LoopfourSend an email or Slack message
Notify people from a workflow by sending an email or posting a Slack message, for example to tell AP that a bill is ready for review.
A workflow can tell people what it did or what needs their attention. Pick the step by where the message should come from.
| You want to | Use | Needs a connection |
|---|---|---|
| Send a notification email without a mailbox | Send Email (needs developer setup, see below) | No |
| Send from your own mailbox, reply to a thread or save a draft | Gmail or Outlook | Yes, your Gmail or Outlook account |
| Post in a Slack channel | Slack | Yes, your Slack workspace |
To ask someone to approve, use an approval step instead. It sends the request and waits for the answer. See Add an approval step.
Before you start
Connect Gmail, Outlook or Slack under Integrations, depending on the message you want to send. Use your own address or a test channel for the first run.
Send an email from your own mailbox
Add the block
Drag Gmail or Outlook from Integrations onto the canvas. Choose the Gmail Account or Outlook Account, and set Action to Send Email.
Address it
Fill in To and Subject.
Write the message
Write the Body. Put in values from earlier steps, such as the vendor and amount. See Use results from earlier steps.
Gmail can forward an email. Both Gmail and Outlook can reply or create a draft, though some fields need developer setup. See Email for those limits. Drafts suit customer messages that someone should read first.
The Send Email block needs developer setup
The Send Email block under Core Blocks sends without a mailbox connection, but today it does not work fully from the fields in the editor:
- A message typed into Body is not sent. The body has to be set up in the form a template uses.
- CC and BCC typed into the editor make the step fail.
- Reply To is ignored.
Some templates supply the required message format. Check the body and recipients in the copied workflow before relying on it. To add one yourself, ask your developer, or use Gmail or Outlook instead.
Post a Slack message
Add the Slack block
Drag Slack from Integrations onto the canvas and choose the Slack Workspace.
Choose where
Set Action to Send Message and pick the Channel, such as #ap.
Write the message
Write the Message, with values from earlier steps where useful. To keep related posts together, use Reply in Thread (optional).
Slack can also update or schedule a message and upload a file, such as a report the workflow made.
Check it worked
Run the workflow and check the inbox or channel. In the run under Runs, choose the step; its Input tab shows what it sent.
If something goes wrong
If the message does not arrive, check the step error and the connection. See A connection stopped working. For Send Email, check the body, copy-recipient and reply-address limits above.
Related
Read PDF documents
Pull the text and pages out of a PDF, such as a vendor bill or a statement, so the later steps in a workflow can read and use what it says.
Work in a web portal
See what the browser step can do in a customer or vendor web portal, such as downloading a statement or uploading an invoice for you.