Use Slack in Workflows

Automate Slack support with Workflows, including Slack-specific triggers, actions, data collection, CSAT, and testing.

Written By Markus from Featurebase

Last updated 2 days ago

Overview

Use Workflows to automate Slack support without moving customers out of Slack. Workflows can triage and assign conversations, collect structured information with forms, apply SLAs, and keep customers updated in the original Slack thread.

Slack uses the same Workflow builder as your other support Channels, with Slack-specific delivery rules and action compatibility. After your Workflows are live, you can use Reports with a Slack Channel filter to measure conversation volume, response and close times, SLA performance, customer satisfaction (CSAT), and how Workflows and teammates handle conversations.

To let Fibi answer new Slack conversations, see Deploy Fibi AI Agent in Slack.

Important: Every member of a Slack channel can see the messages that Workflows post there. Slack channel access determines the audience.


Use Slack in a Workflow

Before targeting Slack in a Workflow, connect your Slack workspace and activate the Customer or Community channels where you provide support.

Slack is available for these conversation-based triggers:

  • A customer or teammate sends a message

  • A customer sends the first message in a conversation

  • A conversation state changes

  • A conversation is assigned

  • A teammate adds a note

  • A customer or teammate becomes unresponsive

To target Slack conversations in a Workflow:

  1. Open or create a Workflow with a supported trigger

  2. Open the trigger configuration

  3. Expand Channels and select Slack

  4. Configure the audience, rules, and actions for the Workflow

  5. Review any channel compatibility warnings before setting the Workflow live

Slack does not support the Messenger conversation, Ticket created, or Ticket state change triggers. If a Workflow targets several Channels, every action must be compatible with every selected Channel.

Customer-facing actions

The following actions have Slack-specific delivery:

Action

What happens in Slack

Send message

Posts the Workflow message in the conversation's Slack thread.

Reply buttons

Posts interactive choices in the Slack thread. A conversation participant or Workspace Admin can select an available option.

Collect customer reply

Waits for the customer's next reply in the Slack thread before the Workflow continues.

Collect data

Posts a Fill in details button. It opens a Slack modal where a conversation participant can submit the requested fields. Featurebase updates the configured conversation, customer, or Company attributes, then continues the Workflow.

Show expected reply time

Posts the expected reply time in the Slack thread.

Ask for conversation rating (CSAT)

Posts a rating prompt in the Slack thread. Only a conversation participant can submit the rating.

Let Fibi answer

Lets Fibi answer the customer in the Slack thread when the Workflow reaches this action.

Let Fibi answer

Use Let Fibi answer when Fibi should handle only the Slack conversations that match a Workflow's trigger, audience, and rules. The Slack channel must be an eligible Customer or Community channel, but its channel-level Fibi switch does not need to be on.

The action's position controls when Fibi answers:

  • If Let Fibi answer is the first customer-facing action in the step, Fibi answers the message that triggered the Workflow.

  • If Send message, Reply buttons, Collect customer reply, Show expected reply time, or Ask for conversation rating runs before it in the same step, Fibi waits for the customer's next message. If the customer does not reply, Fibi stays silent.

To make Fibi answer the current message, remove the earlier customer-facing action from that step. For setup options and Slack content-access rules, see Deploy Fibi AI Agent in Slack. To configure Fibi's instructions, handoff, CSAT, and auto-close behavior in the action, see Use Fibi AI Agent in Workflows.

You can also use operational actions such as assigning, closing, snoozing, waiting, tagging, marking priority, adding notes, applying SLAs, setting attributes, using data connectors, branching, applying rules, converting to a Ticket, and ending the Workflow.

The following actions are not available for Slack:

  • Disable customer reply

  • Send ticket

You can still convert a Slack conversation to a Ticket and work with its linked Ticket. Only the Send ticket Workflow action is unavailable.

The Workflow editor warns you when an action is incompatible with Slack or another selected Channel.

See the Workflows block library for the general behavior of each trigger and action.


Test Slack Workflows safely

Before using a Workflow in a customer-facing Slack channel:

  1. Use a dedicated private Slack channel with only the intended testers

  2. Confirm its channel type and ingestion mode

  3. Start a new conversation from a Slack user who is not a Featurebase teammate

  4. Test each customer-facing Workflow action separately

  5. Submit reply buttons, forms, and CSAT from a conversation participant

  6. Check the Slack thread and Featurebase Inbox after every step

If a Workflow message does not arrive, see Troubleshoot Slack support.