Bridges and channel maps
Create a bridge, map channels between platforms, and start, stop, or restart it.
A bridge is one relay between two platforms, with its own channel map, its own status, and its own start and stop controls. Most accounts run one bridge per customer or per project, which keeps a problem on one relationship from touching the others.
Creating a bridge
New Bridge appears once both Slack and Microsoft Teams are connected. You give the bridge a name and map at least one pair of channels. Names are for you: they appear in the bridge list and in status emails, so name it after the thing it connects.
Channel maps
A channel map is a list of pairs: this Slack channel talks to this Teams channel. Both dropdowns are populated live from the connected workspaces.
- A bridge can carry several pairs. Add one row per pair.
- Traffic flows both ways on every pair; there is no one-way mapping.
- Anything posted in a channel that isn't in the map is ignored, even though the app can see it.
Editing a map doesn't take effect on a running bridge until you restart it. The edit screen says so, and Restart Bridge on the bridge page is how you apply it.
Starting, stopping, restarting
| Status | What it means |
|---|---|
| Stopped | Configured but not relaying. Nothing is read or posted. |
| Starting | Handed to the runtime; waiting for it to confirm. |
| Running | Live. Messages in mapped channels are relayed. |
| Error | The runtime couldn't start or keep the bridge up. The reason is shown on the bridge page. |
Starting a bridge is safe to repeat, and stopping one is immediate: Teams stops delivering to it and Slack events for it are dropped. Nothing is lost on the platforms themselves; you're only turning off the relay.
The bridge page
Each bridge shows its current status, the last error the runtime reported, when it was last health checked, its channel map, and a list of recent events: started, stopped, restarted, errors, and health check results. When something looks wrong, that event list tells you whether the bridge has been quietly restarting or has simply been down since a particular moment.
Deleting
Deleting a bridge stops it and removes its configuration and event history. Messages already relayed stay where they were delivered; ThreadBridge has no ability to remove them from Slack or Teams, and deleting the bridge doesn't try.