Quickstart

From zero to your first answer in Slack in about ten minutes.

This guide gets you from a brand-new Datost org to a real answer posted in Slack. Plan on about ten minutes if you already have a database and Slack admin access.

Prerequisites

A Datost organization (sign up at app.datost.com or ask your workspace admin to invite you)
Slack workspace admin rights (or help from someone who has them)
Read access to at least one database or warehouse

1. Install Datost in Slack

Start the install

In the Datost web app, open Admin → Slack and click Install. You'll be redirected to Slack's OAuth consent.

Approve the scopes

Review the requested scopes and approve. You'll land back in Datost once the workspace is linked.

Link your personal Slack identity

In Slack, run /datost link and follow the ephemeral message to connect your Slack user to your Datost account.

More detail: Slack install guide.

2. Connect a data source

Open the admin panel

In the web app, go to Admin → Data sources and click Add data source.

Pick your database

Choose from warehouses (BigQuery, Snowflake, Databricks, ClickHouse) or databases (Postgres, MySQL, MSSQL, Firestore). Full list under Integrations.

Authenticate

Paste credentials or complete OAuth. For databases behind a VPC, install the Tunnel Agent first.

Test the connection

Datost runs a quick introspection query. Once it succeeds, the tables show up in the schema explorer.

3. Ask your first question

In any Slack channel Datost is a member of (or in a DM):

@Datost how many signups did we get last week?

Datost will:

Read your schema
Write SQL
Run it
Reply in the thread with the answer, chart, and underlying query

Follow up in the same thread — Datost keeps conversation context. For more, see mentions and threads.