Build a Mattermost AI Agent with nanobot

This guide connects nanobot to Mattermost through the built-in Mattermost channel, using WebSocket events and the Mattermost REST API.

What this guide builds

a Mattermost bot account or token
the mattermost channel enabled in nanobot
mention-only group behavior for first deployment
one DM or mention test

Prerequisites

A working local nanobot reply:

nanobot agent -m "Hello!"

A Mattermost server URL.
A bot token or personal access token for the bot account.
Your Mattermost user ID, username, or email depending on allowFromMatchMode.

Install nanobot

python -m pip install nanobot-ai
nanobot onboard --wizard

Enable the Mattermost channel

Merge this snippet into ~/.nanobot/config.json:

{
  "channels": {
    "mattermost": {
      "enabled": true,
      "serverUrl": "https://mattermost.example.com",
      "token": "YOUR_MATTERMOST_TOKEN",
      "teamId": "YOUR_TEAM_ID",
      "allowFromMatchMode": "id",
      "allowFrom": ["YOUR_USER_ID"],
      "groupPolicy": "mention",
      "replyInThread": true
    }
  }
}

teamId scopes the channel to a Mattermost team. Keep groupPolicy as mention for the first test.

Run nanobot gateway

nanobot channels status
nanobot gateway

Test a message

DM the bot account or mention it in a channel where the bot has access:

@nanobot Hello from Mattermost

Security notes

Store the Mattermost token in an environment variable for deployed services.
Keep allowFrom narrow until pairing or team policy is intentional.
Use mention-only group behavior before opening the bot to busy channels.
Review file and shell tools before inviting broad channel access.

Troubleshooting

If startup logs say serverUrl and token must be configured, check the camelCase config keys.
If DMs are ignored, review the dm policy and allowFrom values.
If channel messages are ignored, confirm the bot is mentioned and belongs to the team/channel.
If thread replies are surprising, review replyInThread and includeThreadContext.

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