# Piste's Slack shortcuts and the /piste command

> Use Ask Piste about this, Remember this and Watch for this on any Slack message, or /piste to ask a question, and the limits on conversations they start.

Source: https://www.usepiste.com/docs/slack/shortcuts

Piste adds three shortcuts to the menu of any Slack message, and a `/piste` command. Any full member of your Slack workspace can use them to ask Piste about a message, save it to the workspace's memory, or turn it into a standing check.

| Shortcut or command | What it does |
|---|---|
| Ask Piste about this | Starts a conversation in that message's thread, as you, with the message quoted. Piste replies with what your store's data shows about it, with where each number comes from. |
| Remember this | Saves the message's words, quoted and attributed, as one entry in the workspace's [memory](https://www.usepiste.com/docs/memory), and shows you privately what it saved, with an `Undo` button. |
| Watch for this | Starts a conversation in which Piste proposes one standing check on what the message raises. It creates nothing until the owner replies "set it up". |
| `/piste` with a question | Posts that you asked Piste the question, in the channel, and answers in its thread. |
| `/piste` on its own | Shows you privately "What would you like to know?", with things worth a look in your store today. |

To use a shortcut, open the menu on a message in Slack and choose it. To use the command, type `/piste` in the message box, with or without a question.

## Ask Piste about this

Ask Piste about this is for a message that raises something about your store, such as a customer's complaint pasted into a channel or a supplier's note. Piste reads it, looks up what your store's data says, and replies to you with what it shows and what, if anything, is worth doing.

The conversation runs as you, and it's an ordinary conversation in every way but one: it started on words someone else wrote, so it carries the [restrictions below](#what-cant-a-conversation-started-on-a-message-do).

## Remember this

Remember this saves the message's own words, as Slack shows them, as one entry in the workspace's memory, in this form:

`Slack message from <name> in #<channel>, <date>: “<the message>”`

Piste's code saves it directly, with no AI rewording it. You see the entry privately under "Saved to the workspace's memory:", with an `Undo` button. Only the person who saved it, or the workspace owner, can press `Undo`.

| If | Piste says |
|---|---|
| The message is longer than 300 characters | "That message is too long to keep as one fact (memory keeps short ones, up to 300 characters). Tell Piste the fact in a sentence instead: mention it and say "remember that …"." |
| The same words are already in memory | "That's already in the workspace's memory." |
| Memory is full | "That doesn't fit. Memory holds a few thousand characters in all, and one entry up to about 2,000. Remove something older, or shorten it." |

The owner can read, edit and delete every entry on the Memory page, from the links at the foot of the sidebar in the web app.

## Watch for this

Watch for this is for a message that raises something worth keeping an eye on. Piste proposes one standing check in the thread: what it would check, how often, and where it would post. It creates nothing in that turn.

- **If you're the owner**, reply "set it up" in the thread, and Piste creates it as an [automation](https://www.usepiste.com/docs/automations).
- **If you're a member**, Piste tells you that only the owner can set it up, and that the owner can reply "set it up" in the thread.
- **In a DM**, where the owner can't see the conversation, the owner uses Watch for this on the same message instead.

## /piste

`/piste` followed by a question, up to 1,000 characters, posts your question visibly in the channel and answers it in its thread, as if you had mentioned Piste.

`/piste` on its own shows a menu only you can see, headed "What would you like to know?". It lists up to three things worth a look in your store today, each with an `Ask` button, and a box, "Or ask your own", where you type a question and press Enter. On a quiet day the menu fills up with these questions:

- "How did yesterday's sales compare with a usual day?"
- "What sold best over the last seven days?"
- "Which products are close to selling out?"

Pressing `Ask` or typing a question posts it visibly as yours, as `/piste` with a question does.

## Where does Piste answer?

Piste answers in the conversation where you used the shortcut or command when it's already in it, when it's your DM with Piste, or when it's a public channel Piste can join, which it then joins.

Otherwise Piste answers in a new thread in your DM with Piste, and says why: the message is in a conversation Piste isn't in, in a channel shared with another organisation, or in a thread where Piste is already having a conversation. The thread opens with a line such as "You used Ask Piste about this on a message in a conversation I'm not in, so I'm answering here."

## What can't a conversation started on a message do?

Ask Piste about this and Watch for this start from a message anyone may have written: a customer, a supplier or a bot. Piste treats the message as something to read, never as instructions. For the whole of the conversation it starts:

- **Nothing changes on its own.** An action that would go ahead without a person deciding is refused, unless the workspace owner asks for it in their own words in that conversation. Piste says what it would change and why instead.
- **Approvals still ask.** A change that needs a person's approval still asks, on a card, as anywhere else.
- **Reads still run.** Piste can look up anything it could in any conversation.
- **No memory is saved.** Only Remember this puts a message's words in memory, and it saves the message's own words, not a summary.
- **No coder jobs.** The conversation can't hand work to the [coder](https://www.usepiste.com/docs/jobs).

A shortcut never joins a conversation Piste is already having in a thread. It answers in your DM instead, so an existing conversation never picks up these restrictions.

`/piste` with your own question has none of these restrictions: the words are yours.

## Who can use them?

Any full, active member of your Slack workspace. Piste checks anyone other than the owner with Slack each time they use a shortcut or `/piste`, and they join as a [light member](https://www.usepiste.com/docs/slack/conversations#who-becomes-a-light-member) the first time.

Piste refuses privately:

| Who | What they're told |
|---|---|
| A guest, or a deactivated account | "Piste is for this workspace's members. To get your own, start at https://app.usepiste.com/sign-up" |
| Someone from another organisation | "Piste here belongs to the Slack workspace it's installed in, so it can't act for people from another organization." |

## Limits

| Limit | Value |
|---|---|
| Longest message Remember this saves | 300 characters |
| Longest question for `/piste` or the menu | 1,000 characters |
| Quoted message Ask and Watch read | The first 4,000 characters |
| Suggestions in the `/piste` menu | 3 |

## Related

- [Conversations](https://www.usepiste.com/docs/slack/conversations): DMs, mentions, threads and approvals.
- [Memory](https://www.usepiste.com/docs/memory): what Piste remembers and how to edit it.
- [Schedule and watches](https://www.usepiste.com/docs/automations/schedule): checks that run on a schedule.

## Questions

### Can a customer's message make Piste change something?

No. Piste treats a message you use a shortcut on as something to read, never as instructions. Nothing in that conversation goes ahead without a person deciding, unless the workspace owner asks for it in their own words.

### Does /piste post my question in the channel?

/piste followed by a question does: the channel sees that you asked Piste, and Piste answers in its thread. /piste on its own shows a menu only you can see.

### Who can undo Remember this?

The person who saved the message, or the workspace owner, with the Undo button on the private confirmation. The owner can also edit or delete the entry on the Memory page of the web app.

### Why did Piste answer in my DM instead of the channel?

Piste answers in your DM when the message is in a conversation Piste isn't in and can't join, in a channel shared with another organisation, or in a thread where Piste is already having a conversation.

### Can a teammate set up a check with Watch for this?

A teammate can ask, and Piste proposes the check, but only the workspace owner can set it up, by replying set it up in the thread.