diff --git a/backend/danswer/danswerbot/slack/handlers/handle_message.py b/backend/danswer/danswerbot/slack/handlers/handle_message.py
index b19ea8d9f..cf9fb348d 100644
--- a/backend/danswer/danswerbot/slack/handlers/handle_message.py
+++ b/backend/danswer/danswerbot/slack/handlers/handle_message.py
@@ -105,6 +105,17 @@ def handle_message(
     send_to: list[str] | None = None
     respond_tag_only = False
     respond_team_member_list = None
+
+    bypass_acl = False
+    if (
+        channel_config
+        and channel_config.persona
+        and channel_config.persona.document_sets
+    ):
+        # For Slack channels, use the full document set, admin will be warned when configuring it
+        # with non-public document sets
+        bypass_acl = True
+
     if channel_config and channel_config.channel_config:
         channel_conf = channel_config.channel_config
         if not bipass_filters and "answer_filters" in channel_conf:
@@ -172,6 +183,7 @@ def handle_message(
                 answer_generation_timeout=answer_generation_timeout,
                 real_time_flow=False,
                 enable_reflexion=reflexion,
+                bypass_acl=bypass_acl,
             )
             if not answer.error_msg:
                 return answer
diff --git a/backend/danswer/db/document_set.py b/backend/danswer/db/document_set.py
index 328abb268..26dd2b3f1 100644
--- a/backend/danswer/db/document_set.py
+++ b/backend/danswer/db/document_set.py
@@ -396,3 +396,33 @@ def get_or_create_document_set_by_name(
     db_session.commit()
 
     return new_doc_set
+
+
+def check_document_sets_are_public(
+    db_session: Session,
+    document_set_ids: list[int],
+) -> bool:
+    connector_credential_pair_ids = (
+        db_session.query(
+            DocumentSet__ConnectorCredentialPair.connector_credential_pair_id
+        )
+        .filter(
+            DocumentSet__ConnectorCredentialPair.document_set_id.in_(document_set_ids)
+        )
+        .subquery()
+    )
+
+    not_public_exists = (
+        db_session.query(ConnectorCredentialPair.id)
+        .filter(
+            ConnectorCredentialPair.id.in_(
+                connector_credential_pair_ids  # type:ignore
+            ),
+            ConnectorCredentialPair.is_public.is_(False),
+        )
+        .limit(1)
+        .first()
+        is not None
+    )
+
+    return not not_public_exists
diff --git a/backend/danswer/direct_qa/answer_question.py b/backend/danswer/direct_qa/answer_question.py
index c94d3225c..30deb66b3 100644
--- a/backend/danswer/direct_qa/answer_question.py
+++ b/backend/danswer/direct_qa/answer_question.py
@@ -50,6 +50,7 @@ def answer_qa_query(
     answer_generation_timeout: int = QA_TIMEOUT,
     real_time_flow: bool = True,
     enable_reflexion: bool = False,
+    bypass_acl: bool = False,
     retrieval_metrics_callback: Callable[[RetrievalMetricsContainer], None]
     | None = None,
     rerank_metrics_callback: Callable[[RerankMetricsContainer], None] | None = None,
@@ -91,6 +92,7 @@ def answer_qa_query(
         user=user,
         db_session=db_session,
         document_index=get_default_document_index(),
+        bypass_acl=bypass_acl,
         retrieval_metrics_callback=retrieval_metrics_callback,
         rerank_metrics_callback=rerank_metrics_callback,
     )
diff --git a/backend/danswer/document_index/vespa/index.py b/backend/danswer/document_index/vespa/index.py
index 441a20599..e95bbd564 100644
--- a/backend/danswer/document_index/vespa/index.py
+++ b/backend/danswer/document_index/vespa/index.py
@@ -339,7 +339,10 @@ def _build_vespa_filters(filters: IndexFilters, include_hidden: bool = False) ->
     filter_str = f"!({HIDDEN}=true) and " if not include_hidden else ""
 
     # CAREFUL touching this one, currently there is no second ACL double-check post retrieval
-    filter_str += _build_or_filters(ACCESS_CONTROL_LIST, filters.access_control_list)
+    if filters.access_control_list is not None:
+        filter_str += _build_or_filters(
+            ACCESS_CONTROL_LIST, filters.access_control_list
+        )
 
     source_strs = (
         [s.value for s in filters.source_type] if filters.source_type else None
diff --git a/backend/danswer/search/models.py b/backend/danswer/search/models.py
index ef0d4c2cb..06258ea43 100644
--- a/backend/danswer/search/models.py
+++ b/backend/danswer/search/models.py
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ class BaseFilters(BaseModel):
 
 
 class IndexFilters(BaseFilters):
-    access_control_list: list[str]
+    access_control_list: list[str] | None
 
 
 class ChunkMetric(BaseModel):
diff --git a/backend/danswer/search/search_runner.py b/backend/danswer/search/search_runner.py
index 2a6097b54..08fc06e00 100644
--- a/backend/danswer/search/search_runner.py
+++ b/backend/danswer/search/search_runner.py
@@ -545,6 +545,7 @@ def danswer_search_generator(
     db_session: Session,
     document_index: DocumentIndex,
     skip_llm_chunk_filter: bool = DISABLE_LLM_CHUNK_FILTER,
+    bypass_acl: bool = False,
     retrieval_metrics_callback: Callable[[RetrievalMetricsContainer], None]
     | None = None,
     rerank_metrics_callback: Callable[[RerankMetricsContainer], None] | None = None,
@@ -561,7 +562,9 @@ def danswer_search_generator(
         db_session=db_session,
     )
 
-    user_acl_filters = build_access_filters_for_user(user, db_session)
+    user_acl_filters = (
+        None if bypass_acl else build_access_filters_for_user(user, db_session)
+    )
     final_filters = IndexFilters(
         source_type=question.filters.source_type,
         document_set=question.filters.document_set,
@@ -609,6 +612,7 @@ def danswer_search(
     db_session: Session,
     document_index: DocumentIndex,
     skip_llm_chunk_filter: bool = DISABLE_LLM_CHUNK_FILTER,
+    bypass_acl: bool = False,
     retrieval_metrics_callback: Callable[[RetrievalMetricsContainer], None]
     | None = None,
     rerank_metrics_callback: Callable[[RerankMetricsContainer], None] | None = None,
@@ -624,6 +628,7 @@ def danswer_search(
         db_session=db_session,
         document_index=document_index,
         skip_llm_chunk_filter=skip_llm_chunk_filter,
+        bypass_acl=bypass_acl,
         retrieval_metrics_callback=retrieval_metrics_callback,
         rerank_metrics_callback=rerank_metrics_callback,
     )
diff --git a/backend/danswer/server/document_set.py b/backend/danswer/server/document_set.py
index 013069409..79a666e8e 100644
--- a/backend/danswer/server/document_set.py
+++ b/backend/danswer/server/document_set.py
@@ -5,12 +5,15 @@ from sqlalchemy.orm import Session
 
 from danswer.auth.users import current_admin_user
 from danswer.auth.users import current_user
+from danswer.db.document_set import check_document_sets_are_public
 from danswer.db.document_set import fetch_document_sets
 from danswer.db.document_set import insert_document_set
 from danswer.db.document_set import mark_document_set_as_to_be_deleted
 from danswer.db.document_set import update_document_set
 from danswer.db.engine import get_session
 from danswer.db.models import User
+from danswer.server.models import CheckDocSetPublicRequest
+from danswer.server.models import CheckDocSetPublicResponse
 from danswer.server.models import ConnectorCredentialPairDescriptor
 from danswer.server.models import ConnectorSnapshot
 from danswer.server.models import CredentialSnapshot
@@ -82,6 +85,7 @@ def list_document_sets(
             id=document_set_db_model.id,
             name=document_set_db_model.name,
             description=document_set_db_model.description,
+            contains_non_public=any([not cc_pair.is_public for cc_pair in cc_pairs]),
             cc_pair_descriptors=[
                 ConnectorCredentialPairDescriptor(
                     id=cc_pair.id,
@@ -99,3 +103,15 @@ def list_document_sets(
         )
         for document_set_db_model, cc_pairs in document_set_info
     ]
+
+
+@router.get("/document-set-public")
+def document_set_public(
+    check_public_request: CheckDocSetPublicRequest,
+    _: User = Depends(current_user),
+    db_session: Session = Depends(get_session),
+) -> CheckDocSetPublicResponse:
+    is_public = check_document_sets_are_public(
+        document_set_ids=check_public_request.document_set_ids, db_session=db_session
+    )
+    return CheckDocSetPublicResponse(is_public=is_public)
diff --git a/backend/danswer/server/models.py b/backend/danswer/server/models.py
index 57cb7386b..343633f2c 100644
--- a/backend/danswer/server/models.py
+++ b/backend/danswer/server/models.py
@@ -461,12 +461,21 @@ class DocumentSetUpdateRequest(BaseModel):
     cc_pair_ids: list[int]
 
 
+class CheckDocSetPublicRequest(BaseModel):
+    document_set_ids: list[int]
+
+
+class CheckDocSetPublicResponse(BaseModel):
+    is_public: bool
+
+
 class DocumentSet(BaseModel):
     id: int
     name: str
     description: str
     cc_pair_descriptors: list[ConnectorCredentialPairDescriptor]
     is_up_to_date: bool
+    contains_non_public: bool
 
     @classmethod
     def from_model(cls, document_set_model: DocumentSetDBModel) -> "DocumentSet":
@@ -474,6 +483,12 @@ class DocumentSet(BaseModel):
             id=document_set_model.id,
             name=document_set_model.name,
             description=document_set_model.description,
+            contains_non_public=any(
+                [
+                    not cc_pair.is_public
+                    for cc_pair in document_set_model.connector_credential_pairs
+                ]
+            ),
             cc_pair_descriptors=[
                 ConnectorCredentialPairDescriptor(
                     id=cc_pair.id,