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Zap to remind slack users about messages that haven't been responded to


I am trying to create a Zap to automatically remind users of a private slack channel if they have missed replying to a tagged mention for 24 hours. 

 

To initiate this, I’m trying to use “New Message Posted to Private Channel in Slack” as step 1, but my trigger fails because “No private_channel_message found - Create a private_channel_message in your account and test again”. 

I have authorized zapier on slack and also invited it to this particular channel. 

Can private channel messages be read by Zapier and if yes, why is my setup failing? 

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11 replies

  • Zapier Staff
  • 37 replies
  • January 10, 2025

Hi ​@FutworkAdmin!

The New Message Posted to Private Channel trigger should pick up any messages in a private Slack channel. Additionally, if the Trigger for Bot Messages? option is set to Yes, those will trigger the Zap as well.

To better assist you, could you check if the selected channel in your Zap does have messages posted yet? If there are existing messages in the private channel, yet the Test tab is not returning any samples, this is likely related to a recent bug report. I can add you to the list of impacted users if you confirm that the channel has messages.

I look forward to your reply!


  • Author
  • Beginner
  • 5 replies
  • January 10, 2025

Yes, I tried multiple channels, all with messages but it doesn’t pick up. It did pick up messages from my public channels but failed to work for any private channel. 


  • Zapier Staff
  • 37 replies
  • January 10, 2025

Hey ​@FutworkAdmin

Thank you for getting back to me. I’ve added you to the bug report and you will be contacted via email once the issue is resolved.

In the meantime, as a workaround, you could try configuring your Zap so you can publish it/turn it on, trigger it with a test message to the Private channel, then turn the Zap back off and use the field names returned in the Zap History to continue setting up the Zap by creating custom pills of the fields that you want to use in subsequent steps.

Here is a Community guide that explains this process in detail:

I hope this helps!


  • Author
  • Beginner
  • 5 replies
  • January 11, 2025

Thanks, I’ll check the guide, but while I have your attention, can you advise if what I want to set up is possible via this method?

My problem statement: Slack users are missing replying to messages they are tagged in 

Goal: If a user is mentioned on slack in a thread and there is no response from them in 24 hours, zapier triggers a message to their DM with a link to this thread/ or tags them in this thread again/ nudges them in anyway. 

I am unable to make a generic workspace solution that implements this across channels, further I am only able to create the automation for 1 specific user mention instead of a generic one. 

Any guidance will be much appreciated. 


SamB
Community Manager
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  • Community Manager
  • 7195 replies
  • January 13, 2025

Hi there, ​@FutworkAdmin 👋

Yes, the desired set up would be possible with Zapier! The following trigger and actions could be used to achieve what you’re after here:

  • Trigger: New Message Posted to Private Channel (Slack) - triggers when a new message is posted in a private channel.
  • Action: Only Continue If… (Filter by Zapier) - set to only continue if the message has a user mentioned. For example: set it to check the Raw Text field (Text) contains this value: <@ as user mentions would appear in that field in this format ‘<@SLACKUSERID>’.
  • Action: Delay For (Delay by Zapier) - set it to wait for 24 hours. 
  • Action: Text (Formatter by Zapier) - use the Extract Pattern action and the <@([A-Z0-9]+)> regex pattern to extract the user id of the user that was @ mentioned. 
  • Action: Retrieve Thread Messages (Slack) - In the Thread Timestamp field select the Thread Ts field from the trigger step. 
  • Action: Only Continue If… (Filter by Zapier) - set it to check whether the Result Reply User field (Text) Does not contain the user id that is output by the Formatter action. This would indicate that the mentioned user has not replied yet. 
  • Action: Send Direct Message (Slack) - In the To Usernames field select the User Id field from the Formatter step and select the Permalink field (from the trigger) to share a link to the message that they haven’t responded to yet.


If you’re not familiar with using delays, filters or regex patterns we have some guides that you might find useful:

 

Hope that helps to get you pointed in the right direction. If you run into any issues on setting that up or have any further questions just let us know! 🙂


  • Author
  • Beginner
  • 5 replies
  • January 13, 2025

Thanks, since the first step is New Message Posted to Private Channel, it is unfortunately a blocker given the bug report above in this thread due to which the messages are not being found. 

Will wait for an update on that report and then attempt this setup, appreciate your assistance. 


SamB
Community Manager
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  • Community Manager
  • 7195 replies
  • January 14, 2025

Thanks for getting back to me, ​@FutworkAdmin. The workaround Marge shared, of using custom pill mapping to select the fields, should allow you to set up the Zap despite the test record not coming through. I’d recommend skipping the test on the trigger step to bypass the error and giving that workaround a try to get things up and running in the meantime.

Let me know if you get stuck implementing it or have any questions—happy to help! 


  • Author
  • Beginner
  • 5 replies
  • January 14, 2025

I cannot configure the 2nd step (Filter) without clearing the trigger step. I get an error. 

 

“First, you need to complete this step

Configuring the step gives you access to Slack's data to use in fields like this one. Go complete this step & come back to have access to its data.”


  • Zapier Staff
  • 37 replies
  • January 15, 2025

Hey ​@FutworkAdmin! ⚡

Since it is not possible to insert a custom pill in the Choose field… dropdown of a Filter step, to work around this, you can add a Formatter step using the Text action event > Default transform option which will return an Output field with the desired value. You will then be able to select the output of the Formatter step into the Filter step.

Please note that both Formatter and Filter steps do not consume any tasks, so you do not have to worry about adding these extra steps to your Zap.


  • Author
  • Beginner
  • 5 replies
  • January 16, 2025

Can you elaborate on the flow?

  • Trigger: New Message Posted to Private Channel (Slack) - triggers when a new message is posted in a private channel.
  • Formatter Step with Text Action
    • Input?
    • Default Value?
  • Action: Only Continue If… (Filter by Zapier) - ? 

I haven’t been able to set this part up properly yet. 


  • Zapier Staff
  • 37 replies
  • January 17, 2025

In the Formatter step, you can leave the input field empty. The only purpose of this step is to return a field that you can use in the Filter step (since Slack is not returning the samples at the moment).

  • Leave the input field empty
  • As the Default value, create the custom pill for the Slack field you will use to evaluate the condition in the filter step

 

In the Filter step, you can follow the recommendation by SamB previously:

  • Only Continue If… (Filter by Zapier) - set to only continue if the message has a user mentioned. For example: set it to check the Raw Text field (Text) contains this value: <@ as user mentions would appear in that field in this format ‘<@SLACKUSERID>’.

If you follow the recommendation for the filter step, then you would have to create a custom pill for the Raw Text field that will be returned by Slack, in the Default value field of the Formatter step. And the Output field from the Formatter step is the field you need to select in the Filter step to evaluate the condition.

Please try it and let me know if any questions pop up!