Hot lead to the sales channel
Qualify on budget, timeline and team size. Visitors who meet your bar trigger a message in #sales-leads with their answers; everyone else is still captured, just without the ping.
Slack notifications from your chatbot
The Slack step posts a message into a Slack channel or a teammate's direct messages the moment something happens in a conversation: a qualified lead, a booked call, an angry customer. The visitor can be on your website, WhatsApp, Telegram or any other channel; the alert lands in Slack.
Build on the Free plan. The Slack step runs on Pro ($39/month) and above.
- Builder step
- Slack: Channel, DM, Channels list, Users list
- How you connect
- Sign in with Slack (OAuth)
- Formatting
- Slack mrkdwn: *bold*, _italic_, `code`, :emoji:
- Plan
- Pro and above (native integrations)
- Slack workspaces
- 3 on Pro, 10 on Business
What it does
What the Slack step can do
A lead that sits in a dashboard until someone checks it is a lead that goes cold. The Slack step puts the conversation where your team already works: the sales channel gets the lead the second the visitor finishes the form, and the on-call person gets a direct message when a customer asks for a human.
This page is about sending alerts from a chatbot into Slack. If you want a bot that people talk to inside Slack, for example an internal IT or HR helper, that is the Slack channel: see the Slack chatbot page. The two work together, but they are set up separately.
Post to a channel
Pick a channel from your workspace and write the message with chat variables, for example New lead: ${name} (${email}), budget ${budget}. Public and private channels are listed; private ones need the Conferbot app invited.
Send a direct message
Message one teammate directly by their Slack member ID, such as U0123ABCD. Useful for routing a lead to the rep who owns that region, or paging the person on call.
Slack formatting
Messages support Slack's own formatting: *bold*, _italic_, `code` and emoji codes like :fire:. Links in the message unfurl into previews the way they do when a person posts them.
List channels or users
Two read operations return the workspace's channels (id, name, private or not, member count) or users (id, name, real name, email) into a variable, up to a maximum you set. Handy for building a routing step without hard-coding IDs.
Works from every channel
The step runs inside the flow, so the same alert fires whether the visitor wrote on your website widget, WhatsApp, Messenger, Telegram, Discord or a mobile app.
Never blocks the visitor
If Slack is slow or refuses the message, the conversation carries on. The step waits at most 10 seconds, and the Save result variable stays empty so you can add a fallback such as an email alert.
Reference
Fields in the Slack step
| Operation | Fields |
|---|---|
| Channel | Slack workspace, channel (picked from the list), message text with ${variables}. |
| DM | Slack workspace, recipient's Slack member ID (or a variable that holds it), message text. |
| Channels | Slack workspace, maximum results (default 100). Returns id, name, private flag and member count. |
| Users | Slack workspace, maximum results (default 100). Returns id, name, real name and email. |
| All operations | Optional Save result variable. A sent message returns its timestamp and channel. |
Setup
How to send chatbot alerts to Slack
About five minutes. You need a Pro or higher Conferbot workspace and permission to add apps to your Slack workspace (or an admin who approves it).
- 1
Decide what deserves an alert
Alerts work when they are rare and actionable: a qualified lead, a booked demo, a complaint, a request for a human. Put the Slack step after the question or condition that defines that moment, not at the start of every chat.
- 2
Add the Slack step
Drag the Slack step into the flow and choose Channel (or DM for a single person).
- 3
Connect your workspace
Choose the workspace menu, sign in with Slack and approve the Conferbot app. The connection is saved to your Conferbot workspace and listed on the Integrations page, so every bot can reuse it.
- 4
Pick the channel and invite the app
Select the channel. For a private channel, or if Slack says the app is not in the channel, type
/invite @Conferbotin that channel once. - 5
Write the message
Type
$to insert variables. A good lead alert names the person, says what they want and links to the conversation details you collected:*New demo request* from ${name} at ${company}. Email: ${email}. Team size: ${team_size}. - 6
Test, then publish
Preview the bot, walk through to the alert and check it arrives. Then publish. If nothing arrives, the troubleshooting table below covers the usual causes.
Recipes
Alerts teams build with the Slack step
Booked meeting heads-up
After the Google Calendar step books a slot, post the time and the visitor's details to the rep's DM so they can prepare before the call.
Escalation to the on-call person
When a visitor asks for a human outside office hours, or the AI cannot answer, DM the person on call with the question and the visitor's contact details, alongside the normal live chat handover.
Internal requests into a triage channel
An internal IT or HR bot collects the request, then posts it to #it-requests with the category and urgency so the right person picks it up.
Access
Permissions and access
What Slack is asked for
Conferbot's Slack app asks for chat:write to post messages, channels:read to list channels and users:read to list users. It does not read your channels' message history.
Who the message comes from
Messages are posted by the Conferbot app, so they show the app's name in Slack. People can reply in a thread below the alert to coordinate who takes it.
Several workspaces
Agencies and companies with more than one Slack workspace can connect several: up to 3 on Pro and 10 on Business. Each Slack step chooses the workspace it posts to.
Disconnecting
Remove the workspace on the Integrations page, or remove the app in Slack's app management. Slack steps that used it stop posting until you reconnect; conversations keep working.
Good to know
Limits and behaviour to plan around
The app must be in the channel
Slack only lets an app post where it is a member. Invite it once per private channel with /invite @Conferbot. Archived channels cannot receive messages.
DMs need a member ID
Direct messages are opened with the recipient's Slack member ID (found in their Slack profile under the three-dot menu, Copy member ID). Store IDs in variables if you route to different people.
Rate limits
Slack limits how fast an app can post. If Slack answers with a rate limit and asks for a short wait, Conferbot waits and retries once; otherwise the step gives up and the flow continues. Slack's guidance is about one message per second per channel; see Slack rate limits and our Slack limits reference.
Message length
Slack rejects or truncates very long messages. Keep alerts short and put the full transcript in your inbox or CRM; see the msg_too_long error for the exact limit.
Troubleshooting
Fixing common Slack problems
| What you see | Why, and the fix |
|---|---|
| not_in_channel | The Conferbot app is not a member of that channel. Run /invite @Conferbot in the channel, then test again. See not_in_channel. |
| channel_not_found | The channel was renamed, deleted or is private without the app. Pick the channel again in the step. See channel_not_found. |
| is_archived | The channel is archived. Unarchive it or choose another channel. See is_archived. |
| invalid_auth or token_revoked | The Slack connection was removed or the app was uninstalled. Reconnect Slack from the step or the Integrations page. See token_revoked. |
| The DM never arrives | The recipient field holds a name or email instead of a member ID. Copy the member ID from the person's Slack profile. |
| Variables show up empty | The step ran before the question that sets them. Move the Slack step after the answers it uses. |
FAQ
Slack integration: common questions
Is this the same as a Slack chatbot?
No. The Slack step sends alerts from any chatbot into Slack. A Slack chatbot is a bot people talk to inside Slack, which is the Slack channel. You can use both, and they are set up separately.
Can visitors on WhatsApp or my website trigger a Slack alert?
Yes. The step runs in the flow, so it fires the same way whichever channel the visitor used: website widget, WhatsApp, Messenger, Telegram, Discord or a mobile app.
Which Conferbot plan includes Slack notifications?
The Slack step is a native integration, included on Pro and above. Connecting Slack as a channel, so people can chat with a bot inside Slack, is available on every plan.
Can I post to a private channel?
Yes, once the Conferbot app is a member of it. Type /invite @Conferbot in the private channel and it appears in the step's channel list.
Can I send a direct message to one person?
Yes. Choose DM and enter the person's Slack member ID, or a variable that holds it. Slack shows the member ID in each person's profile.
Can I format the alert?
Yes, with Slack's formatting: *bold*, _italic_, `code` and emoji codes such as :fire:. Links in the message unfurl into previews.
What happens if Slack is down?
The visitor's conversation continues normally. The step waits up to 10 seconds, retries once if Slack asks for a short pause, then gives up and leaves the result variable empty.
Does the app read our Slack messages?
No. It asks to post messages and to list channels and users. It does not request access to read channel history.
Can I connect more than one Slack workspace?
Yes. Pro workspaces can connect up to 3 Slack workspaces and Business up to 10, and each Slack step picks the one it posts to.
Get every good lead into Slack in seconds
Start free with Conferbot - the free plan includes 600 conversations a month and needs no credit card, so you can build the flow today. The Slack step switches on with Pro.
Checked against Conferbot's product and Slack's documentation on November 3, 2026: Slack chat.postMessage, Slack rate limits, Slack message formatting.
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