Using Slack actions in action flows


By connecting theaction builderto external systems, such as Slack, admins can integrate Zendesk with external systems in automated workflows, improving collaboration and maintaining a seamless experience across multiple platforms.


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By connecting the action builder to external systems, such as Slack, admins
can integrate Zendesk with external systems in automated workflows, improving
collaboration and maintaining a seamless experience across multiple platforms.


Note: The steps associated with external systems in action flows
are referred to collectively as external actions.

The Slack Workflow Builder isn't related to Zendesk action
flows.
This article contains the following topics:
Connecting Slack to action builder
Using Slack actions in action flows
Recipe: Notifying agents of newly assigned tickets in Slack




Connecting Slack to action builder

Before you can include external actions in your action flows, you must connect the
action builder to the external system.
When connecting to external systems for use in action flows, the following best practices are recommended:
All external actions performed by an action flow are attributed to the user who connected the
external system. Therefore, it's a best practice to use a dedicated service
account rather than personal credentials when connecting to each external
system.
All integrations request access to necessary scopes. However, it's important that you review and validate the scopes before authorizing the connection to the external system.
When managing credentials for API key-based tools, such as OpenAI, it's best to store keys in a secure vault or credential manager.



To connect action builder to Slack
In Admin Center, click
Apps and integrations in the sidebar, then select Actions > Action
flows.

Create or edit an action flow.
Open the step sidebar.
Under External actions, click Slack.
Click Connect.
Use Slack to authenticate the account. To complete authentication, you
must invite the Zendesk connector app: /invite @Zendesk
Connector.

Note: All external actions performed by an
action flow are attributed to the user who connected the external
system. Therefore, it is a best practice to use a dedicated service
account rather than personal credentials when connecting to each
external system.



After you've connected to the system, you'll see an indicator that it's connected and
details about the instance you're connected to, as well as the actions available for
Slack.



Using Slack actions in action flows

Slack action steps can be used in action flows to streamline communication and make
sure users know about other things being performed by action flows. For example, you
can send messages to channels and individual users alerting them of new tickets or
Jira issue assignments, post AI-generated summaries of tickets into a Slack thread,
escalate direct messages to public channels for broader visibility, add reactions to
automatically acknowledge messages, or extract message details for analysis and
reply with AI-generated content.
Note: For all Slack actions, mentions of users,
groups, and special mentions require the following formatting. For example,
@here must be formatted as <!here> in
the message input. See Slack's Advanced formatting with special
parsing.

The following Slack actions are available:
Post message to
channel
Send direct
message
Reply to message
thread
Fetch thread
messages
Add reaction
Fetch message
Find user




Posting a message to a channel

Use the Post message to channel action to send a message to a public or
private channel.
This action has the following inputs and outputs:










Variables




Inputs

channel,
message



Output

channel, ts,
ok









Sending a direct message

Use the Send direct message action to send a direct message to a specific
user.

Note: Although Slack supports DMs with up to 9 other individuals, this step only
supports sending a direct message to a single individual.










Variables




Inputs

email, message



Output
Full message data








Replying to a message in a thread

Use the Reply to message thread action to post a reply to a message in a
thread. This step can create a thread or reply within an existing thread.
This action has the following inputs and outputs:










Variables




Inputs

email, message



Output
None








Fetching all messages in a thread

Use the Fetch thread messages action to retrieve all messages in a
thread.
This action has the following inputs and outputs:










Variables




Inputs

channel, thread_ts,
reply_ts



Output
messages








Adding a reaction to a message

Use the Add reaction action to add an emoji reaction to a message.
This action has the following inputs and outputs:










Variables




Inputs

channel, name,
timestamp



Output
success








Fetching a message

Use the Fetch message action to retrieve the content and metadata of a
message.
This action has the following inputs and outputs:










Variables




Inputs

channel,
timestamp



Output

text, user









Finding a user

use the Find user action to retrieve a Slack user so they can be
referenced later in the action flow.
This action has the following inputs and outputs:










Variables




Inputs
user_id


Output

display_name, email,
real_name,
user_id










Recipe: Notifying agents of newly assigned tickets in Slack

The following example action flow automatically sends notifications to agents in
Slack when a Zendesk ticket is assigned to them. This sort of notification can
reduce response time and prevent tickets from slipping through the cracks.
Such an action flow might consist of the following steps:
Add an action flow trigger with the following details:
Click Add trigger.
In the step sidebar, under Zendesk, click
Tickets.
Click Routing and select Ticket assignment
changed.


Add a step to look up ticket details:
In the action builder, beneath the action flow trigger, click the
Add step icon ( ).
In the step sidebar, under Zendesk actions, click Look up
ticket.
Under Ticket ID, click into the field and then click
Select a variable instead.
Within the variable menu, select 1 Ticket agent assignment
changed as the step that output the variable you want to
use, and then select Ticket ID.


Add a step to look up user details about the ticket assignee:
In the action builder, click the Add step icon ( ).
In the step sidebar, under Zendesk actions, click Look up
user.
Under User ID type, select Zendesk user ID.
For User ID, click Add variable.
Within the variable menu, select 2 Look up ticket as the step
that outputs the variable you want to use, and then select
Assignee ID.


Add a step to look up user details about the ticket requester:
In the action builder, click the Add step icon ( ).
In the step sidebar, under Zendesk actions, click Look up
user.
Under User ID type, select Zendesk user ID.
For User ID, click Add variable.
Within the variable menu, select 2 Look up ticket as the step
that outputs the variable you want to use, and then select
Requester ID.


Add a step to lookup details about the ticket requester's organization:
In the action builder, click the Add step icon ( ).
In the step sidebar, under Zendesk actions, click Look up
organization.
Under Organization ID type, select Zendesk organization
ID.
For Organization ID, click Add variable.
Within the variable menu, select 4 Look up user as the step
that outputs the variable you want to use, and then select
Organization ID.


Add a step that sends a direct message in Slack to the ticket assignee that
contains the information you collected for the ticket, assignee, and
organization:
In the action builder, click the Add step icon ( ).
In the step sidebar, under External actions, click
Slack and then select Post direct message.
Under Email, click Add variable.
Within the variable menu, select 3 Look up user as the step
that outputs the variable, and then select Email.
Under Message, enter the message you want to send to the
newly assigned agent. Include relevant ticket, requester, and
organization information as variables from the Look up ticket and
Look up user steps, respectively, to streamline their ability to
solve the ticket. In the following example, all variables are
italicized: Hi Assignee > Name,

Ticket Ticket ID has been assigned to you. Please respond as soon as possible.

User contact information:
- Email: Requester > Email
- Locale and timezone: Requester > Locale - Requester > IANA timezone
- Notes: Requester > Notes

Here's more context on the ticket:
- Ticket subject: Ticket Subject
- Ticket description: Ticket Description
- Last ticket update: Ticket's Latest agent update



Click Save.
Click Test to test the action flow.
Click the options menu ( ) and select Activate to begin using the
action flow to automatically notify agents in Slack that a Zendesk ticket
has been assigned to them.




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