Slack Block Builder do not update static select value in modal

[mister-good-deal]

On "@slack/bolt": "^3.19.0", I got a strange bug where a static_select element from Block Builder do not display the initial_option correctly in my Slack app.

I'm using "slack-block-builder": "^2.8.0" to generate the JSON output that updates the following Modal view.

{
  "callback_id": "assistantConfigurationModalCallback",
  "title": {
    "type": "plain_text",
    "text": "AI Assistant"
  },
  "submit": {
    "type": "plain_text",
    "text": "Submit"
  },
  "close": {
    "type": "plain_text",
    "text": "Cancel"
  },
  "blocks": [
    {
      "text": {
        "type": "mrkdwn",
        "text": "Create an AI assistant bound to a public channel."
      },
      "type": "section"
    },
    {
      "type": "divider"
    },
    {
      "label": {
        "type": "plain_text",
        "text": "Create or edit Assistant"
      },
      "element": {
        "placeholder": {
          "type": "plain_text",
          "text": "Select assistant"
        },
        "options": [
          {
            "text": {
              "type": "plain_text",
              "text": "Create new assistant"
            },
            "value": "-1"
          },
          {
            "text": {
              "type": "plain_text",
              "text": "mistral-test"
            },
            "value": "1"
          }
        ],
        "initial_option": {
          "text": {
            "type": "plain_text",
            "text": "mistral-test"
          },
          "value": "1"
        },
        "action_id": "select_assistant_action",
        "type": "static_select"
      },
      "dispatch_action": true,
      "block_id": "select_assistant_action_block_id",
      "type": "input"
    },
    {
      "label": {
        "type": "plain_text",
        "text": "Assistant name"
      },
      "element": {
        "placeholder": {
          "type": "plain_text",
          "text": "Enter the assistant name"
        },
        "initial_value": "mistral-test",
        "action_id": "assistant_name_text_input_action",
        "type": "plain_text_input"
      },
      "block_id": "assistant_name_block_id",
      "type": "input"
    },
    {
      "label": {
        "type": "plain_text",
        "text": "Assistant description"
      },
      "element": {
        "placeholder": {
          "type": "plain_text",
          "text": "Enter the assistant description"
        },
        "multiline": true,
        "initial_value": "Mistral AI test API call",
        "action_id": "assistant_description_text_input_action",
        "type": "plain_text_input"
      },
      "block_id": "assistant_description_block_id",
      "type": "input"
    },
    {
      "label": {
        "type": "plain_text",
        "text": "Assistant instructions"
      },
      "element": {
        "placeholder": {
          "type": "plain_text",
          "text": "Enter the assistant instructions"
        },
        "multiline": true,
        "initial_value": "You are a helpful assistant helping user in a Slack channel",
        "action_id": "assistant_instructions_text_input_action",
        "type": "plain_text_input"
      },
      "block_id": "assistant_instructions_block_id",
      "type": "input"
    },
    {
      "label": {
        "type": "plain_text",
        "text": "Public channel name"
      },
      "element": {
        "placeholder": {
          "type": "plain_text",
          "text": "Enter the public channel name"
        },
        "initial_value": "mistral-test",
        "action_id": "assistant_channel_name_text_input_action",
        "type": "plain_text_input"
      },
      "block_id": "assistant_channel_name_block_id",
      "type": "input"
    },
    {
      "label": {
        "type": "plain_text",
        "text": "AI service"
      },
      "element": {
        "placeholder": {
          "type": "plain_text",
          "text": "Select AI service"
        },
        "action_id": "select_ai_service_action",
        "options": [
          {
            "text": {
              "type": "plain_text",
              "text": "OPENAI"
            },
            "value": "OPENAI"
          },
          {
            "text": {
              "type": "plain_text",
              "text": "MISTRAL_AI"
            },
            "value": "MISTRAL_AI"
          }
        ],
        "initial_option": {
          "text": {
            "type": "plain_text",
            "text": "MISTRAL_AI"
          },
          "value": "MISTRAL_AI"
        },
        "type": "static_select"
      },
      "block_id": "select_ai_service_block_id",
      "dispatch_action": true,
      "type": "input"
    },
    {
      "label": {
        "type": "plain_text",
        "text": "Model"
      },
      "element": {
        "placeholder": {
          "type": "plain_text",
          "text": "Select AI model"
        },
        "action_id": "select_ai_model_action",
        "options": [
          {
            "text": {
              "type": "plain_text",
              "text": "open-mistral-7b"
            },
            "value": "open-mistral-7b"
          },
          {
            "text": {
              "type": "plain_text",
              "text": "mistral-tiny"
            },
            "value": "mistral-tiny"
          },
          {
            "text": {
              "type": "plain_text",
              "text": "mistral-tiny-2312"
            },
            "value": "mistral-tiny-2312"
          },
          {
            "text": {
              "type": "plain_text",
              "text": "open-mistral-nemo"
            },
            "value": "open-mistral-nemo"
          },
          {
            "text": {
              "type": "plain_text",
              "text": "open-mistral-nemo-2407"
            },
            "value": "open-mistral-nemo-2407"
          },
          {
            "text": {
              "type": "plain_text",
              "text": "mistral-tiny-2407"
            },
            "value": "mistral-tiny-2407"
          },
          {
            "text": {
              "type": "plain_text",
              "text": "mistral-tiny-latest"
            },
            "value": "mistral-tiny-latest"
          },
          {
            "text": {
              "type": "plain_text",
              "text": "open-mixtral-8x7b"
            },
            "value": "open-mixtral-8x7b"
          },
          {
            "text": {
              "type": "plain_text",
              "text": "mistral-small"
            },
            "value": "mistral-small"
          },
          {
            "text": {
              "type": "plain_text",
              "text": "mistral-small-2312"
            },
            "value": "mistral-small-2312"
          },
          {
            "text": {
              "type": "plain_text",
              "text": "open-mixtral-8x22b"
            },
            "value": "open-mixtral-8x22b"
          },
          {
            "text": {
              "type": "plain_text",
              "text": "open-mixtral-8x22b-2404"
            },
            "value": "open-mixtral-8x22b-2404"
          },
          {
            "text": {
              "type": "plain_text",
              "text": "mistral-small-2402"
            },
            "value": "mistral-small-2402"
          },
          {
            "text": {
              "type": "plain_text",
              "text": "mistral-small-latest"
            },
            "value": "mistral-small-latest"
          },
          {
            "text": {
              "type": "plain_text",
              "text": "mistral-medium-2312"
            },
            "value": "mistral-medium-2312"
          },
          {
            "text": {
              "type": "plain_text",
              "text": "mistral-medium"
            },
            "value": "mistral-medium"
          },
          {
            "text": {
              "type": "plain_text",
              "text": "mistral-medium-latest"
            },
            "value": "mistral-medium-latest"
          },
          {
            "text": {
              "type": "plain_text",
              "text": "mistral-large-2402"
            },
            "value": "mistral-large-2402"
          },
          {
            "text": {
              "type": "plain_text",
              "text": "mistral-large-2407"
            },
            "value": "mistral-large-2407"
          },
          {
            "text": {
              "type": "plain_text",
              "text": "mistral-large-latest"
            },
            "value": "mistral-large-latest"
          },
          {
            "text": {
              "type": "plain_text",
              "text": "codestral-2405"
            },
            "value": "codestral-2405"
          },
          {
            "text": {
              "type": "plain_text",
              "text": "codestral-latest"
            },
            "value": "codestral-latest"
          },
          {
            "text": {
              "type": "plain_text",
              "text": "codestral-mamba-2407"
            },
            "value": "codestral-mamba-2407"
          },
          {
            "text": {
              "type": "plain_text",
              "text": "open-codestral-mamba"
            },
            "value": "open-codestral-mamba"
          },
          {
            "text": {
              "type": "plain_text",
              "text": "codestral-mamba-latest"
            },
            "value": "codestral-mamba-latest"
          },
          {
            "text": {
              "type": "plain_text",
              "text": "mistral-embed"
            },
            "value": "mistral-embed"
          }
        ],
        "initial_option": {
          "text": {
            "type": "plain_text",
            "text": "open-mistral-nemo"
          },
          "value": "open-mistral-nemo"
        },
        "type": "static_select"
      },
      "block_id": "select_ai_model_block_id",
      "type": "input"
    },
    {
      "text": {
        "type": "mrkdwn",
        "text": "_See different models purpose and features in <https://docs.mistral.ai/guides/model-selection|Mistral models>_"
      },
      "type": "section"
    },
    {
      "label": {
        "type": "plain_text",
        "text": "Functions"
      },
      "element": {
        "placeholder": {
          "type": "plain_text",
          "text": "Select the functions assistant can use"
        },
        "action_id": "select_assistant_functions_action",
        "options": [
          {
            "text": {
              "type": "plain_text",
              "text": "storeFileInSlackFromString"
            },
            "value": "storeFileInSlackFromString"
          },
          {
            "text": {
              "type": "plain_text",
              "text": "createGitlabIssue"
            },
            "value": "createGitlabIssue"
          },
          {
            "text": {
              "type": "plain_text",
              "text": "listGitlabLabels"
            },
            "value": "listGitlabLabels"
          },
          {
            "text": {
              "type": "plain_text",
              "text": "createGitlabLabel"
            },
            "value": "createGitlabLabel"
          },
          {
            "text": {
              "type": "plain_text",
              "text": "removeGitlabLabel"
            },
            "value": "removeGitlabLabel"
          },
          {
            "text": {
              "type": "plain_text",
              "text": "getGitlabProjectsInformation"
            },
            "value": "getGitlabProjectsInformation"
          },
          {
            "text": {
              "type": "plain_text",
              "text": "getGitlabProjectInformation"
            },
            "value": "getGitlabProjectInformation"
          },
          {
            "text": {
              "type": "plain_text",
              "text": "getGitlabProjectIssues"
            },
            "value": "getGitlabProjectIssues"
          }
        ],
        "initial_options": [
          {
            "text": {
              "type": "plain_text",
              "text": "createGitlabIssue"
            },
            "value": "createGitlabIssue"
          },
          {
            "text": {
              "type": "plain_text",
              "text": "listGitlabLabels"
            },
            "value": "listGitlabLabels"
          },
          {
            "text": {
              "type": "plain_text",
              "text": "createGitlabLabel"
            },
            "value": "createGitlabLabel"
          },
          {
            "text": {
              "type": "plain_text",
              "text": "removeGitlabLabel"
            },
            "value": "removeGitlabLabel"
          },
          {
            "text": {
              "type": "plain_text",
              "text": "getGitlabProjectsInformation"
            },
            "value": "getGitlabProjectsInformation"
          },
          {
            "text": {
              "type": "plain_text",
              "text": "getGitlabProjectInformation"
            },
            "value": "getGitlabProjectInformation"
          },
          {
            "text": {
              "type": "plain_text",
              "text": "getGitlabProjectIssues"
            },
            "value": "getGitlabProjectIssues"
          }
        ],
        "type": "multi_static_select"
      },
      "block_id": "select_assistant_functions_block_id",
      "type": "input"
    },
    {
      "text": {
        "type": "mrkdwn",
        "text": "_The selected functions will be available for the assistant._"
      },
      "type": "section"
    }
  ],
  "type": "modal"
}

It is displaying fine on Slack builder kit preview in https://app.slack.com/block-kit-builder.

But in my Slack app, the initial option open-mistral-nemo in the Model static select input is displaying the 1st element open-mistral-7b instead.

Others static selects or multi static selects display initial options fine.

My workflow is :

• The modal is opened by a button trigger in Home Page
• The modal values are refreshed based on the 1st input
• I'm using the client.views.update to update the view like in the following function

import logger from "../../logger/winston.ts";
import prisma from "../../prisma/client.ts";
import { feedback } from "../../utilities/slack.ts";
import {
    assistantConfigurationModal,
    loadModalInputsFromView,
    loadModalInputsFromAssistant,
    NONE_SELECTED
} from "../views/assistant-configuration-modal.ts";

import type { Assistant } from "@prisma/client";
import type { AllMiddlewareArgs, BlockAction, SlackActionMiddlewareArgs, StaticSelectAction } from "@slack/bolt";

type ActionEventArgs = AllMiddlewareArgs & SlackActionMiddlewareArgs<BlockAction>;

async function loadAssistant(assistantId: number, teamId: string): Promise<Assistant | undefined> {
    if (assistantId === NONE_SELECTED) return undefined;
    return await prisma.assistant.findUniqueOrThrow({ where: { id: assistantId, SlackTeamId: teamId } });
}

export async function selectAssistantActionCallback({ ack, body, client, payload }: ActionEventArgs) {
    try {
        await ack();
        // Type guard for typescript completion
        if (body.type !== "block_actions" || !body.view) return;

        const payloadTyped = payload as StaticSelectAction;
        const assistantId = parseInt(payloadTyped.selected_option.value);
        // Update the configuration modal with the selected assistant values
        await client.views.update({
            user_id: body.user.id,
            view_id: body.view.id,
            hash: body.view.hash,
            view: await assistantConfigurationModal(
                body.user.team_id!,
                loadModalInputsFromAssistant(await loadAssistant(assistantId, body.user.team_id!))
            )
        });
    } catch (error) {
        logger.error(error);
        await feedback(client, body, "An error occurred while selecting the assistant. Please try again.");
    }
}

That is really strange as the block kit builder is displaying the initial option correctly...

[seratch]

Hi @mister-good-deal, thanks for asking the question!

Indeed, this can be unintuitive, but when you set dispatch_action: true for an input block, overriding the selected option by setting initial_option does not work. In other words, you don't need to set initial_option for a block, which already has its selected item. The item you've selected will be kept if you don't pass initial_option. By contrast, if you add new blocks to the modal in response to the block_actions event, those new blocks can have initial_option. Hope this clarifies.

FYI, here is a simple working example demonstrating what I said above:

import { App, BlockAction } from "@slack/bolt";

export function registerListeners(app: App) {
  app.event("message", async ({ say }) => {
    await say({
      text: "hi!",
      blocks: [
        {
          type: "actions",
          elements: [
            {
              type: "button",
              action_id: "test",
              text: { type: "plain_text", text: "Click Me" },
              value: "click_me_123",
            },
          ],
        },
      ],
    });
  });
  app.action<BlockAction>("test", async ({ body, client, ack }) => {
    await ack();
    await client.views.open({
      trigger_id: body.trigger_id,
      view: {
        type: "modal",
        callback_id: "assistantConfigurationModalCallback",
        title: { type: "plain_text", text: "AI Assistant" },
        blocks: [
          {
            label: { type: "plain_text", text: "Create or edit Assistant" },
            element: {
              placeholder: { type: "plain_text", text: "Select assistant" },
              options: [
                {
                  text: {
                    type: "plain_text",
                    text: "Create new assistant",
                  },
                  value: "-1",
                },
                {
                  text: { type: "plain_text", text: "mistral-test" },
                  value: "1",
                },
              ],
              action_id: "select_assistant_action",
              type: "static_select",
            },
            dispatch_action: true,
            block_id: "select_assistant_action_block_id",
            type: "input",
          },
        ],
      },
    });
  });
  app.action<BlockAction>(
    "select_assistant_action",
    async ({ ack, client, body }) => {
      await ack();
      if (body.view) {
        await client.views.update({
          view_id: body.view.id,
          view: {
            type: "modal",
            callback_id: "assistantConfigurationModalCallback",
            title: { type: "plain_text", text: "AI Assistant" },
            blocks: [
              {
                label: { type: "plain_text", text: "Create or edit Assistant" },
                element: {
                  placeholder: { type: "plain_text", text: "Select assistant" },
                  options: [
                    {
                      text: {
                        type: "plain_text",
                        text: "Create new assistant",
                      },
                      value: "-1",
                    },
                    {
                      text: { type: "plain_text", text: "mistral-test" },
                      value: "1",
                    },
                  ],
                  // No need to set the initial_option again
                  // initial_option: {
                  //   text: { type: "plain_text", text: "mistral-test" },
                  //   value: "1",
                  // },
                  action_id: "select_assistant_action",
                  type: "static_select",
                },
                dispatch_action: true,
                block_id: "select_assistant_action_block_id",
                type: "input",
              },
            ],
          },
        });
      }
    }
  );
}

[mister-good-deal]

Ok that's clear, so what is the way to load an initial value from an input which is interactive (ie have dispatch_action: true)?

Is there an event I can send programmatically to set an input and trigger its dispatch_action event?

[github-actions]

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[mister-good-deal]

I rephrase it, how to load previously saved data in a modal when it opens?