Product guides
Six automations that take hand-offs off your plate
Project management automation for agencies, kept simple: six rules that assign, notify and tidy up at every hand-off, and the limits worth knowing first.
8 min read
Slack integration for project updates
The right updates in the right channel.
Connect your Slack workspace once, then give each project its own channel. Choose what gets posted, reply in the thread to comment on the job, and paste a job link to see what it is. Every post links straight back to the job.
Set up
Connect once, then pick a channel per project
An administrator switches Slack on in Account settings, on the General page under Integrations, and adds Skybase to your Slack workspace. Then, in each project's settings under Slack, they choose the channel it posts to.
- Skybase joins Slack as an app called Skybase
- Public or private channels, with a search. A private channel needs /invite @Skybase first
- Each project posts to one channel, and several projects can share one
- Send test message checks the channel is listening
Two Slack messages posted by the Skybase app to the northwind-rebrand channel, one for a job moving column and one for a file approval, and the project's eleven notification toggles, five of them on.
Choose what gets posted
11 kinds of update, plus two that come back from Slack
Each project has its own switches, so a busy project can post less than a quiet one. Five updates start on, so a new channel hears about the work without the noise, and both From Slack switches start on. Change them and choose Save Settings.
Jobs
Job created · Job moved · Job renamed · Description updated · Due date changes · Member assignments · Job archived
Comments and files
Comments · File uploads
Tasks and approvals
Task completed · File approvals
From Slack
Let people reply from Slack · Show link previews in Slack
Reply from Slack
Reply in the thread, and it lands on the job
Each post says "Reply in the thread to comment on this job". A reply there becomes a comment on the job, from the Skybase person whose Slack email matches, and Slack ticks it once it's in.
- The reply counts only when Slack has confirmed the email on the replier's account, they are in the Slack workspace you connected, and they can see the job
- If not, they get a note in the thread that only they can see, and nothing is posted
- It works in the channel the project posts to, under Skybase's own posts
- A reply is never sent back to Slack as a new post
- Files in a reply stay in Slack: add them on the job
A Skybase post in the northwind-rebrand Slack channel about Leo Ortiz's comment on Homepage hero concepts, with Maya Chen's reply in its thread ticked with a check mark, and the same reply on the job in Skybase as Maya's comment.
Link previews
Paste a job link, see what it is
Paste a link to a job in Slack and Skybase previews it, in place of a sign-in page: the job's title, project, column and status, who holds it, its due date, and its priority when it isn't normal. Everyone in the channel sees the preview.
- Only when the person pasting the link could open the job in Skybase themselves
- Only for projects connected to your Slack workspace, with previews switched on
- Never the description or comments, and never archived jobs or projects
- A job held by a guest says Held by a guest, not their name
Every post links back
Enough to follow along, with the job one click away
Who did what, where
Each post names the person and the project, and links the job title straight back to the job. Comments bring their text, uploads and approvals name the file, and due date changes show the old and new dates.
Signed by the rule
When an automation made the change, the post names the rule. An automation that moves a job quietly, or archives one, posts nothing.
Clients kept apart
Once your workspace uses client teams, guests are never named in Slack: they appear as A guest from another team, so a shared channel never names one client to another.
Notes stay private
Private notes never leave Skybase, and the sample project never posts.
No direct messages
Skybase sends no direct messages and adds no slash commands. Everything it posts is in the channel a project uses.
Older connections
Connected Slack before replies and previews? Choose Reconnect Slack in the project's Slack settings to give Skybase the extra permissions they need.
- 11 update switches
- For each project, five on to start.
- Replies become comments
- From the person Slack vouches for, ticked once they are in.
- One channel per project
- Public or private, and channels can be shared.
- Every post links back
- Straight to the job, where the work is.
FAQ
What people ask about Slack
The other integrations are on the integrations page, and automations explains the rules whose names appear in posts.
Who can connect Slack?
Administrators. They switch Slack on for the workspace, add Skybase to your Slack workspace, and choose each project's channel and what it posts. Everyone else sees the settings read-only.
Can different projects post to different channels?
Yes. Each project posts to one channel of its own, and you choose which. Two projects can also share a channel.
Can people reply from Slack?
Yes, in the thread under a Skybase post. The reply becomes a comment on the job, posted as the Skybase person whose Slack email matches. It only counts when Slack has confirmed that email, the person is in the Slack workspace you connected and they can see the job; otherwise they get a note in the thread that only they can see. New jobs, approvals and files still happen in Skybase.
What does a link preview show?
The job's title, project, column and status, who holds it, its due date, and its priority when it isn't normal. A job held by a guest says Held by a guest. It never shows the description or comments, never previews archived jobs or projects, and only appears when the person who pasted the link could open the job. Everyone in the channel sees it.
Will comments from clients appear in Slack?
Yes, if the Comments switch is on, so connect a channel everyone in it may read. Once your workspace uses client teams, guests are never named in Slack: they appear as A guest from another team. Private notes are never posted.
What can Skybase see in Slack?
It posts to the channels you choose and lists your channels for the picker. For replies, Slack sends it the messages in channels it has been added to, and it only acts on replies in the threads of its own posts; it looks up who wrote a reply and the email on their Slack profile, to match them to a Skybase account, and ticks the reply once it's in. For previews, it sees links to Skybase pasted in your Slack workspace. It sends no direct messages and adds no slash commands.
We connected Slack before replies existed. What do we do?
Choose Reconnect Slack in a project's Slack settings. Replies and link previews need a few more permissions from Slack, and reconnecting asks for them. Your channels and switches stay as they are.
Does it cost extra?
No. Slack is on both plans.
Read next
Client work
Sharing work with clients: what they should see
How to share a project with clients: what a free guest can see and change, how to keep internal work private, and when a client counts as a paid user.
8 min read
- Guide Automations Write a rule as a sentence and let the board handle hand-offs: when a job moves, changes or sits too long, assign it, move or archive it, or notify people. Read the guide
- Guide Invite your team and clients Members or guests? How to invite people to your workspace, a project or a single job, and which roles count towards your bill. Read the guide
Put your project updates where your team already talks.
Free plan, no credit card. Slack is on every plan.
Free plan · No credit card · Clients always free