---
name: ContinuousDelivery-slack_integration
title: Configuring Slack
description: Slack is a cloud-based, real-time messaging and notification system.
last-updated: 2026-07-23
---

> ## Documentation Index
> The table of contents for this documentation set is at https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/ContinuousDelivery?format=markdown
> The index for all IBM Cloud docs is at: https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/llms.txt
> Use these files to discover more information as needed.

# Configuring Slack
{: #slack}

DevOps Insights will reach end of service and be discontinued on **August 31, 2026**. Continuous Delivery will be discontinued in the following regions on 12 February 2027: **au-syd**, **ca-mon**, **ca-tor**, **us-east**. Code Risk Analyzer will also be discontinued in all regions on that date. If a region has no active usage of these features, the features in that region may be discontinued earlier and stop accepting new instances. [Learn more](https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/ContinuousDelivery?topic=ContinuousDelivery-faq_region_feature_consolidation&format=markdown)
{: important}

Slack is a cloud-based, real-time messaging and notification system.
{: shortdesc}

You can now distribute event notifications by using the [Event Notifications](https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/ContinuousDelivery?topic=ContinuousDelivery-event-notifications-integration&format=markdown) tool integration. IBM Cloud® Event Notifications is the preferred method for distributing notifications to Slack and other communication channels such as PagerDuty, email, SMS, push notifications, webhook, Microsoft® Teams, ServiceNow, and IBM Cloud Functions. For more information about using Event Notifications, see [Enabling event notifications for toolchains](https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/ContinuousDelivery?topic=ContinuousDelivery-event-notifications-cd&format=markdown).
{: tip}

Client bespoke toolchain events generated by the [POST /toolchains/{toolchain_id}/events](https://cloud.ibm.com/apis/toolchain#create-toolchain-event){: external} API are not sent to the Slack tool integration. Bespoke toolchain events are sent only to IBM Cloud® Event Notifications.
{: exception}

Slack provides persistent chat, which is a more interactive alternative to email for team collaboration. You can communicate with your team on a dedicated channel or on a set of channels that is directly related to your work. You can also share files and images through the channels or in direct messages between two or more people. The communications in direct messages and on channels are retained so that you can search them.

Notifications that are posted to public Slack channels are visible to everyone on the team. You are responsible for the content that you post.
{: important}

Configure Slack to receive notifications about your toolchain from the tool integrations, such as test and deployment activities:

1. If you are configuring this tool integration as you are creating the toolchain, in the Configurable Integrations section, click **Slack**.

1. If you have a toolchain and are adding this tool integration to it, from the IBM Cloud console, click the **Menu** icon ![hamburger icon](images/icon_hamburger.svg) > **Platform Automation** > **Toolchains**. On the Toolchains page, click the toolchain to open its Overview page.  

   a. Click **Add tool**.

   b. In the Tool Integrations section, click **Slack**.

1. Type the Slack webhook URL, which is generated by Slack as an incoming webhook. You need a Slack webhook URL for a Slack channel to receive notifications about your toolchain from the tool integrations. For instructions to create or find your webhook, see [Incoming Webhooks](https://docs.slack.dev/messaging/sending-messages-using-incoming-webhooks/){: external}.

If you use an API key for your Slack channel to receive notifications about your toolchain from the tool integrations, you must update your configuration to use a webhook instead.
{: tip}

1. Type the name of the Slack channel that you want notifications to be sent to. The channel must exist and be active in your Slack team.
1. Type the URL host name for your Slack team, which is the word or phrase before `.slack.com` in your team URL. For example, if your team URL is `https://team.slack.com`, the host name is `team`.
1. Click **Create Integration**.

   If the Slack channel and team that you specified cannot be reached, the `Setup Failed` error is displayed on the Slack card. Hover over the `Setup Failed` message and click **Reconfigure**. Make sure that you are using valid configuration parameters for the Slack webhook URL, Slack channel, and URL host name for your Slack team. Update the settings as required, and click **Save Integration**.
   {: tip}

1. On your Toolchain's Overview page, on the **Third-Party tools** card, click **Slack**. You can view all of the activity for your toolchain in the configured Slack channel.

## Configuring Slack by using the API
{: #slack-config-parameters}

The Slack tool integration supports the following configuration parameters that you can use with the [Toolchain HTTP API and SDKs](https://cloud.ibm.com/apis/toolchain){: external} when you [create](https://cloud.ibm.com/apis/toolchain#create-tool){: external}, [read](https://cloud.ibm.com/apis/toolchain#get-tool-by-id){: external}, and [update](https://cloud.ibm.com/apis/toolchain#update-tool){: external} tool integrations.

You must specify the `tool_type_id` property in the request body with the `slack` value.
{: important}

| Parameter | Usage | Type | Terraform argument | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| api_token | required, updatable | Password | webhook | The incoming webhook that Slack uses to receive events. You can use a toolchain secrets reference for this parameter. For more information about secrets references, see [Protecting your sensitive data in IBM Cloud](https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/ContinuousDelivery?topic=ContinuousDelivery-cd_data_security&format=markdown#cd_secure_credentials). |
| channel_name | required, updatable | String | channel_name | The Slack channel to post notifications to. |
| pipeline_fail | optional, updatable, `Default: true` | Boolean | pipeline_fail | Generates `pipeline failed` notifications. |
| pipeline_start | optional, updatable, `Default: true` | Boolean | pipeline_start | Generates `pipeline start` notifications. |
| pipeline_success | optional, updatable, `Default: true` | Boolean | pipeline_success | Generates `pipeline succeeded` notifications. |
| team_url | optional, updatable | String | team_name | The Slack team name, which is the word or phrase before _.slack.com_ in the team URL. |
| toolchain_bind | optional, updatable, `Default: true` | Boolean | toolchain_bind | Generates `tool added to toolchain` notifications. |
| toolchain_unbind | optional, updatable, `Default: true` | Boolean | toolchain_unbind | Generates `tool removed from toolchain` notifications. |
{: caption="Slack tool integration parameters" caption-side="bottom"}

## Enabling Slack notifications for Tekton Pipelines
{: #slack_tekton_pipelines}

You can configure a Tekton Pipeline to send events to Slack integrations.

1. From your toolchain's Overview page, on the **Delivery pipelines** card, click the **Delivery Pipeline** to open the Tekton Delivery Pipeline dashboard.
1. On the **Settings** > **Advanced Settings** page, enable **Event Notifications**.
1. Save your changes.