How to Set Up Emergency Issue Escalation with n8n

Launchpad > Account Settings > Integrations

Enable Basecamp webhooks

Log into your Basecamp account and navigate to the Launchpad. Click on your account settings in the top right dropdown. Find the 'Integrations' section and enable webhook support for your account. This creates the foundation for real-time notifications.

1. 1Click your avatar in the top right corner
2. 2Select 'Account & Setup' from dropdown
3. 3Navigate to 'Integrations' tab
4. 4Toggle 'Enable webhooks' to ON

Account Settings > My Info > API Access

Create Basecamp API token

Navigate to the 'My Info' section in Basecamp settings. Scroll down to find 'API Access' and click 'Create new token'. Give it a descriptive name like 'n8n Emergency Alerts' and copy the generated token immediately. You won't be able to see it again.

1. 1Click 'Create new token' button
2. 2Enter name: 'n8n Emergency Alerts'
3. 3Click 'Create token'
4. 4Copy the token string immediately

Slack Workspace > Settings > Configure Apps > Incoming Webhooks

Set up Slack webhook URL

In Slack, go to your workspace settings and create a new incoming webhook. Choose the channel where emergency alerts should appear. Copy the webhook URL that Slack generates. This URL will receive the formatted emergency notifications from n8n.

1. 1Navigate to slack.com/apps and search 'Incoming Webhooks'
2. 2Click 'Add to Slack' button
3. 3Select your target channel from dropdown
4. 4Click 'Add Incoming Webhooks integration'
5. 5Copy the webhook URL

Workflows > + > Webhook

Create new n8n workflow

Open n8n and create a fresh workflow. Add a Webhook node as your trigger by clicking the plus button and searching for 'Webhook'. Configure it to listen for POST requests from Basecamp. Set the path to something memorable like '/basecamp-emergency'.

1. 1Click the '+' button to add first node
2. 2Search and select 'Webhook' node
3. 3Set HTTP Method to 'POST'
4. 4Set Path to '/basecamp-emergency'
5. 5Click 'Copy URL' to get your webhook endpoint

Nodes > Logic > If

Add message filtering logic

Connect an 'If' node after your webhook to filter for emergency keywords. Configure it to check if the message content contains words like 'urgent', 'emergency', 'down', or 'critical'. This prevents every Basecamp message from triggering alerts.

1. 1Click '+' after the webhook node
2. 2Select 'If' from the Logic section
3. 3Set Condition to 'String' → 'Contains'
4. 4Set Value 1 to '{{ $json.content }}'
5. 5Set Value 2 to 'urgent,emergency,down,critical'

Credentials > + > Basecamp 3

Configure Basecamp credentials in n8n

Add a Basecamp node and configure authentication using your API token. You'll need your Basecamp account ID and the API token you created earlier. n8n will verify the connection and show available projects.

1. 1Click on 'Credentials' in left sidebar
2. 2Click '+ Add Credential' button
3. 3Select 'Basecamp 3' from the list
4. 4Enter your Account ID and API Token
5. 5Click 'Test' to verify connection

Nodes > Apps > Basecamp 3

Add Basecamp data enrichment

Connect a Basecamp node to the 'true' path of your If statement. Configure it to fetch additional project details like project name and participant information. This gives you context about who posted the urgent message and which project it affects.

1. 1Connect Basecamp node to 'true' output of If node
2. 2Set Resource to 'Message'
3. 3Set Operation to 'Get'
4. 4Set Project ID to '{{ $json.project_id }}'
5. 5Set Message ID to '{{ $json.id }}'

Nodes > Data > Function

Format Slack notification

Add a Function node to format your alert message. Create a rich Slack message with the project name, author, message preview, and direct links back to Basecamp. Include urgency indicators like emoji and color coding.

1. 1Add Function node after Basecamp node
2. 2Paste the formatting code in JavaScript mode
3. 3Configure message template with project details
4. 4Add Basecamp URL for click-through

Nodes > Network > HTTP Request

Connect Slack notification

Add an HTTP Request node to send the formatted message to your Slack webhook. Configure it to POST the JSON payload to your Slack webhook URL. Set the content type to application/json.

1. 1Add HTTP Request node after Function node
2. 2Set Method to 'POST'
3. 3Set URL to your Slack webhook URL
4. 4Set Body to '{{ $json.payload }}'
5. 5Add header: Content-Type: application/json

External API Call

Register webhook with Basecamp

Use Basecamp's API or a tool like Postman to register your n8n webhook URL. You'll POST to the Basecamp webhooks endpoint with your project IDs and the n8n webhook URL. This tells Basecamp where to send message notifications.

1. 1Open Postman or similar API client
2. 2POST to https://3.basecampapi.com/YOUR_ACCOUNT/webhooks.json
3. 3Include Authorization header with your token
4. 4Send JSON body with payload_url and project filters

Workflow > Activate Toggle

Test and activate workflow

Activate your n8n workflow and test it by posting a message with 'urgent' in a monitored Basecamp project. Check that the Slack notification appears with proper formatting and clickable links back to Basecamp.

1. 1Click the 'Inactive' toggle to activate workflow
2. 2Go to Basecamp and post test message with 'urgent'
3. 3Check Slack channel for notification
4. 4Verify Basecamp link works in Slack message

This JavaScript code goes in your Function node to format rich Slack messages with proper emergency styling and handle HTML content from Basecamp.

const message = $input.all()[0].json;
const basecampData = $input.all()[1].json;
// Strip HTML and extract plain text

const message = $input.all()[0].json;
const basecampData = $input.all()[1].json;

// Strip HTML and extract plain text
const cleanContent = message.content.replace(/<[^>]*>/g, '').trim();

// Determine urgency level based on keywords
const urgencyKeywords = {
  critical: ['down', 'outage', 'critical', 'broken'],
  high: ['urgent', 'emergency', 'asap', 'immediately'],
  medium: ['important', 'priority', 'soon']
};

let urgencyLevel = 'medium';
let alertEmoji = '⚠️';
let messageColor = '#ff9500';

const lowerContent = cleanContent.toLowerCase();

if (urgencyKeywords.critical.some(keyword => lowerContent.includes(keyword))) {
  urgencyLevel = 'critical';
  alertEmoji = '🚨';
  messageColor = '#ff3333';
} else if (urgencyKeywords.high.some(keyword => lowerContent.includes(keyword))) {
  urgencyLevel = 'high';
  alertEmoji = '🔥';
  messageColor = '#ff6600';
}

// Build Basecamp URL
const basecampUrl = `https://3.basecamp.com/${basecampData.account_id}/buckets/${message.project_id}/messages/${message.id}`;

// Format timestamp
const timestamp = new Date(message.created_at).toLocaleTimeString('en-US', {
  hour: 'numeric',
  minute: '2-digit',
  hour12: true
});

// Create rich Slack payload
const payload = {
  text: `${alertEmoji} ${urgencyLevel.toUpperCase()} MESSAGE`,
  attachments: [{
    color: messageColor,
    fields: [
      {
        title: 'Project',
        value: basecampData.name,
        short: true
      },
      {
        title: 'Posted by',
        value: message.creator.name,
        short: true
      },
      {
        title: 'Message',
        value: cleanContent.substring(0, 200) + (cleanContent.length > 200 ? '...' : ''),
        short: false
      }
    ],
    actions: [{
      type: 'button',
      text: 'View in Basecamp',
      url: basecampUrl
    }],
    ts: Math.floor(new Date(message.created_at).getTime() / 1000)
  }]
};

return { payload };