One read of Claude Documentation

 DMs, guest channels, and shared channels sit outside the version setting:
 
 * **DMs.** The version setting doesn't cover them. To close those off too, turn off [Allow direct messages](#allow-or-disable-direct-messages).
-* **Guest channels.** By default Claude is off in any channel that includes a Slack guest. If a chosen channel has guests, also set [Allow Claude to respond to guests](#restrict-guest-channels) to **Allow** on its scope.
+* **Guest channels.** By default Claude is off in any channel that includes a Slack guest. If a chosen channel has guests, also set [Allow Claude to respond to guests](#restrict-guest-channels) to **Allow** or **Channel only** on its scope.
 * **Shared channels.** A [channel shared across workspaces in your Enterprise Grid](#channels-shared-across-workspaces-in-your-enterprise-grid) takes its settings from **Default Slack access** only, and Claude [doesn't operate in Slack Connect channels](#externally-shared-channels) at all; neither can serve as a chosen channel.
 
 To control who can use Claude in the allowed channels, turn on the [restriction toggle](#restrict-who-can-use-claude); to cap what a channel spends, [set a per-channel spend limit](#set-spend-limits).

 
 ### Restrict guest channels
 
-By default, Claude is disabled in any channel that includes a Slack guest. To allow it there, set **Allow Claude to respond to guests** to **Allow** for the scope covering the channel; **Restrict** (the default) keeps it off wherever a guest is present. The setting is at [`claude.ai/admin-settings/claude-tag`](https://claude.ai/admin-settings/claude-tag), on the **Slack** tab under **Claude Tag's access**, in the scope's collapsed **Advanced** section.
+By default, Claude is disabled in any channel that includes a Slack guest. The **Allow Claude to respond to guests** setting changes that per scope. It's at [`claude.ai/admin-settings/claude-tag`](https://claude.ai/admin-settings/claude-tag), on the **Slack** tab under **Claude Tag's access**, in the scope's collapsed **Advanced** section, and it has three values:
 
-**Allow** applies to every guest channel the scope covers, and guests in those channels can see Claude's replies and interact with it. To open one channel rather than a whole workspace, set it on the channel's own scope.
+| Value                  | What Claude does in a channel that includes a guest                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           |
+| ---------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
+| **Restrict** (default) | Doesn't reply. When someone mentions it, Claude posts a short notice that it doesn't respond in channels that include guests, with a link to this setting.                                                                                                                                                                                    |
+| **Channel only**       | Replies, but while a guest is present it runs with channel-only access. Bundles, connectors, and instructions from the workspace or from **Default Slack access** don't reach the channel, and neither do repositories, memory, or skills. The channel's own instructions and any access bundle attached directly to the channel still apply. |
+| **Allow**              | Replies with the full access the scope gives it, as in any other channel.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     |
 
-**Allow** controls whether Claude replies, not what it can search. Workspace search is unavailable in any channel that includes a guest, even when the setting is **Allow**. Search results could include content from channels the guests can't see, the same reason Claude doesn't search private channels. To run a search that covers the workspace, ask from a channel without guests.
+A channel without its own value shows **Inherit** and takes the value from its workspace, or from **Default Slack access**. An Admin can set a scope to **Restrict** or **Channel only**. Changing it to **Allow** or back to **Inherit** requires an organization owner, because either can widen what guests see. The setting applies to every guest channel the scope covers; to open one channel rather than a whole workspace, set it on the channel's own scope.
 
+Under every value, guests in the channel can read what Claude posts there. In any channel that includes a guest, even under **Allow**, Claude won't search the workspace, look up people or channels, or read channels other than the one it's in, because the results could include content the guests can't see in Slack. That is the same reason Claude doesn't search private channels. To do any of that, ask from a channel without guests.
+
+#### How Channel only works
+
+**Channel only** lets a team keep using Claude in a channel shared with contractors, clients, or agency partners without exposing the rest of the organization's setup to that conversation. While a guest is in the channel, Claude keeps what is set on the channel itself and drops what it would inherit:
+
+* No [access bundles](/docs/claude-tag/admins/attach-to-scope) from the workspace or from **Default Slack access**. A bundle attached directly to this channel's scope still applies, with its connections, instructions, and plugins, so attach to a guest channel only what you're comfortable having used in front of guests.
+* No repositories, including any in a bundle attached to the channel, and no connectors set directly on the channel.
+* No instructions set on the workspace or the organization. Instructions set on the channel itself still apply.
+* No memory, including this channel's own, and no skills.
+
+Claude decides this when a conversation starts. When no guest is in the channel, new conversations get its usual full access, as under **Allow**. A guest can talk to Claude by mentioning `@Claude` or by replying in a thread Claude started after a guest was in the channel, and Claude answers them. In a thread Claude began before the first guest joined, Claude stops replying while a guest is present, and a guest who writes there gets the same notice as under **Restrict**; start a new thread instead. While a guest is present, Claude replies only to mentions and to threads it's already part of; it doesn't pick up other channel messages on its own, even where [**Respond automatically**](/docs/claude-tag/users/when-claude-responds#turn-automatic-replies-on-or-off) is on. A guest can't approve a tool or permission request, or restart, mute, fork, or stop the session. If a guest clicks approve, nothing is granted and a workspace member has to ask Claude again.
+
+Treat a channel's instructions, and the instructions in any bundle attached to the channel, as visible to everyone in that channel, including guests. Under **Channel only** they shape replies that guests read and take part in.
+
+**Channel only** takes effect where the **New** version answers. On a scope where **Legacy** answers, a channel that includes a guest is treated as **Restrict**.
+
 ### Externally shared channels
 
 Claude doesn't operate in Slack Connect channels, the ones shared with another company. It's off in those channels regardless of scope or bundle, and this isn't configurable.

 
 What happens in a channel shared across more than one workspace inside your Enterprise Grid depends on whether every workspace in it is connected to the same Claude organization.
 
-When the workspaces all belong to your one Claude organization, Claude replies in the channel, but only with the access and settings on your organization's [Default Slack access](/docs/claude-tag/admins/attach-to-scope) scope. Bundles, instructions, and memory set on a workspace or on that channel don't reach it. Claude posts a notice in the thread explaining this, about once a month per channel at most rather than on every reply. Where guest access is at its default **Restrict**, the [guest check](#restrict-guest-channels) still runs first and can refuse the reply.
+When the workspaces all belong to your one Claude organization, Claude replies in the channel, but only with the access and settings on your organization's [Default Slack access](/docs/claude-tag/admins/attach-to-scope) scope. Bundles, instructions, and memory set on a workspace or on that channel don't reach it. Claude posts a notice in the thread explaining this, about once a month per channel at most rather than on every reply. Where guest access is **Restrict** or **Channel only**, the [guest check](#restrict-guest-channels) still runs first and can refuse the reply.
 
 When the workspaces belong to different Claude organizations, each with its own settings and plan, Claude won't reply and posts a refusal message instead.
 

 
 **What it means**
 
-**Allow Claude to respond to guests** is set to **Restrict** for this channel's [scope](/docs/claude-tag/concepts/glossary#scope), so Claude checks the channel for guests before replying, and this install predates the `users:read` permission that check needs.
+**Allow Claude to respond to guests** is set to **Restrict** or **Channel only** for this channel's [scope](/docs/claude-tag/concepts/glossary#scope), so Claude checks the channel for guests before replying, and this install predates the `users:read` permission that check needs.
 
 **How to resolve**
 

 Either fix works:
 
 * Remove the guests from the channel, or move the conversation to a channel with no guests; this changes no settings, so no other channel is affected.
-* Or set **Allow Claude to respond to guests** to **Allow** for the scope covering this channel. The setting is at [`claude.ai/admin-settings/claude-tag`](https://claude.ai/admin-settings/claude-tag), on the **Slack** tab under **Claude Tag's access**, in the scope's collapsed **Advanced** section. **Allow** applies to every guest channel that scope covers, and guests there can see Claude's replies and interact with it. To limit it to one channel, set it on the channel's own scope. See [restrict guest channels](/docs/claude-tag/admins/restrict-access#restrict-guest-channels) for the full exposure picture.
+* Or change **Allow Claude to respond to guests** for the scope covering this channel. **Channel only** restores replies while keeping Claude to the channel's own instructions and access, and an Admin can set it. **Allow** gives guests the full access the scope has and needs an organization owner. The setting is at [`claude.ai/admin-settings/claude-tag`](https://claude.ai/admin-settings/claude-tag), on the **Slack** tab under **Claude Tag's access**, in the scope's collapsed **Advanced** section. Either value applies to every guest channel that scope covers; to limit it to one channel, set it on the channel's own scope. See [restrict guest channels](/docs/claude-tag/admins/restrict-access#restrict-guest-channels) for what each value exposes.
 
-**Allow** restores replies, not workspace search. Claude can't search the workspace from a channel that includes guests, even when the setting is **Allow**. Removing the guests restores search as well.
+Either value restores replies, not workspace search. Claude can't search the workspace from a channel that includes guests, even under **Allow**. Removing the guests restores search as well.
 
 If the fix worked, a mention in the channel gets a reply.
 

 
 **What it means**
 
-This message comes from the guest check, not from workspace sharing. **Allow Claude to respond to guests** is set to **Restrict** for this channel's scope, and the channel's membership can't be verified, most often because the channel is shared across an Enterprise Grid organization, so Claude declines.
+This message comes from the guest check, not from workspace sharing. **Allow Claude to respond to guests** is set to **Restrict** or **Channel only** for this channel's scope, and the channel's membership can't be verified, most often because the channel is shared across an Enterprise Grid organization, so Claude declines.
 
 **How to resolve**