Custom Workflows

Custom workflows give you full control over Slack automation. Create channels, send messages, invite users, and more based on triggers and conditions you define. If you’re new to workflows, see the Workflows documentation first.

Available Actions

Action	What It Does
Create Slack Channel	Create a dedicated incident channel
Send Slack Message	Post a message to channels/users
Send Slack Reminder	Send recurring messages with snooze/pause
Send Slack Blocks	Send rich Block Kit messages
Invite to Slack Channel	Add users/groups to a channel
Rename Slack Channel	Change channel name dynamically
Update Channel Topic	Update the channel topic
Add Slack Bookmark	Pin links to channel bookmark bar
Archive Slack Channel	Archive inactive channels
Change Channel Privacy	Switch between public/private

Create a Workflow

Open Workflows

Go to Rootly → Workflows → Create Workflow.

Choose Workflow Type

Select Incident, Retrospective, or Pulse depending on when you want the workflow to run.

Configure Triggers

Triggers define when the workflow runs.

Trigger	When It Fires
Incident Created	New incident declared
Incident Updated	Fields like severity or status change
Incident Status Changed	Status moves (e.g., Active → Mitigated)
Incident Commander Assigned	Someone takes ownership
Manual Trigger	Run on-demand from Slack or web UI

Add Conditions (Optional)

Conditions filter when the workflow should actually execute.

Common conditions:

Severity — Only for SEV-1 or SEV-2
Team/Service — Only for specific teams
Incident Type — Only for actual incidents (not tests)
Environment — Only for production

Add Actions

Click Add Action and search for Slack.

Select one or more Slack actions. Each action is configured independently.

Action Reference

Create Slack Channel

Creates a dedicated channel for the incident.

Workspace

string

required

Which Slack workspace to create the channel in.

Title

string

required

Channel name. Supports Liquid variables.Example: incident-{{ incident.sequential_id }}-{{ incident.title }}

Private

enum

Controls channel visibility:

auto — matches incident privacy (private incident → private channel)
true — always private
false — always public

If the incident already has a Slack channel, this action will skip channel creation to avoid duplicates.

Send Slack Message

Posts a message to channels, users, or user groups.

Channels

string

Target channels. Use {{ incident.slack_channel_id }} for the incident channel. Supports Liquid variables.

Slack Users

string

Individual users to message directly.

Slack User Groups

string

Groups to notify — all members receive the message.

Text

string

required

Message content. Supports Liquid variables and Slack markdown.

Message Options:

Option	Description
Pin to Channel	Pin the message
Send as Ephemeral	Only visible to specified users
Thread under parent	Reply to an existing message
Update Parent Message	Replace the parent instead of threading
Broadcast Thread Reply	Also post threaded reply as new message

Action Buttons — add interactive buttons to messages:

Button	What It Opens
Update Summary	Edit incident summary
Manage Incident Roles	Assign/remove roles
Update Incident	Edit incident fields
Leave Feedback	Log incident feedback
Manage Action Items	Task/follow-up checklist
Add PagerDuty Responders	Page via PagerDuty
Add Opsgenie Responders	Page via Opsgenie

Send Slack Reminder

Same as Send Message, but with Snooze/Pause buttons and support for recurring schedules.

Channels

string

Target channels. Supports Liquid variables.

Text

string

required

Reminder message content. Supports Liquid variables.

Repeat

enum

How often the reminder fires. Options include once, every N minutes, hourly, and daily.

Use reminders for periodic nudges (e.g., “Update the incident summary every 30 minutes”). The Snooze and Pause buttons allow responders to defer or stop reminders without leaving Slack.

Send Slack Blocks

Send rich, interactive messages using Slack Block Kit.

Blocks

string

required

JSON payload following Block Kit format. Supports Liquid variables.

Notification Preview

string

Text shown in push notifications when Block Kit content can’t be rendered.

Block Kit Examples:Text section with markdown:

{
  "type": "section",
  "text": {
    "type": "mrkdwn",
    "text": "*Incident:* {{ incident.title }}\n*Severity:* {{ incident.severity }}"
  }
}

Button that triggers a workflow:

{
  "type": "actions",
  "elements": [{
    "type": "button",
    "text": { "type": "plain_text", "text": "View Action Items" },
    "action_id": "trigger_custom_workflow",
    "value": "incident-list-out-incomplete-action-items"
  }]
}

Available action_id values:

action_id	What It Does
`toolbar_update_incident_summary`	Edit summary modal
`toolbar_update_status`	Change status modal
`toolbar_update_incident`	Edit incident modal
`manage_incident_role_assignments_dialog`	Assign roles modal
`manage_incident_action_items`	Action items checklist
`add_feedback`	Feedback modal
`pagerduty_responders`	PagerDuty escalation
`opsgenie_responders`	Opsgenie escalation
`snooze_reminder`	Snooze recurring workflow
`pause_reminder`	Pause recurring workflow
`trigger_custom_workflow`	Run another workflow (set `value` to workflow slug)
`open_custom_form`	Open a custom form (set `value` to form slug)

Slack’s Block Kit Builder can’t interpret Liquid variables. Test your templates in Rootly’s Liquid Variable Explorer.

Invite to Slack Channel

Adds users or user groups to a channel.

Channel

string

required

Target channel. Use {{ incident.slack_channel_id }} for the incident channel. Supports Liquid variables.

Slack Users

string

Individual users to invite. Use {{ incident.creator }} for the incident creator.

Slack User Groups

string

Groups to invite — all members are added to the channel.

Rename Slack Channel

Changes the channel name dynamically, useful for reflecting status changes.

Channel

string

required

Channel to rename. Use {{ incident.slack_channel_id }}. Supports Liquid variables.

New Title

string

required

New channel name. Supports Liquid variables.Example: resolved-{{ incident.title }}

Common use case: Rename to include status when resolved (e.g., resolved-database-outage).

Update Channel Topic

Sets the channel topic to display key incident info at a glance.

Channels

string

required

Channels to update. Supports Liquid variables.

Topic

string

required

New topic text. Supports Liquid variables and Slack markdown.

Example topic:

🔴 {{ incident.severity }} | {{ incident.status }} | Commander: {{ incident.commander.name | default: "Unassigned" }}

Add Slack Bookmark

Pins a link to the channel’s bookmark bar for quick access during an incident.

Channel

string

required

Channel to add the bookmark to. Supports Liquid variables.

Title

string

required

Bookmark display text. Supports Liquid variables.

Link

string

required

URL to bookmark. Common values: {{ incident.url }}, {{ incident.jira_issue_url }}. Supports Liquid variables.

Emoji

string

Icon shown next to the bookmark.

Playbook

string

Optionally link to a Rootly playbook instead of specifying a title and link manually.

Archive Slack Channel

Archives the channel to keep your workspace clean after an incident is resolved.

Channel

string

required

Channel to archive. Use {{ incident.slack_channel_id }}. Supports Liquid variables.

Common trigger: Incident status changed to “Closed” with a 24–48 hour delay to allow post-incident cleanup.

Change Channel Privacy

Switches a channel between public and private.

Channel

string

required

Channel to modify. Supports Liquid variables.

Privacy

enum

required

public — make the channel visible to all workspace members
private — restrict access to invited members only

Changing from private to public may not be allowed by your Slack workspace settings.

Common Liquid Variables

Variable	Description
`{{ incident.slack_channel_id }}`	Current incident’s channel ID
`{{ incident.title }}`	Incident title
`{{ incident.severity }}`	Severity level
`{{ incident.status }}`	Current status
`{{ incident.url }}`	Link to incident in Rootly
`{{ incident.creator }}`	User who created the incident
`{{ parent_incident.slack_channel_id }}`	Parent incident’s channel (for sub-incidents)

Explore all variables in the Liquid Variable Explorer.

​Available Actions

​Create a Workflow

​Action Reference

​Common Liquid Variables

Available Actions

Create a Workflow

Action Reference

Common Liquid Variables