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Overview

Most workflows run automatically when their trigger events occur. Rootly also supports manual workflow execution, which is useful when you want on-demand automation (for example, sending a message, creating an external ticket, or running a one-off operational task). Manual execution is supported through:
  • Slack command (manual invocation by workflow command)
  • Slack modal (interactive workflow picker)
  • Web UI (trigger a workflow directly from an incident)
Manual runs still respect permissions. If you do not have permission to trigger workflows for a given incident, Rootly will block the action.

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Manual Runs via Slack

Rootly supports two Slack-based methods for running workflows manually.

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Option 1: Slack command

You can run a workflow using: 
/rootly workflow <command>
This command looks up a workflow by its configured Slack Command value.

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Configure the command on the workflow

Each workflow can be assigned a command in the Slack Command field.

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Required: include Slack Command as a trigger

To run a workflow through Slack, the workflow must explicitly include Slack Command as one of its trigger events. If it is not selected, Slack will not run the workflow and will instead guide you to enable the trigger.

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Important behavior for incident workflows

Incident workflows have an additional requirement:
  • Incident workflows must be triggered from the incident’s Slack channel.
If you attempt to run an incident workflow from a non-incident channel (or outside incident context), Rootly will not run it.

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Optional: Slack confirmation message (Command feedback)

If Command feedback is enabled on the workflow, Rootly posts an ephemeral confirmation to the user in Slack after the workflow is started.
  • If the workflow has a configured Wait delay, the confirmation indicates the workflow will start after that delay.
  • If there is no wait, the confirmation indicates the workflow has started.
Ephemeral confirmations may not be posted if the channel is archived or the user is not in the channel.

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Option 2: Slack modal

You can also trigger workflows through Rootly’s Slack modal experience. This is useful when you do not remember the command or want to select from a list interactively.
The modal triggers the selected workflow using the workflow’s command value, the same underlying command-driven logic, and the same permission checks.

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Manual Runs via Web UI

You can manually trigger workflows from the Rootly web app for a specific incident.

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Step 1: Open workflow runs for an incident

Navigate to the incident, then select View Workflow Runs in the right-hand pane.

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Step 2: Trigger a workflow

From the workflow runs view, select Trigger Workflow.
You’ll be presented with a list of available workflows. Selecting a workflow triggers it for the incident you are currently viewing.

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Which workflows appear in the web picker

The web UI workflow picker is intentionally constrained:
  • Only incident workflows are listed
  • Only workflows that are enabled are listed
  • Internal workflows are excluded
This prevents accidentally running disabled or internal-only automation from the incident UI.

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Web-triggered runs execute immediately

Manual runs triggered from the web UI are executed with immediate execution semantics. Practically, this means:
  • The run starts right away rather than waiting for a configured Wait delay.
Use the web UI when you need to run a workflow immediately against a specific incident.

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Slack Command Requirements and Validation

Commands must be:
  • Unique per team
  • Well-formed, using only letters, numbers, dashes, underscores, and periods
  • Not starting/ending with a period or underscore
  • Not containing repeated separators (for example .. or __)
If you do not set a command explicitly, Rootly auto-generates one based on the workflow’s kind and name (and will append a suffix if needed to avoid collisions).

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Permissions

Manual workflow triggering is permission-gated.
  • Triggering workflows on incidents requires incident update-level access (including the permission that covers triggering workflows).
  • For private incidents, Rootly applies private incident permission rules.
If a user lacks permission, the workflow will not run from Slack or the web UI.

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Best Practices

  • Always include Slack Command as a trigger if you want Slack-based manual invocation.
  • Use clear, short commands and keep naming consistent across teams.
  • Enable Command feedback so users get immediate confirmation after triggering.
  • Prefer the web UI when you need to trigger immediately against a specific incident and bypass any wait delay.
  • Validate permissions early when rolling out workflow tooling to non-admin responders.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Only workflows that include Slack Command as a trigger can be run via /rootly workflow &lt;command&gt;.
The most common reasons are: the workflow is missing the Slack Command trigger, you are running it outside the incident’s Slack channel, or you do not have permission to trigger workflows for that incident.
The incident web picker lists only enabled incident workflows to prevent accidental execution of disabled or internal workflows during incident response.
Slack-triggered runs respect the workflow’s configured Wait delay. Web-triggered runs execute immediately.