# slack-inviter

**Repository Path**: cncf/slack-inviter

## Basic Information

- **Project Name**: slack-inviter
- **Description**: Simple Slack inviter that requires folks to accept the CNCF CoC and review our Slack guidelines.
- **Primary Language**: Unknown
- **License**: Not specified
- **Default Branch**: main
- **Homepage**: None
- **GVP Project**: No

## Statistics

- **Stars**: 0
- **Forks**: 0
- **Created**: 2026-07-23
- **Last Updated**: 2026-07-26

## Categories & Tags

**Categories**: Uncategorized

**Tags**: None

## README

# Slack Inviter

A lightweight, self-service form that invites people to our Slack workspace.
Visitors must confirm they've read the **CNCF Code of Conduct** and the **Slack
guidelines**, and are then sent to the workspace's shared invite link.

- **Front end:** plain HTML/CSS/JS (no framework), served as a static site.
- **Back end:** a single Netlify serverless function that gates the invite link.
- **Deployment:** Netlify.

## How it works

```
Browser form  ──POST /.netlify/functions/invite──►  Serverless function  ──►  Slack shared invite link
   (two consent checkboxes)                           (validates consent,
                                                        holds the invite link)
```

Slack has no official API for inviting external emails into a Free/Pro/Business+
workspace, so this app uses Slack's built-in **shared invite link**. The link is
stored as a server-side environment variable and is **never** placed in the page
source. The function checks that both consent checkboxes are ticked and only then
returns the link, to which the browser is redirected.

> **Why not send invites by email via the API?** Programmatic email invites are
> only available on **Enterprise Grid** (`admin.users.invite`). On other plans
> the supported path is a shared invite link, which is what this app uses.

## Project structure

```
public/
  index.html        # The consent form
  styles.css        # Styling
  script.js         # Client-side submit handling
netlify/functions/
  invite.js         # Serverless function that gates the invite link
netlify.toml        # Netlify build & function config
.env.example        # Template for the required SLACK_INVITE_LINK
```

## Getting the Slack invite link

In Slack, open **Invite people → Share an invite link → Copy link** (a workspace
admin may need to enable invite links). Treat the link as a secret, and rotate it
if it expires or hits its member cap.

## Local development

1. Install dependencies:
   ```bash
   npm install
   ```
2. Copy the env template and add your invite link:
   ```bash
   cp .env.example .env
   # edit .env and set SLACK_INVITE_LINK
   ```
3. Run the local dev server (serves the static site and the function):
   ```bash
   npm run dev
   ```
   Open the URL Netlify prints (usually http://localhost:8888).

## Deploying to Netlify

### One-time setup

1. Push this repo to GitHub/GitLab.
2. In the [Netlify dashboard](https://app.netlify.com), **Add new site → Import
   an existing project**, and select the repo. The settings in `netlify.toml`
   (publish dir `public`, functions dir `netlify/functions`) are picked up
   automatically.
3. Under **Site settings → Environment variables**, add:
   - `SLACK_INVITE_LINK` = your Slack shared invite link.
4. Trigger a deploy.

### CLI deploy (alternative)

```bash
npm install
npx netlify login
npx netlify link          # link to your Netlify site
npx netlify env:set SLACK_INVITE_LINK "https://join.slack.com/t/..."
npm run deploy            # deploys to production
```

## Security notes

- The invite link is only ever read on the server via
  `process.env.SLACK_INVITE_LINK` and is returned only after both consent
  checkboxes pass server-side validation.
- **Bot/spam protection is not yet enabled.** An open invite form is a common
  spam target. Before going public, consider adding rate limiting and a CAPTCHA
  (e.g. Cloudflare Turnstile) to the serverless function.

## Customization

- The UI follows the [CNCF brand guidelines](https://www.cncf.io/brand-guidelines/)
  (CNCF Blue `#0086FF`, Clarity City typeface, official logo). Palette and fonts
  live in [public/styles.css](public/styles.css); the logo is referenced in
  [public/index.html](public/index.html).
- Assets are self-contained: the CNCF logo and the
  [Clarity City](https://github.com/vmware/clarity-city) webfonts (MIT-licensed)
  are vendored under `public/assets/`, so the app has no external asset
  dependencies at runtime.
- Update the guideline links in [public/index.html](public/index.html) if the
  CNCF CoC or Slack guideline URLs change.
- Adjust styling in [public/styles.css](public/styles.css).