Bob's Brain: Open Source Slack AI Assistant Template

Posted on Sep 13, 2025

Bob’s Brain: Open Source Slack AI Assistant Template

Today I’m releasing Bob’s Brain - a clean, modular template for building your own Slack AI assistant with knowledge base integration. It’s designed to be your starting point for creating custom AI bots that can grow with your needs.

What is Bob’s Brain?

Bob’s Brain is a template/starter kit that provides the foundation for building Slack AI assistants. Rather than being a fully configured system, it gives you a clean, well-structured starting point that you can customize for your specific use case.

Key Features

Clean Architecture

  • Modular design for easy customization
  • Clear separation of concerns
  • Well-documented code structure
  • Built with Python 3.10+

Core Components

  • Slack Integration: Socket Mode for real-time messaging
  • Vector Database: ChromaDB for knowledge storage
  • AI Ready: Prepared for Gemini Vertex AI integration
  • Extensible: Easy to add new features and data sources

Getting Started

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/jeremylongshore/bobs-brain.git
cd bobs-brain

# Install dependencies
pip install -r requirements.txt

# Configure your Slack app
# 1. Create app at api.slack.com
# 2. Add bot token to .env file
# 3. Configure your knowledge base

# Run the bot
python3 src/bob_ultimate.py

What You’ll Need to Add

This is a template - you bring your own:

1. Knowledge Base Data

  • Add your documents to ChromaDB
  • Configure embeddings for your use case
  • Set up your vector similarity search

2. AI Integration

  • Choose your LLM (Gemini Vertex AI, Claude Code, etc.)
  • Add your API keys
  • Configure prompts for your domain

3. Business Logic

  • Implement your specific commands
  • Add custom workflows
  • Integrate with your systems

Architecture Overview

bobs-brain/
├── src/
│   ├── bob_ultimate.py      # Main bot entry point
│   ├── knowledge_base.py    # ChromaDB integration
│   └── slack_handler.py     # Slack event handling
├── config/
│   └── settings.py          # Configuration management
├── requirements.txt         # Python dependencies
└── .env.example            # Environment template

Use Cases

Bob’s Brain template is perfect for:

  • Learning Projects: Understand AI bot architecture
  • Internal Tools: Build team-specific assistants
  • Customer Support: Create domain-specific help bots
  • Knowledge Management: Query internal documentation
  • Automation: Integrate with existing workflows

Customization Examples

Add Your Knowledge Base

# Example: Loading your documents
from knowledge_base import KnowledgeBase

kb = KnowledgeBase()
kb.add_documents(your_documents)
kb.create_embeddings()

Integrate Your AI

# Example: Adding AI responses
def generate_response(query):
    context = kb.search(query)
    response = your_llm.generate(
        prompt=f"Context: {context}\nQuery: {query}"
    )
    return response

Extend Functionality

# Example: Custom commands
@app.command("/analyze")
def handle_analyze(ack, command):
    ack()
    # Your custom analysis logic
    result = analyze_data(command['text'])
    respond(result)

Why a Template Approach?

Rather than providing a one-size-fits-all solution, Bob’s Brain gives you:

  1. Flexibility: Adapt to your specific needs
  2. Learning: Understand each component
  3. Control: No hidden complexity
  4. Scalability: Start simple, grow as needed

What’s Included

  • ✅ Slack bot foundation
  • ✅ Vector database setup
  • ✅ Configuration management
  • ✅ Error handling
  • ✅ Logging framework
  • ✅ Deployment examples
  • ✅ Documentation

What You Build

  • 🔧 Your custom knowledge base
  • 🔧 Your AI integrations
  • 🔧 Your business logic
  • 🔧 Your data sources
  • 🔧 Your deployment pipeline

Community and Support

Bob’s Brain is open source and community-driven:

  • GitHub Issues: Report bugs or request features
  • Pull Requests: Contribute improvements
  • Discussions: Share your implementations
  • Examples: Learn from others’ customizations

Getting Help

Roadmap

Future template enhancements:

  • Additional database adapters
  • More LLM integrations
  • Authentication examples
  • Deployment templates
  • Testing frameworks
  • Performance monitoring

Start Building Today

Bob’s Brain provides the foundation - you bring the innovation. Whether you’re building a simple FAQ bot or a complex AI assistant, this template gives you a clean starting point.

# Your AI journey starts here
git clone https://github.com/jeremylongshore/bobs-brain.git

Resources

Bob’s Brain is a template for building Slack AI assistants. It provides the foundation - you build the solution that fits your needs.

View on GitHub | Get Started | Report Issues