Your guide to building a workflow

👋 Hello! It looks like you're ready to build your first workflow. That's great, and we're here to help along the way. 

What are workflows?

Workflow examples

Almost any task or process that you perform at work can be made into a workflow in Slack – from collecting information to sending reminders to your team, to managing requests and more. 

Collect information

Send reminders

Manage requests

Create a workflow with a form to collect data in a consistent format instead of manually asking your team to send you specific information.

Schedule a workflow to send a recurring reminder to your team so that you can stay on top of important tasks.

Build a workflow that your team can use to collect and act on requests.

Build a workflow

To create a workflow, you'll break a bigger task or process into smaller pieces called steps. Each step will take a specific action to advance the workflow. Here's how to build one from scratch:  

Step 1: Choose how your workflow will start

If you start your workflow with a link, you can share the link with people directly, bookmark it or add it to a canvas. To have your workflow run automatically, choose another way for it to start – on a schedule, when an emoji reaction is used or when someone joins a channel. 

Try it!

1. Click Create workflow, then choose how you'd like your workflow to start.
2. Follow the prompts (they'll differ depending on which option you chose). 
3. Click on Save.   

Tip: To start from a template, select one from the list below Ways to start. 

Step 2: Add the steps that people will take

Once you’ve decided how your workflow will start, you’ll add steps to accomplish the task at hand.

Tip: Before you add steps, plan out your workflow by jotting down a list of things that it needs to do. This can help to make sure that you don’t forget anything, as each step represents one specific action.

Try it!

1. Browse the list of available steps or search for a specific action (such as sending a direct message or creating a new channel). We offer a number of Slack steps, and you may see steps from third-party apps as well.
2. Click on a step to add it, then follow the prompts to customise. 

Step 3: Publish your workflow

The final step in creating a workflow is to publish it so that it’s available for people to use. If your workflow starts with a link, you can copy it after publishing to share it wherever you’d like. If a workflow runs automatically, it’ll be ready to go as soon as you click the Publish button.

Explore additional resources

Now that you’ve learned the basics, we recommend having a look at some of our other resources:

• What is a Slack workflow?
  Learn how workflows can help your team work more efficiently in Slack.
• Build a workflow
  Use this tutorial to create workflows using our templates and get more details on building from scratch.
• Find and use workflows
  An overview of how members of your workspace can find and use the workflows that you create.