How to split Slack messages from same user? - slack-api

Question

I'm using the Slack API to post automatic messages with various statuses. To mark the status, I use emoji icons. Sending works fine, and the right icon is set (I see it in the response), but subsequent posts are running together in the channel, so even if even if the icon is different, it does not show until there is a message from another user in between:
[red icon] BOT_USER msg #1 some info - status critical
msg #2 some info - status ok (should have green icon!)
msg #3 some info - status critical
[user icon] SOME_USER some message
[green icon] BOT_USER msg #4 some info - status ok
(sorry, not enough rep to post a screenshot)
Is there a way to split the messages, ensuring the icon is always displayed? If not, is there a way to e.g. change a message's background color?

Answer 1

I found the way to mark it using the attachments. My script looks like that (quoting gave me some headache):
ATTACHMENTS="[{\"fallback\":\"$INPUT\",\"text\":\"$INPUT\",\"color\":\"$COLOR\"}]"
curl -sS -X POST \
--data "token=$TOKEN&channel=$CHANNEL_ID&username=$FROM&attachments=$ATTACHMENTS" \
https://slack.com/api/chat.postMessage
Setting the $COLOR variable to danger, good, or a hex color, provides a vertical bar of that color next to the message, which works for me. So, even if the messages get grouped by user, the bars provide distinction.

Answer 2

The grouping of message from the same user is standard behavior from Slack and can not be changed. So it makes sense not to use the icon and name of a user as indicator, but instead look for other approaches.
Colors in attachments is one alternative approach. Another is to use thumbnails in attachment (instead of user icons).

Answer 3

Instead of text, u can utilize blocks & blocks of type divider can be used before & after a message.
"blocks": [
{
"type": "divider"
},
{
"type": "section",
"text": {
"type": "mrkdwn",
"text": "This is unquoted text\n>This is quoted text\n>This is still quoted text\nThis is unquoted text again"
}
},
{
"type": "divider"
}
]