GitHub + Slack Integration

This guide shows how to integrate GitHub with Slack for better team visibility and faster response times.

Why Integrate?

Benefits:

Real-time notifications of PRs, reviews, and merges
Faster review times (team sees PRs immediately)
Better awareness of what’s being deployed
Centralized communication (no need to check GitHub constantly)
Build and deployment status in Slack

Prerequisites

Slack workspace admin access (or ability to request app installation)
GitHub repository admin access
Slack channels created: #dev-team, #deployments, #alerts

Installation

Step 1: Install GitHub App in Slack

Open Slack and go to your workspace
Add GitHub app:
- Click workspace name → Settings & administration → Manage apps
- Search for “GitHub”
- Click “Add to Slack”
Or visit: https://slack.com/apps/A01BP7R4KNY-github
Authenticate:
- Click “Add GitHub to Slack”
- Sign in to GitHub if prompted
- Authorize the Slack app
Verify installation:
- Type /github in any Slack channel
- You should see GitHub slash command options

  /github subscribe owner/repo-name pulls reviews comments

What this does:

pulls - New PRs opened, closed, merged
reviews - PR reviews submitted, approved, changes requested
comments - Comments added to PRs

Example:

  /github subscribe yourcompany/yourapp pulls reviews comments

  /github subscribe owner/repo-name deployments releases

What this does:

deployments - Deployment started, succeeded, failed
releases - New releases published

  /github subscribe owner/repo-name statuses

What this does:

statuses - CI/CD build status (GitHub Actions)
Notifies on failures immediately

Step 3: Configure Notification Preferences

For #dev-team (all PR activity):

  /github subscribe owner/repo-name pulls reviews comments

Optional filters (reduce noise):

  # Only notify for PRs to main branch
/github subscribe owner/repo-name pulls:* --filter "base:main"

# Only notify for reviews on open PRs
/github subscribe owner/repo-name reviews:* --filter "state:open"

For #deployments (just deployments):

  /github subscribe owner/repo-name deployments

For #alerts (failures only):

  /github subscribe owner/repo-name statuses --filter "event:failure"

Notification Examples

Pull Request Opened

  🆕 Pull Request Opened
#247 Add webhook subscription functionality
by @john-doe • yourcompany/yourapp

[View Pull Request]

Pull Request Reviewed

  ✅ Pull Request Approved
#247 Add webhook subscription functionality
Reviewed by @jane-doe

[View Pull Request]

Pull Request Merged

  ✅ Pull Request Merged
#247 Add webhook subscription functionality
Merged by @john-doe into main

[View Pull Request]

Build Failed

  ❌ Build Failed
yourcompany/yourapp • main branch
Tests failed on commit abc1234

[View Build] [View Logs]

Deployment Succeeded

  🚀 Deployed to Production
yourcompany/yourapp • main branch
Commit: abc1234 - feat(webhooks): add subscription endpoints

[View Deployment]

Useful Commands

  /github subscribe owner/repo-name [features]

Features:

issues - New issues, closed issues, issue comments
pulls - PR opened, closed, merged
reviews - PR reviews
comments - PR and issue comments
commits - New commits (warning: very noisy)
releases - New releases published
deployments - Deployment status
statuses - CI/CD status (GitHub Actions, builds)
public - Repository made public
branches - Branch created/deleted

Unsubscribe from Features

  /github unsubscribe owner/repo-name [features]

Example:

  # Too many commit notifications, remove them
/github unsubscribe yourcompany/yourapp commits

List Subscriptions

  /github subscribe list

Shows all repositories this channel is subscribed to and which features.

Filters

  /github subscribe owner/repo-name [features] --filter "[conditions]"

Common filters:

  # Only PRs to main branch
--filter "base:main"

# Only open PRs
--filter "state:open"

# Only failures
--filter "event:failure"

# PRs from specific author
--filter "author:username"

# PRs with specific label
--filter "label:priority"

Recommended Channel Setup

#dev-team

Purpose: Day-to-day development activity

Subscriptions:

  /github subscribe yourcompany/yourapp pulls reviews comments

Who should join: All developers

Notifications:

PR opened → Developers can review
PR reviewed → Author knows to address feedback
PR merged → Team knows what’s deployed

#deployments

Purpose: Deployment and release tracking

Subscriptions:

  /github subscribe yourcompany/yourapp deployments releases

Who should join: All team members (devs, PM, stakeholders)

Notifications:

Deployment started → Team knows deploy in progress
Deployment succeeded → Feature is live
Deployment failed → Team can react quickly

#alerts

Purpose: Critical issues requiring immediate attention

Subscriptions:

  /github subscribe yourcompany/yourapp statuses --filter "event:failure"

Who should join: On-call developers, tech lead

Notifications:

Build failed → Fix immediately
Tests failed → Investigate
Security scan failed → Address vulnerability

Best Practices

✅ Do

Subscribe #dev-team to PR activity - Everyone sees what’s being worked on
Use separate channels - Keep deployments separate from development chatter
Filter notifications - Use filters to reduce noise
Encourage reactions - Use 👀 when reviewing, ✅ when approved
Turn off notifications for commits - Too noisy, use PRs instead

❌ Don’t

Subscribe to too many features - Notification fatigue is real
Put everything in one channel - Separate by concern
Subscribe personal DMs - Use channels for team visibility
Ignore notifications - If channel is too noisy, adjust subscriptions

Troubleshooting

Issue: Not Receiving Notifications

Check:

Is channel subscribed?
```
  /github subscribe list
  
```
Is GitHub app installed in workspace?
- Workspace settings → Apps → Search “GitHub”
Does your account have repo access?
- GitHub → Settings → Applications → Slack
Are notifications filtered out?
- Check filter settings

Issue: Too Many Notifications

Solution:

  # Unsubscribe from noisy features
/github unsubscribe yourcompany/yourapp commits

# Add filters
/github subscribe yourcompany/yourapp pulls --filter "base:main"

Issue: Wrong Channel Getting Notifications

Solution:

  # In wrong channel, unsubscribe
/github unsubscribe yourcompany/yourapp

# In correct channel, subscribe
/github subscribe yourcompany/yourapp pulls reviews

Advanced: Custom Workflows

Notify Specific People for PRs

Use GitHub CODEOWNERS file:

  # .github/CODEOWNERS
/app/api/         @backend-team
/frontend/        @frontend-team
/docs/            @tech-writer

When PR touches these files, those teams are automatically requested for review.

Auto-Close Stale PRs

GitHub Action + Slack notification:

  # .github/workflows/stale.yml
name: Close stale PRs

on:
  schedule:
    - cron: '0 0 * * *'

jobs:
  stale:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/stale@v8
        with:
          days-before-stale: 30
          days-before-close: 7
          stale-pr-label: 'stale'
          stale-pr-message: 'This PR has been inactive for 30 days. Closing in 7 days.'

Slack integration will notify in #dev-team when PR is marked stale.

Integration with Other Tools

Postman Bot

See api-testing.md for integrating Postman test results in Slack.

Deployment Notifications

If using Railway:

Railway can post deployment notifications to Slack
Configure in Railway dashboard → Integrations → Slack

If using GitHub Actions:

  # .github/workflows/deploy.yml
- name: Notify Slack
  uses: slackapi/slack-github-action@v1
  with:
    payload: |
      {
        "text": "🚀 Deployed to production",
        "blocks": [
          {
            "type": "section",
            "text": {
              "type": "mrkdwn",
              "text": "Deployment successful: ${{ github.sha }}"
            }
          }
        ]
      }
  env:
    SLACK_WEBHOOK_URL: ${{ secrets.SLACK_WEBHOOK }}

Maintaining Integration

Regular Reviews

Monthly:

Review which channels are subscribed
Check if subscriptions are still relevant
Adjust filters based on noise levels

When team changes:

Add new developers to #dev-team
Update CODEOWNERS file
Review who gets @ mentions

Documentation

Keep this guide updated when:

Adding new repositories
Changing notification preferences
Creating new Slack channels

Quick Reference

  # Subscribe to PR activity
/github subscribe owner/repo pulls reviews comments

# Subscribe to deployments
/github subscribe owner/repo deployments

# Subscribe to build failures
/github subscribe owner/repo statuses --filter "event:failure"

# List subscriptions
/github subscribe list

# Unsubscribe
/github unsubscribe owner/repo [features]

# Help
/github help

Next Steps

Set up pre-commit hooks: pre-commit-hooks.md
Configure API testing: api-testing.md
Set up editor: editor-setup.md

Git Workflow

Incident Response Guide

GitHub + Slack Integration

Why Integrate? link

Prerequisites link

Installation link

Step 1: Install GitHub App in Slack link

Step 2: Subscribe Channels to Repositories link

Subscribe #dev-team to Pull Requests link

Subscribe #deployments to Releases link

Subscribe #alerts to Build Status link

Step 3: Configure Notification Preferences link

For #dev-team (all PR activity): link

For #deployments (just deployments): link

For #alerts (failures only): link

Notification Examples link

Pull Request Opened link

Pull Request Reviewed link

Pull Request Merged link

Build Failed link

Deployment Succeeded link

Useful Commands link

Subscribe to Repository link

Unsubscribe from Features link

List Subscriptions link

Filters link

Recommended Channel Setup link

#dev-team link

#deployments link

#alerts link

Best Practices link

✅ Do link

❌ Don’t link

Troubleshooting link

Issue: Not Receiving Notifications link

Issue: Too Many Notifications link

Issue: Wrong Channel Getting Notifications link

Advanced: Custom Workflows link

Notify Specific People for PRs link

Auto-Close Stale PRs link

Integration with Other Tools link

Postman Bot link

Deployment Notifications link

Maintaining Integration link

Regular Reviews link

Documentation link

Quick Reference link

Next Steps link

Why Integrate?

Prerequisites

Installation

Step 1: Install GitHub App in Slack

Step 2: Subscribe Channels to Repositories

Subscribe #dev-team to Pull Requests

Subscribe #deployments to Releases

Subscribe #alerts to Build Status

Step 3: Configure Notification Preferences

For #dev-team (all PR activity):

For #deployments (just deployments):

For #alerts (failures only):

Notification Examples

Pull Request Opened

Pull Request Reviewed

Pull Request Merged

Build Failed

Deployment Succeeded

Useful Commands

Subscribe to Repository

Unsubscribe from Features

List Subscriptions

Filters

Recommended Channel Setup

#dev-team

#deployments

#alerts

Best Practices

✅ Do

❌ Don’t

Troubleshooting

Issue: Not Receiving Notifications

Issue: Too Many Notifications

Issue: Wrong Channel Getting Notifications

Advanced: Custom Workflows

Notify Specific People for PRs

Auto-Close Stale PRs

Integration with Other Tools

Postman Bot

Deployment Notifications

Maintaining Integration

Regular Reviews

Documentation

Quick Reference

Next Steps