Slack Actionable Notifications let you send interactive SmartSuite notifications to Slack so recipients can take action directly from the message. Instead of opening the record first, users can review the notification, click an action button, and update the related record from within Slack.

Actionable Notifications are designed for workflows where someone needs to make a decision or update a record quickly, such as approvals, reviews, and status changes. Each notification is tied to a specific SmartSuite record and includes action buttons that update a selected field when clicked.

A Slack Actionable Notification can include:

To use Slack Actionable Notifications, your workspace must have an active Slack integration configured by a Workspace Administrator from Workspace Settings → Security → Access. Slack Actionable Notifications are available on Enterprise and Signature plans.

Workspaces on other plans will see an upgrade prompt (Upgrade to Enterprise Plan to use Slack) in the action picker. Contact your account team or click Compare All Plans from the prompt for details.

The Slack integration is set up once for the whole SmartSuite workspace by a Workspace Administrator. Setup has two phases: authorizing the connection, then adding SmartSuite to the specific Slack workspaces that should be able to receive notifications.

From your SmartSuite workspace:

A Slack Owner or Admin authorizes SmartSuite to access the Slack organization. This is a single OAuth step that creates the secure link and grants all required permissions.

If the connection returns an error, an error message from Slack is displayed. Correct the underlying condition (permission scope, workspace choice, sign-in identity) and try again.

The organization-level connection is not added to any Slack workspace automatically. From the same setup screen, choose which Slack workspaces SmartSuite should be available in. You can also set SmartSuite as a default app for new Slack workspaces added to the organization later.

Once you save this step, the integration transitions to a connected state:

Actionable Notifications sent to a Slack Channel are delivered by the SmartSuite Bot. Before an automation can post to a given channel, the SmartSuite Bot must be a member of that channel.

In Slack:

You only need to do this once per channel. Actionable Notifications delivered as Individual messages (direct messages to a specific Slack user) don't require this step.

Once the integration is enabled at the workspace level, Solution Managers and Workspace Administrators can add Actionable Notifications to any automation.

In Automations, add the Slack action called Send an actionable notification. This action sends a Slack message with buttons that update a SmartSuite record when clicked.

The action description reads: Sends a message with actions displayed as buttons and updates a record based on the button clicked.

If the Slack integration hasn't been enabled at the workspace level, the action will display: Slack bot has not been setup in the workspace. In order to enable this feature, a Workspace Admin needs to enable Slack integration from the Workspace Administration. The same message is shown if the integration is later disabled or removed.

Select the single record the notification should reference and update. Supported sources include:

Choose whether to send the notification as an Individual message (a Slack direct message to one person) or as a Channel message (a message posted to a Slack channel). Individual is the default.

Use an Individual message to notify one person directly in Slack.

You can define the recipient using either:

For static selections, the member list is filtered to users who have access to the target table and excludes view-only users (Viewers, Commenters, Guests).

For dynamic values, SmartSuite maps the value to a SmartSuite Member by full name and email, then matches that Member to a Slack user by email in order to deliver the direct message. If the dynamic value contains multiple entries, SmartSuite uses the first one only.

Use a Channel message to post the notification to a Slack channel.

You can define the target channel using either:

The set of available channels is determined by the Slack workspaces to which SmartSuite was added during integration setup.

Important! The SmartSuite Bot needs to be added to a Channel before it can receive notifications. See Add SmartSuite Bot to your Slack channels in the setup instructions above.

Channel values are limited to a single result; if multiple values are returned by a dynamic input, SmartSuite uses the first one. Channels are identified by name.

Add a Message Title and Message Content for the notification. Both are required. Both support static text and dynamic values from the record and the trigger.

The Message Content editor supports rich text formatting: text styles, bold, italic, underline, strikethrough, alignment, color, highlight, link, quote, and numbered / bulleted / check lists. The editor also includes a Fields to be included control for inserting record field values directly into the message body.

You can include a link in the message so recipients can open the related SmartSuite record directly from Slack. The link is configured through the enhanced URL control in the rich-text editor and supports dynamic values, so the correct record URL is inserted for each notification.

Action buttons are based on a selected SmartSuite field on the target record. Supported field types are:

You can add up to three buttons using the Add Button control (and remove any button with the per-row delete control). For each button, configure:

Button color is not supported in Slack.

Once sent, the notification appears in the selected Slack channel or direct message with the configured content and action buttons. Recipients can review the message and click one of the available buttons to trigger a record update in SmartSuite.

After a user clicks a button:

SmartSuite processes the update asynchronously, so there may be a short delay between the button click and the record change landing.

SmartSuite matches the Slack user who clicked the button to a SmartSuite Member by email, then checks that Member's permissions on the target record. If the Slack user is not matched to a Member, or the Member doesn't have permission to edit the record, the action fails and Slack shows a Not enough permissions response.

Successful clicks don't post a follow-up confirmation into the Slack channel — this keeps the channel from getting spammed with a status message for every notification.

Failed clicks post a follow-up message to the Slack recipient with the reason: SmartSuite record was not updated: {error message}

Human-friendly reasons include:

Successful updates land on the target record's Activity History the same way any other automation-driven change would, with the Slack user's name and the automation name attached. Example: Artem Kunytsia via Request Approval Slack Action updated Status field…

Failed attempts are captured as a comment on the target record on behalf of the SmartSuite Automation system user. The automation name is a clickable link. Comment format:

Slack actionable notification generated by {Automation name} automation failed to update {field name} value. Action executed by: {user name}. Reason: {error message}

Example:

Slack actionable notification generated by Invoice Approval automation failed to update Status field. Action executed by: Artem Kunytsia. Reason: No permissions.

The automation's Run History captures whether the notification was sent to Slack. If sending fails, Run History displays a meaningful error message so you can debug the delivery step separately from the click / update step.

From Workspace Settings → Security → Access, a Workspace Administrator can:

While the integration is disabled or deleted, Actionable Notification actions that reference the missing integration will fail at run time.

If your workspace was using SmartSuite's earlier Slack integration, no reconfiguration is required. Once the new integration is enabled at the workspace level:

If you disable or delete the new integration later, any previously configured Slack actions will start to fail (see Managing the Slack Integration above).

A common use case is an approval workflow. For example, SmartSuite can send a Slack notification to a legal reviewer's direct message asking them to review a contract record. The recipient can click Approve or Reject directly in Slack, and SmartSuite updates the related field on the record based on that selection. The activity history captures the reviewer's name and the automation name, so the audit trail lives on the SmartSuite record instead of getting lost in a Slack thread.

Other typical patterns:

Q. Can I send an Actionable Notification to a person instead of a channel?

A. Yes. Choose the Individual message type and address it to a specific SmartSuite Member (statically) or to a dynamic value that resolves to a Member (by full name and email). The message will arrive as a Slack direct message.

Q. Can I post an Actionable Notification to a Slack channel?

A. Yes. Choose the Channel message type and pick the channel statically or dynamically. The SmartSuite Bot must be a member of the channel first — invite it with /invite @SmartSuite inside the channel.

Q. Can I use dynamic values for recipients, channels, and message content?

A. Yes. Dynamic values are supported for the recipient (Individual), the channel (Channel), the message title, the message content, the Open Record URL, and the button labels.

Q. How many action buttons can I add?

A. You can add up to three action buttons per notification.

Q. What field types can be used for action buttons?

A. Status, Single Select, Multiple Select, and Yes/No.

Q. Can I customize the button color?

A. No. Button colors are not supported in Slack.

Q. Can a recipient click more than one button?

A. No. Once any button is clicked, the notification is considered executed and cannot be actioned again.

Q. What happens if the user does not have permission to update the record?

A. The action fails and SmartSuite sends a follow-up Slack message back to the recipient explaining the failure (Not enough permissions). A comment is also added to the target record capturing the failed attempt, the user who tried, and the reason.

Q. What plans is this available on?

A. Slack Actionable Notifications are available on Enterprise and Signature plans.

Q. Is activity from Actionable Notifications tracked in SmartSuite?

A. Yes. Successful updates are captured on the record's Activity History with the Slack user's name and the automation name. Failed attempts are logged as comments on the record on behalf of the SmartSuite Automation system user.

Q. Do my existing Slack automation actions keep working after the new integration is enabled?

A. Yes. Existing configured Slack actions continue to run under the new integration without reconfiguration. New Slack actions can only be added through the new Send an actionable notification action.