Creating and managing triggers for Slack

When using the Slack for Zendesk Support integration, you can set up triggers to notify Slack users about Zendesk ticket events in specified Slack channels.

This article covers the following topics:

• Information for customers using legacy Slack notifications for Zendesk ticket updates
• Creating triggers for Slack ticket notifications
• Using Markdown to format text and alert users in Slack
• Managing Slack triggers

Related articles:

• Understanding, installing, and configuring the Slack for Zendesk Support integration
• Using the Slack for Zendesk Support integration
• Using the Answer Bot for Slack integration

Information for customers using legacy Slack notifications for Zendesk ticket updates

Slack notifications are now set up using Zendesk triggers. If you set up legacy Slack notifications using the /zendesk settings command, you can continue to use and modify these notifications in Slack until March 2023. However, you must convert these notifications to Zendesk triggers before March to avoid losing them.

Creating new notifications using the /zendesk settings command is no longer supported. To create new Slack notifications, create a trigger.

Converting legacy Slack notifications to Zendesk triggers

When you convert your legacy notifications, triggers are created in their place. The functionality will remain the same unless you modify the triggers. No downtime is required, and your end users won’t be affected.

To convert your legacy Slack notifications to triggers

1. In Admin Center, click Apps and integrations in the sidebar, then select Integrations > Integrations.
2. In the Slack section, click View.
3. Click Configure under the name of the Slack workspace to configure.
4. Click Convert notifications in the banner.

   The banner appears only if legacy notifications exist.

   

A progress icon appears as the conversion runs. You’ll see a message when the process is complete.

When the page refreshes, the converted notifications appear in the trigger list with the default name Slack Trigger <channel name>. You can now edit the triggers if you’d like. For example, you might want to customize the notification messages.

Modifying legacy Slack notifications

While creating new notifications using the legacy /zendesk settings command is no longer supported, we do support modifications to legacy notifications until March 2023.

Note: We highly recommend converting legacy Slack notifications to Zendesk triggers as soon as possible to take advantage of the new features. Legacy notifications will be removed in March 2023 and won’t be recoverable.

To modify legacy Slack notifications

1. In Slack, click the channel name in the sidebar.
2. In the message bar, enter /zendesk settings, then press Enter.
3. In Ticket notifications, click Edit existing settings.
4. Using the drop-down list, select a channel you want notifications posted in.

   The current channel is selected by default. You can scroll through the channels list or type a channel name to filter your options. Only channels that the Zendesk app has been invited to appear in the drop-down options.

   

5. Click Next.
6. Using the Please choose a type list menu, select the types of notifications you want to receive in this channel. You can select multiple notifications. When you’ve selected your notifications, click Next.

   

7. Using the next Choose an option list menu, select the support group(s) that have permission to post notifications in the channel. Support groups are used to categorize tickets and restrict agent access based on group membership. By mapping groups to channels, administrators can ensure only relevant ticket events are posted to channels and can exclude groups that have tickets with sensitive data.

   

   Note: By default, no groups are selected. You must select at least one group so they can post to the channel and for updates to be posted in the channel. You can select All to give all groups permission to post notifications.
8. Click Done.

Creating triggers for Slack ticket notifications

Remember that before you can create a trigger, you need to add the app to the Slack channel where you’d like to send the notification. You must be an admin or an agent in a custom role with permission to create triggers.

To create triggers for Slack

1. In Admin Center, click Objects and rules in the sidebar, then select Business rules > Triggers.
2. Click Add trigger.

   Alternatively, you can copy an existing trigger and modify it.

3. In the Trigger name field, enter a name for the trigger.

   We recommend including the Slack channel in the trigger name to help identify it. Example: Slack trigger: New ticket for #delivery-support

4. (Optional) Enter a Description for your trigger to provide details about what the trigger does.

   Example: "Notifies all users in the #delivery-support channel when a new ticket is assigned to the Support group."

5. Select an existing Category for your trigger or create a new one.

   We recommend creating a Slack category for your Slack triggers. If you converted legacy Slack notifications to triggers, a Slack category was created for you during the conversion.

6. Click Add condition to set up the trigger to meet All or Any conditions.

   Conditions are the qualifications needed for the trigger to fire.

7. Select a Condition, Field operator, and Value for each condition you add.

   The field operator determines the relationship between the condition and the value. For example, if you select the field operator "Is", your condition must be equal to the value. Different conditions will contain different field operators.

   See Building trigger condition statements.

   Note: It is recommended to keep your trigger statements simple. The more complicated a trigger is, the harder it will be to troubleshoot and maintain.
8. Click Add action, then select Notify Zendesk integration and Slack integration from the drop-down lists.

   

9. In the Slack channel field, select the channel you want notifications posted in.

   Only channels that the Zendesk app has been invited to appear in the drop-down list. To see additional channels here, add the app to those channels.

   The Slack channel list includes private channels that you (the current admin) are a member of. If the app is a member of a private channel that you're not a member of, you won’t see it here until you are also invited to that channel. If you don't see your private channels in Zendesk (and you do see them in Slack), make sure you added the Zendesk app to these channels. Also, ensure that your default email in Zendesk matches your Slack email address.

   If you are editing a trigger and don't have access to a private channel listed here, "Private Channel" displays in this field, but you can still edit and save the trigger.

10. Use static text and placeholders in the Notification header and Notification body fields to create the notification.

    A simple notification header and body have been created for you. You can use these as-is or modify them. You can also use markdown to alert channel members or format text in Slack.

    Below is an example notification header and body configured in a trigger and the resulting notification in Slack.

    

    

11. Click Create.

Your new trigger is added to the end of the list of triggers. You can reorder the list of triggers or edit any trigger.

Using Markdown to format text and alert users in Slack

Slack supports Markdown, which is a formatting syntax for plain text. For example, if you surround a word in asterisks (*like this*), it appears bold in Slack.

Slack also supports user @mentions and alerts, which can be especially useful in ticket notifications. For example, add <!here> in the message header to alert all members of the Slack channel when a notification is posted.

The table below includes the Markdown formatting you can use in the Notification header and Notification body of your Slack triggers.

Type	Markdown	Result
Italics	_italic_	italic
Bold	*bold*	bold
Strikethrough	~strike~
Emojis	:smile:
Channel alert (notify channel)	<!here>	Notifies all members of the channel.
User mention	To notify user ID U024BE7LH: <@U024BE7LH>	Links to the mentioned user’s Slack profile, and the mentioned user is notified.
Group mention	To notify everyone in the delivery-support channel: <!subteam^delivery-support> !subteam^ is required before the channel name.	Links to the mentioned group’s Slack profile, and all members of the mentioned group are notified.

Managing Slack triggers

View your Slack triggers on the Triggers page, where you can manage your existing triggers and create new ones.

See Opening and viewing your triggers list for more information on accessing and taking action on triggers.