Wire up Slack notifications

This walkthrough connects Checkstack to a Slack workspace so users receive notifications when system health changes or an incident is updated. Slack delivery uses incoming webhooks, so every user provides their own webhook URL; there is no admin-level Slack credential to manage.

1. Install the Slack plugin

If your instance does not already have the Slack notification plugin installed, follow Install a plugin to add @checkstack/notification-slack-backend from npm.

Once installed, the Slack strategy appears in the notification settings.

2. Create a Slack incoming webhook

In Slack, mint an incoming webhook for the channel that should receive notifications:

1. Open Slack API Apps and create a new app (or pick an existing one).
2. Under Features, click Incoming Webhooks and toggle the feature On.
3. Click Add New Webhook to Workspace.
4. Select the channel that should receive notifications. You can also point the webhook at a private channel or your own DM channel for personal notifications.
5. Copy the Webhook URL. It looks like https://hooks.slack.com/services/T.../B.../....

Treat the webhook URL as a secret. Anyone with the URL can post to the channel as the app.

3. Register the webhook in Checkstack

Each user configures their own webhook from their notification settings:

1. Click your avatar in the top-right corner and open Notification settings.
2. In the Channels section, find Slack and click Configure.
3. Paste the webhook URL into the Slack Incoming Webhook URL field.
4. Click Save.

Checkstack validates that the URL is well-formed and stores it encrypted at rest.

4. Subscribe to a system or check

A configured channel is dormant until you subscribe it to something:

1. Open the system you want notifications for from the Catalog.
2. Click Subscribe in the system header.
3. Pick Slack as the channel.
4. Choose what to receive:
   • Status changes - notify when the system flips between healthy, degraded, or unhealthy.
   • Incident updates - notify when an incident attached to this system is opened, updated, or resolved.
   • Maintenance updates - notify when scheduled maintenance starts or ends.
5. Click Save subscription.

Tip

You can also subscribe to a single health check instead of a whole system. Useful when one check on a noisy system needs its own alert routing.

5. Test delivery

Trigger a low-stakes notification to verify the wiring before you rely on it:

1. From the same system page, click Send test notification in the subscription detail.
2. Within a second or two, the configured Slack channel receives a styled message: an importance emoji, the system name, and a link back to the Checkstack page.

If nothing arrives:

• Re-open Notification settings and confirm the webhook URL is correct.
• Open the Delivery log (from the user menu) and look for a row matching the test attempt. The log records every dispatch, including failures with the response body Slack returned.
• Confirm the Slack app is still installed in your workspace and the webhook has not been revoked.

6. Tune the noise level

Once delivery works, prune false-positive noise:

• Adjust the system’s state thresholds so it does not flip on a single failed run.
• Subscribe only to the importance levels you want. The Slack message colour and emoji are driven by importance (info, warning, critical).
• During known disruptions, set a suppress-notifications flag. See Silence alerts.

See also

• Notifications - the underlying delivery model.
• Install a plugin - how to add the Slack plugin if it is not installed yet.
• Silence alerts - suppress notifications during incidents and maintenances.