# Project management in Slack, without a second tool to keep updated

> Run the project from the channel. How it works, what it looks like in a channel, and what Ray does not do here.

Source: https://heyray.io/use-cases/slack-project-management

Projects do not fall apart in the tracker. They fall apart between it and the channel.

The plan is in one tool, the conversation is in another, and the gap between them is where things get lost. Ray lives in the channel, keeps the tracker honest about what was actually decided, chases what has gone quiet, and writes the update nobody has time to write.

## How it goes now

- The plan was accurate on the day it was made and has been drifting ever since.
- A decision gets made in a thread on Tuesday, and the tracker finds out about it whenever somebody remembers.
- Status meetings exist mostly so that everyone can find out what already happened.
- The person who chases people is doing it out of goodwill and their own memory.

## How it actually works

1. **Ray reads the channels the project actually happens in.** Only the ones you invite it to. It follows what is being decided rather than waiting to be told, and stays quiet when nothing needs doing.
2. **Decisions reach the tracker.** Scope changes, new work, dates that moved. Ray writes them into the tools you already use, and every one of those writes shows you a card first.
3. **Ray chases, so a person does not have to.** It reads the live state before it asks, so a nudge names where something actually stands rather than just asking for an update.
4. **The update writes itself.** Schedule a digest and Ray posts what moved, what is blocked and what is overdue, built from the systems of record rather than from memory.

## What that looks like in a channel

**"We agreed to push the migration to next sprint."**

Ray updates the dates on the affected work and shows you exactly what it is about to change before it changes anything.

Tools: Jira, Linear, Asana, ClickUp

**"Where are we on the launch?"**

Ray reads the live state across the tools the work lives in and answers in the thread, instead of telling you which four tabs to open.

Tools: Jira, Asana, Notion, Google Sheets

**"Chase whoever owns the pricing page copy."**

Ray checks where it stands first, then follows up naming the live state, rather than asking someone for what the tracker already shows.

Tools: Asana, Linear, Notion, Figma

## The tools this touches

Jira, Linear, Asana, ClickUp, Trello, Notion, Basecamp, Wrike, Airtable, Google Sheets, Confluence, Figma

Every one has its own page saying what Ray reads there and what waits for an approval. The full set is at https://heyray.io/integrations.md

## What Ray does not do here

- Ray does not draw Gantt charts, roadmaps or burndowns. It has no views of its own at all, because it has no dashboard, deliberately.
- It does not do resourcing, capacity planning or budgets. Those live in your tracker and Ray reads them rather than managing them.
- It will not reassign work or move a date on its own. Every one of those is a write, and every write waits for a person.
- Ray is on Slack today. The other chat platforms are planned, not shipped.

## What it costs

Free covers 25 tasks a month plus a one-time 50-task starter grant that never expires. Pro is one flat price for your team size: $49 a month for 1 to 3 people, $99 a month for 4 to 10 people, $199 a month for 11 to 25 people. No seats, and using Ray more never costs more. Failed work is never counted and never billed.

## What people ask first

**Does this replace our project management tool?**

No, and it is not trying to. Ray has no board and no dashboard. It keeps the tool you already use honest about what was decided in the channel, which is the part that usually rots.

**Is this just for software teams?**

No. Ray works across whatever the team has connected, which for some teams is Jira and for others is Asana, a spreadsheet and a Notion page. The job is the same either way.

**What stops it acting on something that was not agreed?**

The approval card. Ray shows you the exact change before it makes it, and nothing about that is optional or configurable off.

**How much of the channel does it read?**

Everything in the channels you invite it to, and nothing anywhere else. It is a member of a channel the same way a person is.

**Does using it more cost more?**

No. Ray is one flat price for your team size, with no seats and no metering. Work that fails or loops is never counted and never billed.