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Ad-Hoc Data Queries in Slack

Type /dana in any Slack channel to query your database in plain English.
AuthorCognition
CategoryData & Analytics
FeaturesIntegrations, MCP
1

Connect a database in the MCP Marketplace

Dana needs access to at least one database to answer questions. Go to Settings > MCP Marketplace and enable a database MCP:
Data sourceMCP nameWhat you’ll need
Amazon RedshiftRedshiftHost, port, database, username, password
Google BigQueryBigQueryOAuth (one-click) or service account JSON
PostgreSQLPostgreSQLConnection string
MySQLMySQLConnection string
SnowflakeSnowflakeAccount, username, password
Click Enable on the MCP card, fill in your credentials, then click Test listing tools to confirm the connection works. You can connect multiple databases — Dana will query whichever one is relevant to your question.
2

Ask your first question with /dana

Dana is Devin’s data analyst mode — a specialized agent with tools and prompts optimized for querying databases, building charts, and answering business questions in plain English.Open any Slack channel where Devin is installed and type /dana followed by a plain-English question. If the /dana slash command isn’t available in your workspace, you can also use @Devin !dana ... — both work the same way. Dana creates a session, writes the SQL, runs it, and replies in-thread.You can also invoke Dana by mentioning Devin with the !dana macro:Dana responds directly in the Slack thread with formatted tables, counts, and — when useful — a short interpretation of the results. No context-switching to a BI tool required.Dana isn’t limited to quick lookups — it’s also great at comprehensive reports and deep analysis. Ask it to investigate trends, segment data, and synthesize findings across multiple queries:
3

Teach Dana your schema and conventions

Dana works out of the box, but it gets significantly better when it knows your schema and business definitions. Instead of manually adding Knowledge entries, just give Dana feedback directly — in Slack or the webapp — and ask it to remember things for next time:
  • “Remember that ‘active user’ means at least one event in analytics.events in the past 30 days.”
  • “All our timestamps are stored in UTC. Always convert to America/New_York for display.”
  • “billing.subscriptions.mrr is in cents, not dollars. Divide by 100 when showing revenue.”
  • “Update your knowledge: the plan column values are free, pro, and enterprise — not basic/premium.”
Dana can list and update its own Knowledge, so corrections compound over time. The more feedback you give — column meanings, enum values, timezone rules, business definitions — the fewer follow-up questions Dana needs to ask in future queries.
4

Ask follow-ups in the same thread

Dana keeps context within a Slack thread, so follow-up questions can reference earlier results without repeating yourself.For questions you ask regularly, consider creating a playbook with the exact queries and formatting you want, then trigger it with a custom !macro from Slack.