Get Started with Slack Automation and Apps

Learning Objectives

After completing this unit, you’ll be able to:

• Describe how Slack automation enhances operations in a workspace.
  
• List the actions available in a Slack app.
  

The Art of Possible with Slack Apps

Slack developers build innovative apps that transform how companies work, from expense approval and software deployment to news publishing and more. Explore these examples to spark your own ideas for creating helpful and productive Slack apps.

Vodafone Achieves Faster Incident Resolution with Slack

Vodafone’s DevOps team uses Slack with apps such as Pagerduty and Datadog to monitor and quickly escalate incidents, an approach that reduces average resolution time by 75%. They’ve also built custom apps to integrate with Amazon Web Services (AWS), enabling rapid production environment setup. This results in faster incident resolution and improved customer trust.

Hearst Magazine Enables Quick, Data-Driven Decisions with Slack

Hearst Magazines created the HANS app to provide employees with easy access to content performance data. The app allows users to ask questions such as, “What were the top-performing stories on Elle yesterday?” It provides insights into trending topics, previous publications, and ecommerce revenue. This enables executives, editors, and other teams to make data-driven decisions quickly.

Become Familiar with Slack Automation

Slack workflows automate routine tasks without requiring coding. Using Workflow Builder on a paid plan, you can create multistep processes with predefined triggers and steps, streamlining tasks in your Slack workspace or organization. Then, incorporate them with apps to automate complex processes.

Triggers invoke a workflow.

• Link triggers invoke a workflow from any public channel in Slack.
  
• Scheduled triggers invoke a workflow automatically at a specific date and time, a certain time interval, or a recurring time frame.
  
• Event triggers invoke a workflow when a specific event happens in Slack, such as a user joining a channel or reacting to a message with an emoji.
  
• Webhook triggers invoke a workflow when a specific URL receives an HTTP post request.
  

The trigger can initiate steps or as a follow-up to other steps.

• Slack functions automate tasks like posting messages, displaying customizable modals, managing channels, and updating user groups, simplifying workflows within Slack.
  
• Third-party connectors—like Google Sheets, Jira Cloud, PagerDuty, Giphy, GitHub, Salesforce, and Zoom—let you bring in services using steps created from Slack apps to integrate them into a workflow.
  
• Custom functions provide reusable building blocks of automation deployed by developers. These functions accept inputs, perform calculations, and provide outputs—just like typical programmatic functions.
  

Build custom workflows in Slack using Workflow Builder, starting from scratch or using templates. To integrate external workflows, use a webhook to bring data into Slack. Then tie them with Slack apps to design complex automations that help users become more productive.

Slack Apps

Slack apps use various APIs to enable deeper integration and automation, allowing for enhanced, custom experiences within Slack. These APIs provide access to read, write, and update data in Slack, making it possible to create powerful and tailored experiences.

Some of these features mirror what users can do in Slack clients.

• Send messages to different types of conversations using the Web API and webhooks.
  
• Create, archive, and manage conversations using conversation-specific APIs.
  
• Receive notifications about mentions, App home opens, and other various goings-on via the Events API.
  

Apps can also do things in Slack that no human user can.

• Create and update a Home tab to give users a persistent space to interact and stay informed.
  
• Encourage users to invoke an interaction at any time with shortcuts.
  
• Generate modals to collect and display information in a dynamic manner.
  
• Display interactive components in messages, modals, and Home tabs to enable action and reaction.
  
• Automate the management of users, apps, and workspaces using various enterprise-focused APIs.
  

App Home is the primary place users access an app. Within App Home, the user will interact with the app from a variety of surfaces.

App Home

The App Home is a private, persistent space for your app. It includes tabs for Home, Messages, and About. You can find the App Home by selecting the app's name in your conversation list or within a message.

1. Home tab: The Home tab is a persistent app space that you can customize with intricate layouts and interactivity. You can also choose when you want the app to check for updates.
   
2. Messages tab: The Messages tab shows the direct message conversation between the user and the app. While the tab is fixed and isn’t customizable, app developers can disable it.
   
3. About tab: The About tab contains descriptive information about the app. This tab is fixed, isn’t customizable, and can’t be disabled.
   

Resources

• Slack Developers: Using the Home tab
• Slack Website: Workflow Building: Effortless Automation for Everyone
• Slack Help: Guide to Slack Workflow Builder
• Slack Help: Add or remove workflow managers
• Slack Help: Manage workflows in Slack
• Slack Help: Build a workflow: Create a workflow that starts outside of Slack
• Slack Help: Manage Workflow Builder access and features
• Slack Help: Restrict custom steps for Workflow Builder