My User Group Tags Are Not Working in Slack Notifications

Last updated: March 16, 2026

Issue Description

When Slack channels are shared between workspaces, user group tags (like @backend-team) in Honeycomb notifications may stop working properly. Instead of appearing as clickable, active tags, they display as plain text.

Root Cause

This is a limitation of Slack's architecture, not a Honeycomb issue. When channels are shared across workspaces, Slack disables workspace-specific user group mentions due to metadata changes that prevent auto-resolution.

Symptoms

  • User group tags in notifications appear as plain text instead of clickable mentions

  • The issue occurs specifically in channels that have been shared with another Slack workspace

  • Non-shared channels in the same workspace continue to work normally

  • Reverting the channel sharing does not restore the functionality

Workaround

Use explicit subteam syntax in your notification descriptions instead of simple user group tags:

Instead of: @backend-team Use: <!subteam^SUBTEAM_ID|@backend-team>

Finding Your Subteam ID

  1. In Slack, go to your Directories

  2. Navigate to "User groups"

  3. Find your user group and click on it

  4. Click the ⋯ (three dots) menu

  5. Select Copy group ID

Example:

If your backend team's subteam ID is S1234567890, use:

<!subteam^S1234567890|@backend-team>

This explicit syntax will restore clickable user group links in shared channels.

Additional Notes

  • This workaround is necessary for any Slack channel that has been shared with another workspace

  • The explicit syntax works in both shared and non-shared channels

  • This is a Slack limitation and cannot be resolved by changes to the Honeycomb configuration

Related Documentation