Set a Slack Status With the API: users.profile.set, With Code

To set a Slack status with the API, call users.profile.set with a user token that has the users.profile:write scope, and send a profile object with status_text, status_emoji and, optionally, status_expiration as a Unix timestamp. Slack's developer docs say status text holds up to 100 characters without formatting (a URL in it stays plain text, as our link in Slack status test shows), the emoji must be installed in the workspace, and an expiration of 0 means the status never clears. To clear a status, set both text and emoji to empty strings. Bot users have no profile, so a bot token cannot set your status; admins on paid plans can set another user's status by passing user.

Status is the emoji and text. Your green or grey dot is presence, a separate API with different rules: users.setPresence takes only auto or away.

Slack status fields

Set your status with curl

Use a user token (xoxp-) with users.profile:write:

curl -s -X POST https://slack.com/api/users.profile.set \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $SLACK_USER_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json; charset=utf-8" \
  -d '{"profile": {"status_text": "Focus time", "status_emoji": ":headphones:", "status_expiration": 0}}'

Slack recommends JSON; with a form-encoded POST, profile must be a URL-encoded JSON string.

We checked the length rule on 7 October 2026 in our test workspace. A 100-character status_text was saved in full; 101 characters came back as an error:

{"ok": false, "error": "too_long"}

The status that Slack's own Set a status dialog saves with Duration: Today read back through users.profile.get with "status_expiration": 1791385199, which is 23:59:59 on that day in the profile's time zone (Asia/Seoul). To copy that from code, compute the end of the day in the user's tz from users.info, not in UTC.

To clear it:

curl -s -X POST https://slack.com/api/users.profile.set \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $SLACK_USER_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json; charset=utf-8" \
  -d '{"profile": {"status_text": "", "status_emoji": ""}}'

Set a status that expires, in Python

import os, time
from slack_sdk import WebClient

client = WebClient(token=os.environ["SLACK_USER_TOKEN"])

# "In a meeting" for the next 45 minutes
client.users_profile_set(profile={
    "status_text": "In a meeting",
    "status_emoji": ":calendar:",
    "status_expiration": int(time.time()) + 45 * 60,
})

Wire this to a calendar or a cron job to build your own status automation; our automatic Slack status guide times three macOS triggers, and Apple Shortcuts can send the same request. Slack's Google Calendar and Outlook apps already do it for meetings; see sync Slack status with Google Calendar. To copy your Microsoft Teams presence into your Slack status, see how to connect Slack and Teams.

Read a user's status

profile = client.users_profile_get(user="U0123ABCD")["profile"]
print(profile["status_emoji"], profile["status_text"], profile["status_expiration"])

users.profile.get needs users.profile:read. Profiles returned by users.list and users.info also include status, with users:read. To be told when a status changes, subscribe to user_change in the Events API.

To hear about a change instead of polling, an app can subscribe to user_status_changed, which reached our test app in under a second on Slack status change notification.

Which method and scope to use

Getting a user token is covered in Slack bot token: xoxb vs xoxp. Presence methods, fields and rate limits are in our Slack presence API guide.

Set a Slack status from the terminal

Put the curl command in a shell alias or script:

slack_status() {
  curl -s -X POST https://slack.com/api/users.profile.set \
    -H "Authorization: Bearer $SLACK_USER_TOKEN" \
    -H "Content-Type: application/json; charset=utf-8" \
    -d "{\"profile\": {\"status_text\": \"$1\", \"status_emoji\": \"$2\"}}"
}
slack_status "Deploying" ":rocket:"

Keep the token in your keychain or an environment variable, never in the script file. If you installed Slack's own slack command with Homebrew, note that it builds apps and has no status command; what it does is in Slack CLI on Homebrew.

FAQ

How do I set my Slack status with the API?

Call users.profile.set with a user token that has users.profile:write, sending status_text and status_emoji inside profile.

Can a bot set my Slack status?

No. Bots have no profile. Use a user token; admins on paid plans can set other users' statuses.

How do I make an API status expire?

Set status_expiration to a Unix timestamp. 0 means it never clears.

How do I get a user's status with the API?

users.profile.get with users.profile:read, or read profile from users.info.

Can the API set me to active?

No. users.setPresence accepts only auto or away; see script to keep Slack active.