# Task management in Slack that does not stay in Slack

> The pile, tracked where it already lives. How it works, what it looks like in a channel, and what Ray does not do here.

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

Managing tasks in Slack usually means a second place to forget them.

Keeping tasks inside chat gives you a list nobody outside the channel can see. Ray does the opposite: work discussed in Slack lands in the tracker the rest of the company already reads, and Ray keeps up with it from the channel so nobody has to go and look.

## How it goes now

- There is a list in the tracker, a list in someone's saved messages, and a list in a pinned post that is three weeks stale.
- Nobody knows what is actually in flight without opening the tracker and reading it, which is why nobody does.
- Things get marked done in conversation and never in the system, so the board slowly stops being true.
- The weekly ask of who is blocked gets answered from memory by whoever replies first.

## How it actually works

1. **The channel is the inbox.** Work gets described where it always was. Ray reads the channels you invite it to and turns what is genuinely a task into one, in your tracker, with your approval.
2. **Ray keeps the record straight.** When something is discussed as done or changed in the thread, Ray updates the tracker to match rather than letting the board drift from reality. Changes are writes, so each one waits for a tap.
3. **Ask about the pile in plain words.** What is overdue, what has not moved this week, what is assigned to nobody. Ray reads the live state and answers in the thread. Reads never wait for approval, at any volume.
4. **The digest comes to you.** Schedule one and Ray posts what moved, what is waiting and what is overdue, on the days you say, in the channel you say.

## What that looks like in a channel

**"What is still open for the launch, and who has not started?"**

Ray reads the live board, answers in the thread with the open items and their owners, and names the ones with no assignee at all.

Tools: Asana, ClickUp, Linear, Jira

**"That one is done, I shipped it yesterday."**

Ray moves it to done in the tracker and shows you the change first, so the board stops disagreeing with the conversation.

Tools: Linear, Jira, Todoist, Trello

**"Post what is overdue in here every Monday at nine."**

Ray schedules it and posts it every Monday, and you change or cancel it by asking in a sentence.

Tools: Asana, ClickUp, Notion

## The tools this touches

Asana, ClickUp, Linear, Jira, Trello, Todoist, Notion, Basecamp, Wrike, Airtable, Google Sheets, Productboard

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 has no board, no list view and no dashboard. If you want somewhere to drag cards around, that is your tracker's job and Ray does not replace it.
- It will not mark something done because it sounds finished. A status change is a write, and it waits for a person.
- Free workspaces get one scheduled digest. More than one needs Pro.
- Ray reads the channels it is invited to and nothing else, so work discussed somewhere Ray is not a member stays invisible to it.

## 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

**How is this different from Slack Lists?**

Slack Lists keeps the task in Slack. That is fine until someone outside the channel needs to see it, or the work has to sit next to everything else the company is doing. Ray puts the task in the tracker you already run on, and then saves you the trip back.

**Do we have to change how we use our tracker?**

No. Ray works with your projects, statuses and fields as they are. It is another way in, not a new system.

**Will it clutter the tracker with junk from chat?**

Every ticket is shown to you before it is created, so nothing lands that somebody did not approve. Ray is also deliberately quiet in channels: most conversation is not a task and it does not treat it as one.

**Can it answer questions without filing anything?**

Yes, and that is most of what it does. Reads never gate. Asking what is overdue or who owns something is answered straight away.

**What happens when someone leaves?**

Their connected accounts go with them, and the work stays in your tracker where it always was. Ray's memory of the team stays with the workspace.