Distribute Your App7% of the exam

Public distribution and Add to Slack installs

How to share an app with other workspaces: the Manage Distribution checklist (OAuth flow, HTTPS URLs), Activate Public Distribution and the Add to Slack button and shareable URL it unlocks, admin approval and minimal scopes, and what deactivating distribution or losing the installer does to existing installs.

Official exam objective
Share an app with other workspaces.

~8 min read · 6 practice questions ·

What the exam expects

  • Share an existing app with other workspaces from Manage Distribution by completing the checklist and clicking Activate Public Distribution.
  • Name what must be in place first: an OAuth 2.0 flow that generates and stores a token per installation, and HTTPS on every redirect and Request URL.
  • Identify what activation unlocks (Add to Slack button, shareable install URL, app-suggestion meta tag) and what needs a Marketplace listing instead.
  • Help workspaces that require admin approval by requesting only the scopes the app needs.
  • Predict what happens when distribution is deactivated or when the installing user leaves or becomes a guest.

Key terms: public distribution (the setting that lets any workspace install the app through OAuth, without a listing); Add to Slack button (an embeddable link to the authorize URL); shareable URL (a link that starts the install flow); Approve apps (a workspace setting where members request apps and admins approve them); app_uninstalled (the event sent when the app is completely uninstalled).

Key facts

Where to share
Detail
Manage Distribution > Share Your App with Other Workspaces > Activate Public Distribution
OAuth requirement
Detail
Installing on other workspaces needs an OAuth 2.0 flow producing per-workspace tokens
HTTPS
Detail
Redirect, interactivity, slash command, options load and Events API URLs must support SSL
Unlocked on activation
Detail
Add to Slack button, shareable install URL, app-suggestion meta tag
App suggestions
Detail
Shown only once the app is listed in the Slack Marketplace
Direct install
Detail
A Marketplace listing feature, not available to unlisted apps
Admin approval
Detail
Request only the permissions the app absolutely needs
Deactivate
Detail
Removes the app from every installing workspace except the associated one
Published apps
Detail
Cannot deactivate distribution; discontinue the listing
Installer leaves or becomes guest
Detail
Apps with scopes beyond bot, incoming-webhook, commands, identify are uninstalled
app_uninstalled
Detail
Sent when the app is completely uninstalled; no scopes required
Sources for this section (3)
  • Why must an app have an OAuth flow before other workspaces can install it?
  • Which three items does Activate Public Distribution give you?
  • When does an app with `chat:write` get uninstalled without anyone clicking Remove?
  • Why should a distributed app keep its scope list short?

The questions are free to read. Answers with their sources and self-grading are included with the pack.

Keep reading with the Slack Developer pack

  • Core concepts
  • Exam traps
  • Worked scenario

The pack includes:

  • All 38 lessons of the Slack Developer guide, with reading progress
  • Interactive decision walks and step-by-step sequence steppers
  • Inline practice questions and one-click topic practice (6 questions for this lesson)
  • An official source cited for every claim
  • An AI tutor that answers from the guide
  • Unlimited timed practice exams

Practice for the Slack Developer exam