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9bx user guide

HR (HRM)

Slack, Teams and WhatsApp approvals

Get approval requests where you already work. Approve or reject from a Slack or Microsoft Teams message, get notices on WhatsApp, and file a leave request by typing a short command. Email approval links keep working as before.

Contents: Who can use it · Connect Slack · Connect Microsoft Teams · Turn on WhatsApp · Link yourself · Approve from chat · Commands · Safety · FAQ

Who can use it

  • Administrators with the Chat apps permissions connect the apps and see who is linked: HR → Chat apps (in the new menu: HR settings → Chat apps).
  • Everyone manages their own links in My HR → Chat apps (also HR → Self service → My chat apps). No permission is needed.
  • Works the same on every plan.

Your 9bx support team sets up the Slack app and the Teams bot once for the whole platform. If a card says "not set up yet", ask them.

Connect Slack

  1. Open HRM → Chat apps and press Connect Slack.
  2. Slack asks you to allow the 9bx app in your workspace. Allow it.
  3. You return to 9bx, a "Slack connected." message appears and the Slack card shows Connected with your workspace name. Once connected the button reads Reconnect.

People whose Slack email matches their 9bx email are linked automatically the first time they use the bot. Everyone else links with a code (see Link yourself).

Linked people at the bottom of the page lists everyone linked, the app, their chat user, Linked by (Email, Link code, Paired by admin or Turned on by the person) and whether notices are on. Pair manually links a person to their Slack member ID or Teams user ID when the emails do not match; Unlink removes a link. A Teams person marked Not reachable has not opened a chat with the bot yet. Disconnect on a card unlinks everyone on that app after you confirm.

Connect Microsoft Teams

  1. Open HRM → Chat apps. On the Microsoft Teams card enter the Directory (tenant) ID (and, if you like, a Name) and press Connect.
  2. Ask your Microsoft 365 administrator to add the 9bx app to Teams for your people.
  3. Each person opens a chat with the 9bx bot and sends any message, for example help. That chat is where cards arrive. Matching by email works the same way as Slack.

Teams only lets a bot write to someone who has opened a chat with it once.

Turn on WhatsApp

Press Turn on WhatsApp in HRM → Chat apps. Messages go out through your organization's WhatsApp connection in Messaging. Each person then turns it on for themselves in My HR → Chat apps, using the phone number on their profile. A WhatsApp message carries a one-time link that opens a page where you approve or reject.

  1. Open My HR → Chat apps.
  2. Press Get link code next to Slack or Teams. The dialog shows the exact text to type, a Copy button and how long the code still works (15 minutes, once only). Get a new code replaces it.
  3. In Slack type /9bx link YOUR-CODE. In Teams send link YOUR-CODE to the bot. Press Done to see the app as Linked.

Press Unlink at any time. Unlinked people simply keep getting email and in-app notices.

Approve from chat

When something is waiting for you, a card arrives with Approve, Reject and Open in 9bx. After you press a button the card changes to the outcome. If someone else already decided, or the request moved on, the card says so and nothing changes.

  • Requests that must be decided signed in (sensitive ones) only show Open in 9bx.
  • If you only act for someone else while they are away, the card opens the request in 9bx.
  • When your own request is approved or rejected you get a notice too.
  • Reopening a rejected request stays in the web and mobile apps.

You can switch chat notices off per app with Send me notices here in My HR → Chat apps. On each card in HRM → Chat apps, administrators have Turned on (pause the app without unlinking anyone), Notify approvers (cards for decisions) and Notify requesters (results of people's own requests).

Commands

Command What it does
approvals Lists what is waiting for your decision
leave annual 2026-11-02 2026-11-04 family trip Applies for leave: type, from date, optional to date, optional reason
link CODE Links your chat account
help Shows the commands

Leave requests follow the normal rules: balance, overlaps and your approval flow.

How it stays safe

  • Every button carries a one-time token that expires after 72 hours and works only in the app it was sent to.
  • A token only works for the person it was sent to. Someone else pressing it is refused.
  • Slack and Teams calls are checked as genuinely coming from them before anything happens.
  • Every decision is recorded with who decided and from where (Slack, Teams, WhatsApp, email or web).

Troubleshooting and FAQ

The card shows "already handled". Someone decided first, the step moved on, or the 72 hours passed. Open the request in 9bx.

Slack shows an error. The bot token stopped working, for example the app was removed from Slack. Press Connect Slack again.

I get no Teams card. Open a chat with the bot and send any message once, then try again.

I get no WhatsApp message. Check your phone number on your profile, that WhatsApp is turned on in My HR → Chat apps, and that your organization's WhatsApp connection is working.

Can I approve by replying to an email? Use the approve and reject buttons in the email. They work once and expire like the chat buttons.