Slack steps

Flow Designer has built-in steps to help you integrate Slack into your event management and incident response flows.

The following steps are available:

  • Create Channel: create a new public or private channel in Slack, using properties to construct the channel name.
  • Invite to Channel: invite Slack users to a channel.
  • Post to Channel: post a message to a channel, populating it with information from the event or previous steps in the flow.
  • Archive Channel: archive a channel in Slack.

In the above example, an HTTP trigger initiates a flow, creating an event to send notifications to resolvers. Along the way, a Slack channel is created using the issue ID from the monitoring tool as the Channel Name, resolvers are then invited to the channel to collaborate (after a step looks up their Slack IDs), and a message with information from the monitoring tool, Jenkins, and Statuspage is posted to the channel so the team can start collaborating on the issue.

In June 2021, we released updated versions of our Slack steps that use our new Slack endpoint. Although we continue to support deprecated steps and custom scripts using the Slack (Legacy) endpoint, we recommend upgrading to take advantage of new functionality.

Create Channel

Use the Create Channel step to automatically create a new public or private Slack channel. Map outputs from previous steps to construct the channel name.

For the following steps, the xMatters Connector needs to be added as a member to the relevant channels. If the channel was created by the Create Channel step, the connector is added automatically. If the channel already exists, you need to add it manually.

To add the xMatters Connector to a Slack channel:
  1. In Slack, open the channel you want to add the connector to.
  2. Type @xMattersConnector in the message box.
  3. Press Enter or click Send now.
  4. For public channels, select Add to Channel; for private channels, select Invite Them.

Invite to Channel

Use the Invite to Channel step to automatically invite Slack users to an existing public or private channel, or one you just created using the "Create Channel" step. The app or user you're authenticating as and the xMatters Connector must have access to the channel.

Post to Channel

Use the Post to Channel step to automatically post a message to a public or private channel in Slack. Map the outputs from previous steps to the inputs to pick the channel (and optionally the thread) and populate the message. The app or user you're authenticating as and the xMatters Connector must have access to the channel.

Archive Channel

Use the Archive Channel step to automatically archive an existing public or private channel in Slack, or one you just created using the "Create Channel" step. The app or user you're authenticating as and the xMatters Connector must have access to the channel.