Turn Slack Conversations Into Email Archives
Slack is ephemeral. Email is forever. This workflow creates a Gmail draft every time something important is posted in your key channels, so you have a permanent, searchable record.
Trigger
Channel Message Received
Triggered when a message is posted in a Slack channel (public, private, or multi-party IM). Does NOT match direct messages.
Action
Create email draft
Creates a gmail email draft, supporting to/cc/bcc, subject, plain/html body (ensure `is html=true` for html), attachments, and threading.
Why this helps
Important decisions and discussions happen in Slack channels, but Slack's search is clunky and messages get buried. You can't reliably find the context months later.
- Build a searchable email archive of all critical discussions
- Reference past decisions and context without switching to Slack
- Preserve conversations that might get deleted or archived
- Reduce cognitive load of finding information scattered across tools
Setup
Build it in a few focused steps.
- 1Connect Slack and Gmail.
- 2Create an automation: 'When a message is posted in [channel name], create an email draft with that conversation.'
- 3Choose Channel Message Received as your trigger, and Create email draft as your action.
- 4Specify which channels trigger this (e.g., #decisions, #launches, #client-feedback).
- 5Check your Gmail drafts folder; Notis will create one per important message.
Questions about this workflow
Which channels should I set this up for?
Start with your highest-value channels: #decisions, #client-feedback, #product, #launches. You can add more later.
Will every message create a draft?
Yes, unless you add a filter (e.g., 'only messages with 3+ reactions' or 'only messages containing [keyword]').
Can I send these directly as emails instead of drafts?
Absolutely. Notis can send them to a specific email list or folder. Just let us know in the setup.
When this happens · Trigger
Do this · Action
Supported Triggers and Actions
Notis builds workflows that link Slack to Gmail. A trigger fires from one place; an action lands in another.
Slack triggers
Gmail actions
New Channel Created Trigger
Triggered when a new channel is created in Slack.
Modify email labels
Adds and/or removes specified gmail labels for a message; ensure `message id` and all `label ids` are valid (use 'listlabels' for custom label ids).
Channel Message Received
Triggered when a message is posted in a Slack channel (public, private, or multi-party IM). Does NOT match direct messages.
Create email draft
Creates a gmail email draft, supporting to/cc/bcc, subject, plain/html body (ensure `is html=true` for html), attachments, and threading.
Direct Message Received
Triggered when a new direct message (DM) is sent to a user in Slack. Catches all DMs across all DM channels.
Create label
Creates a new label with a unique name in the specified user's gmail account.
Message Reaction Added
Triggered when a reaction is added to a message in Slack. Supports optional filtering by channel and emoji name.
Delete Draft
Permanently deletes a specific gmail draft using its id; ensure the draft exists and the user has necessary permissions for the given `user id`.
Message Reaction Removed
Triggered when a reaction is removed from a message in Slack. Supports optional filtering by channel and emoji name.
Delete message
Permanently deletes a specific email message by its id from a gmail mailbox; for `user id`, use 'me' for the authenticated user or an email address to which the authenticated user has delegated access.
Reaction Added Trigger
DEPRECATED: use `SLACK_MESSAGE_REACTION_ADDED` instead. Triggered when a reaction is added to a message in Slack.
Fetch emails
Fetches a list of email messages from a gmail account, supporting filtering, pagination, and optional full content retrieval.
Reaction Removed Trigger
DEPRECATED: use `SLACK_MESSAGE_REACTION_REMOVED` instead. Triggered when a reaction is removed from a message.
Fetch message by message ID
Fetches a specific email message by its id, provided the `message id` exists and is accessible to the authenticated `user id`.
New Bot Message Received Trigger
DEPRECATED: use `SLACK_CHANNEL_MESSAGE_RECEIVED` with `is_bot_message=true` instead. Triggered when a new bot message is posted to a Slack channel.
Fetch Message by Thread ID
Retrieves messages from a gmail thread using its `thread id`, where the thread must be accessible by the specified `user id`.
Connect any two apps with Notis in the middle.
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When this happens · Trigger
Do this · Action
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