Slack Create a Simple Workflow

Building your first Slack workflow takes about five minutes. This topic walks you step-by-step through creating a practical workflow — a scheduled weekly reminder — so you understand exactly how the pieces fit together before building anything more complex.

What You Will Build

WORKFLOW: Monday Morning Check-In

  TRIGGER: Every Monday at 9:00 AM
       ↓
  STEP: Post a message to #general
        asking the team to share their
        weekly priorities

Step 1: Open Workflow Builder

1. Click Tools in the left sidebar.
2. Select Workflow Builder.
3. Click "+ Create" or "New Workflow".
4. Give your workflow a name: "Monday Check-In".
5. Click Next.

Step 2: Choose a Trigger

1. You see a list of trigger options.
2. Select "Scheduled date and time".
3. A settings panel appears for the schedule.
4. Set the frequency: Weekly.
5. Set the day: Monday.
6. Set the time: 9:00 AM.
7. Set the time zone: choose your local zone.
8. Click Save.

TRIGGER CONFIGURED

  ⏰ Scheduled trigger
  ─────────────────────────────────
  Runs: Weekly
  Day:  Monday
  Time: 9:00 AM
  Zone: America/New_York

Step 3: Add a Step

1. Below the trigger, click "+ Add step".
2. Select "Send a message".
3. A step configuration panel opens.

Step 4: Configure the Message

1. In the "Send message to" field, select a channel: #general.
2. In the Message text area, type your message:

MESSAGE TEXT:

  🌅 Good morning team! New week, new goals.

  Please reply with your priorities for this week:

  1️⃣ What is your #1 focus this week?
  2️⃣ Any blockers you need help with?
  3️⃣ What did you wrap up last week?

  Share in a thread below 👇

3. Click Save on the step.

Step 5: Review and Publish

1. Look at your workflow overview — you see the trigger and the step.
2. Click Publish.
3. A confirmation message appears: "Your workflow is now active."

PUBLISHED WORKFLOW OVERVIEW

  ⏰ Every Monday, 9:00 AM
         ↓
  💬 Send message to #general
     "🌅 Good morning team! ..."

  Status: Active ✓
  Last run: —
  Next run: Monday at 9:00 AM

Testing Your Workflow

Slack lets you test some workflow types by clicking Run or Test in the Workflow Builder. For scheduled workflows, the easiest test is to set the schedule to "once at [5 minutes from now]", let it fire, confirm it works, then update the schedule to your real recurring time.

Editing the Workflow Later

1. Open Workflow Builder.
2. Find your workflow in the list.
3. Click the workflow name to open it.
4. Click Edit on any step or the trigger.
5. Make your changes.
6. Click Save and then Publish again to apply changes.

Pausing and Deleting a Workflow

From the Workflow Builder dashboard, hover over any workflow and click the three-dot menu. Select Pause to stop it temporarily (it stays saved). Select Delete to remove it permanently. Paused workflows retain all their configuration and can be re-activated at any time.

Key Takeaways

• Open Workflow Builder → Create New → name your workflow to start building.
• Choose a trigger type first — for scheduled messages, use "Scheduled date and time."
• Add a "Send a message" step, choose the channel, and write your message content.
• Click Publish to activate the workflow — it starts running on the next trigger occurrence.
• Edit any workflow at any time from the Workflow Builder dashboard.