack IDs:



   ```

   python3 list_channels.py < api_token.txt > input_channel.csv

   cp input_channel.csv output_channel.csv

   ```



   Manually remove all but two lines from each file:

   `input_channel.csv` should have a header and the line for the

   channel you want to monitor. Similarly, `output_channel.csv` should

   have a header and the line for the channel you want to send the

   report to.



## How to use



### Typical use



I run the bot from my work computer each Monday morning:

```

python3 standup_snitch.py -t api_token.txt \

                          -d 7 \

                          -i input_channel.csv \

                          -o output_channel.csv \

                          -u users.csv \

                          -b SnitchBot

```

Configure as you see fit; name the bot creatively; put it in a

crontab; and take good care of your people!



### Other features



* `-r`: Dry-run the `standup_snitch` report to standard output instead

of sending it to Slack.



### Maintaining the user list



You can manually maintain `users.csv` to add users (running

`list_users.py` and merging the lists) and remove users (deleting

lines from `users.csv`). However, since internships, vacations, and

normal turnover means that the set of active users changes frequently,

two `bash` scripts are included to make these tasks easier. Each

script creates a file `users.csv.new`, shows you the proposed changes,

and prompts you to verify the changes before applying them.



* `bash add_user.sh users.csv new_user_name api_token.txt`

* `bash remove_user.sh users.csv user_to_remove`



## Philosophy



I am releasing this with trepidation because I know it's going to be

used by lousy bosses to harass their workers. In

[our academic research group](http://stephenslab.uchicago.edu), we use

Slack, which we've found to be a great way to organize communications

between a bunch of busy people with varied schedules and semi-remote

working habits. (Much better than endless email threads with

ever-changing cc lists.) One of the ongoing expectations in our lab is

to touch base at least weekly on a `#standup` Slack channel to let

your peers know what you've worked on, what you plan to work on, and

if you're stuck on anything.



I've personally seen a lot of very talented people drop out of

Ph.D. programs. In my experience, graduation rate has seemed highly

correlated with engaging one's peers about one's challenges in the

process of overcoming them. (Notably, it has also seemed almost

uncorrelated with intelligence; virtually everyone who gets into a

graduate program is smart enough to graduate.) Dropping out of grad

school seems to me to be mostly a failure of community. For this

reason, I was pleased to see the `#standup` channel when I started

here and felt motivated to help enforce its usage. I wrote this bot to

automate the process of following up on students who might fall

through the cracks without extra attention.