topic Starting a recipe from Slack in Workato Pros Discussion Board

Starting a recipe from Slack

Nmatan — Tue, 04 Mar 2025 10:05:08 GMT

Hi all,

I'm wondering if anyone has any experience with triggering a recipe from Slack.

I know that there are options for Bot Commands, but I just don't really get them - they look tied to specific applications?

Basically my requirement is to trigger a recipe when someone mentions the Slack Bot user on Slack with a specific command, in a specific channel.

Then execute the rest of the recipe using input from what the user sent in the mention message.

This should be fairly straightforward I feel but I'm not getting the basis of how to set it up, any advice?

Re: Starting a recipe from Slack

Prudvi — Tue, 04 Mar 2025 12:51:17 GMT

Hi @Nmatan,

1. You can use the New Command trigger by Workbot by Slack.[Ex Command Structure : Workato Start Recipe]
2. When this command is triggered from Slack, in the next step you can use the RecipeOps by Workato app and use Start Recipe action which takes recipe ID.
PS : This solution will only work for 1 specific recipe.
Regards,
Prudvi

Re: Starting a recipe from Slack

shivakumara — Tue, 04 Mar 2025 15:34:50 GMT

Hi @Nmatan ,

1️⃣ Understanding Slack Triggers in Workato

Workato provides Slack triggers such as "New command" to listen for specific messages.
Workbot command format
The Workbot command is created by piecing 3 elements together, the app, action, and action data:
Bot commands are tied to specific Slack applications, meaning you must configure your Slack bot correctly within Workato.
If you want run the Bot command in any channel then "work_bot" should part of your channel
1. go to your channel --> Open channel details (... Three dots) --> add bot

2️⃣ Setting Up the Trigger

Step 1: Navigate to Workato → Create a new recipe → Select Slack as the trigger app.
Step 2: Choose the trigger “On message in channel” or “On bot mention”.
Step 3: Specify the Slack channel where you want the bot to listen.
Step 4: Add conditions (e.g., trigger only when the bot is mentioned with a specific keyword like @bot /command).

Re: Starting a recipe from Slack

gary1 — Tue, 04 Mar 2025 16:47:52 GMT

I've implemented a few Workbots and the process is really straightforward. The Workbot is the "application" that needs to get registered with Slack, but this all gets taken care of behind the scenes. It simplifies a lot of the onboarding and usage of the Slack APIs. You can do it "manually" without using Workbot/Slackbot, but this is the equivalent of building a car from scratch instead of buying one that's already made.