Make blocked work easier to spot
A reaction can flag a blocker in Slack and send a live signal to the Ably channel your workflow monitors.
Trigger
Message Reaction Added
Triggered when a reaction is added to a message in Slack. Supports optional filtering by channel and emoji name.
Action
Publish Message to Channel
This tool will allow users to publish a message to a specified ably channel using a post request. it covers the essentials like channel name, message data, optional event name/type, and additional metadata for push notifications. it is an independent and fundamental operation within ably's real-time messaging platform.
Why this helps
A blocked task can remain invisible while the team assumes someone else has noticed it.
- Surface stuck work without writing another status message.
- Give connected dashboards a timely blocker event.
- Make the team's agreed signal easier to act on.
Setup
Build it in a few focused steps.
- 1Connect Slack and Ably to Notis in the portal once.
- 2Tell Notis which reaction denotes a blocker and what context to publish to Ably.
- 3Choose Message Reaction Added as the trigger and select your run-report channel.
- 4Use the agreed reaction on one real blocker message to test.
Questions about this workflow
Can the workflow tell which messages are blockers?
The automation follows your prompt, which should define the reaction and the information to include from the message.
Will the Ably message clear the blocker later?
This workflow publishes the signal. Clearing or resolving it would require a separate workflow or subscriber behavior.
When this happens · Trigger
Do this · Action
Supported Triggers and Actions
Notis builds workflows that link Slack to Ably. A trigger fires from one place; an action lands in another.
Slack triggers
Ably actions
Recurring trigger
Notis starts this workflow on a schedule, such as daily, weekly, or during business hours.
Query Batch Presence
This tool enables querying the presence states of multiple channels in a single api request. the api retrieves the member presence details of the specified channels in parallel.
Webhook trigger
Notis starts this workflow when an external tool or custom backend sends an HTTP request.
Query Batch Presence History
This tool enables querying presence history for multiple channels in a single api request. it uses the get endpoint at https://rest.ably.io/presence to retrieve the member presence history details of the specified channels in parallel.
New Channel Created Trigger
Triggered when a new channel is created in Slack.
Create Ably Channel
Creates a new channel or retrieves an existing channel in ably. this tool allows you to programmatically create and initialize channels for real-time messaging. since ably creates channels implicitly when first used, this action publishes an empty initialization message to create/activate the channel.
Channel Message Received
Triggered when a message is posted in a Slack channel (public, private, or multi-party IM). Does NOT match direct messages.
Delete Channel Subscription
This tool allows you to unsubscribe devices or clients from push notifications for specific channels. the operation is asynchronous, so immediate requests after deletion may briefly still return the subscription.
Direct Message Received
Triggered when a new direct message (DM) is sent to a user in Slack. Catches all DMs across all DM channels.
Get Channel Details
This tool retrieves metadata and details for a specific channel in ably. it returns a channeldetails object containing information about the channel's status, occupancy, and other metadata. the endpoint provides visibility into channel activity, including metrics such as connections, presence, publishers, and subscribers, and requires appropriate permissions.
Message Reaction Added
Triggered when a reaction is added to a message in Slack. Supports optional filtering by channel and emoji name.
Get Channel History
This tool retrieves the message history for a specified ably channel. it uses the get /channels/{channelid}/messages endpoint to return a paginated list of messages in chronological order, subject to parameters such as 'channelid', 'limit', 'direction', 'start', and 'end'. the tool is useful for auditing, recovering missed messages, analyzing channel activity, and debugging message flows. authentication is required via basic or token authentication.
Message Reaction Removed
Triggered when a reaction is removed from a message in Slack. Supports optional filtering by channel and emoji name.
Get Channel Presence History
This tool retrieves the history of presence messages for a specified channel in ably. it allows you to query presence events on a channel within a given time period.
Reaction Added Trigger
DEPRECATED: use `SLACK_MESSAGE_REACTION_ADDED` instead. Triggered when a reaction is added to a message in Slack.
Get Ably Service Time
This tool retrieves the current server time from ably's service in milliseconds since the epoch. it is particularly useful for time synchronization and generating valid tokenrequest timestamps to prevent replay attacks. the endpoint supports multiple content types, handles http errors, network issues, and is a fundamental tool for ensuring accurate timing in ably applications.
Connect any two apps with Notis in the middle.
Slack and Ably, or any other combination from 1,000+ integrations.
When this happens · Trigger
Do this · Action
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