Best answer

How can I create a Zap to start a 5-minute timer when a message is posted in a Slack channel, and stop it if a specific reaction is used?

  • 7 July 2023
  • 8 replies
  • 99 views

Hello everyone,

I’m looking for a way to create a Zapier where when a message is made in a channel a 5 minute timer starts.

Then if a reaction is used on the message the timer stops and never sends a message to another channel.

Ideally I would like to use a specific reaction if possible.

Any help on the matter would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

icon

Best answer by SamB 10 July 2023, 11:42

View original

This post has been closed for comments. Please create a new post if you need help or have a question about this topic.

8 replies

Userlevel 7
Badge +11

Hi ​​​@Maplefire, welcome to the Community!

This should be definitely be possible. One thing to note it that the Find Message action for Slack doesn’t return information about what reactions a message has, so you’d need to use Slack’s API Request (Beta) action in order to see what reactions have been added to the message after 5 mins. It’s a bit more advanced but I can give you an example of what you’d need to do for that.

Overall the Zap would need to have the following trigger and action steps:

  • Trigger: New Message Posted to Channel (Slack) - triggers when a new message is posted in a specific channel.
  • Action: Delay For (Delay by Zapier) - set to delay the Zap form continuing for 5 minutes. See: Delay for.
  • Action: API Request (Slack) - searches for the reactions on the message that triggered the Zap using the reactions.get Slack API endpoint.
  • Action: Only Continue if... (Filter by Zapier) - set to only allow the Zap to continue if the Response Data Message Reactions Name field (that’s output by the previous action) it (Text) Contains a specific reaction name. See: Add conditions to Zaps with filters.
  • Action: Send Channel Message (Slack) - posts message in a different Slack channel.

 

For the API Request (Beta) action mentioned above, I did a quick test and was able to get the desired result but setting it up like this:
da8efea23aa5624aa471a96d4ce9b6d9.png

I’d also recommend checking out our Set up an API request action guide to learn more about using that type of action. 

 

Hope that helps to get you started. If I've misunderstood what you're looking to do or you run into any issues in setting that up just let me know! 🙂

Thank you for your response. I feel silly asking, but I cant see to find “Response Data Message Reactions Name” It doesn't seem to appear for me in the drop down. :S

Found it. Silly me. I made a mistake when it came to the channel string. I think its going to work! You are my hero!

 

Okay, I think I’m doing something wrong. I have been trying to make it so that the message doesn't get sent if “white_check_mark” isnt used, but it seems to fire off every time, regardless of if the reaction is used or not the message get sent. 

 

 

Userlevel 7
Badge +6

Hi @Maplefire,

I’m jumping in to see if I can help!

Based on the screenshot you shared, it seems that the filter step is showing a message saying "Your Zap would not have continued." I believe this is because the mapped field "Response Data Message Reactions Name" contains "white_check_mark" in the sample data, which is why the message is appearing.

To make sure everything is working correctly, I recommend publishing the Zap and conducting thorough testing.

I hope this information helps! If you have any more questions or need further clarification, feel free to ask. Happy Zapping! 🚀

Hi @Maplefire,

I’m jumping in to see if I can help!

Based on the screenshot you shared, it seems that the filter step is showing a message saying "Your Zap would not have continued." I believe this is because the mapped field "Response Data Message Reactions Name" contains "white_check_mark" in the sample data, which is why the message is appearing.

To make sure everything is working correctly, I recommend publishing the Zap and conducting thorough testing.

I hope this information helps! If you have any more questions or need further clarification, feel free to ask. Happy Zapping! 🚀

Hey Thank you,

I actually went through several troubleshooting steps, actually on the 20th version of the zap, looking for a solution to my problem, but couldn't get any of them to work, this was the last one i tried. I probably should have used a different screenshot. 

Is there a don’t continue if function?

Hi ​​​@Maplefire, welcome to the Community!

This should be definitely be possible. One thing to note it that the Find Message action for Slack doesn’t return information about what reactions a message has, so you’d need to use Slack’s API Request (Beta) action in order to see what reactions have been added to the message after 5 mins. It’s a bit more advanced but I can give you an example of what you’d need to do for that.

Overall the Zap would need to have the following trigger and action steps:

  • Trigger: New Message Posted to Channel (Slack) - triggers when a new message is posted in a specific channel.
  • Action: Delay For (Delay by Zapier) - set to delay the Zap form continuing for 5 minutes. See: Delay for.
  • Action: API Request (Slack) - searches for the reactions on the message that triggered the Zap using the reactions.get Slack API endpoint.
  • Action: Only Continue if... (Filter by Zapier) - set to only allow the Zap to continue if the Response Data Message Reactions Name field (that’s output by the previous action) it (Text) Contains a specific reaction name. See: Add conditions to Zaps with filters.
  • Action: Send Channel Message (Slack) - posts message in a different Slack channel.

 

For the API Request (Beta) action mentioned above, I did a quick test and was able to get the desired result but setting it up like this:
da8efea23aa5624aa471a96d4ce9b6d9.png

I’d also recommend checking out our Set up an API request action guide to learn more about using that type of action. 

 

Hope that helps to get you started. If I've misunderstood what you're looking to do or you run into any issues in setting that up just let me know! 🙂

Hey, so I’m having a problem filtering out posts that have the reaction on them, Essentially I only want to be alerted if a post doesn't have a reaction on it within the 5 minutes. But it seems like I’m getting all posts regardless. 

Any further insight would be greatly appreciated.

Userlevel 7
Badge +11

Hi @Maplefire, I’m so sorry we missed your replies here previously! 

The filter set up appears to be correct if you only want it to allow the Zap to continue for posts where the white_check_mark reaction hasn’t been added yet. Are you still having issues on this or were since you able to get it sorted? Happy to assist further if you’re still running into issues, just let us know!