How to Log Slack Messages to Copper CRM with Pipedream

pipedream.com > Workflows > New Workflow

Create a new Pipedream Workflow

Go to pipedream.com and sign in. Click 'New Workflow' in the top-right corner of the dashboard. Give your workflow a name like 'Slack → Copper: Log Customer Messages'. You'll land on the workflow builder canvas with an empty trigger slot at the top.

1. 1Click 'New Workflow' in the top-right of the Pipedream dashboard
2. 2Type a workflow name: 'Slack → Copper: Log Customer Messages'
3. 3Click 'Create' to open the workflow canvas

Workflow Canvas > Add a trigger > Slack > New Reaction Added

Add the Slack trigger: New Reaction Added

Click the 'Add a trigger' block. Search for 'Slack' in the app list and select it. Choose the trigger 'New Reaction Added' — this fires whenever someone adds an emoji reaction to a message. Using a reaction (e.g. 📋) as the trigger gives your team control over exactly which messages get logged to Copper, rather than logging every message in a channel.

1. 1Click the grey 'Add a trigger' block
2. 2Type 'Slack' in the search box and select the Slack app
3. 3Scroll to find 'New Reaction Added' and click it
4. 4Click 'Connect Slack' and authenticate with your workspace via OAuth
5. 5Set the 'Reaction' field to the emoji your team will use, e.g. 'clipboard' (without colons)

Workflow Canvas > Trigger Step > Generate Test Event

Test the Slack trigger to capture a sample event

Before building further steps, you need a real event payload to map fields against. Click 'Generate Test Event' in the trigger panel. Then go to your Slack workspace and add your chosen reaction to any message in a customer channel. Return to Pipedream — within 15 seconds you should see the event data populate in the trigger output panel on the right side of the screen.

1. 1Click 'Generate Test Event' in the Slack trigger panel
2. 2Switch to your Slack workspace and react to any message with your designated emoji
3. 3Return to Pipedream and wait 10-15 seconds
4. 4Click the test event that appears to expand the full JSON payload

Workflow Canvas > + Add a step > Run Node.js code

Fetch the original Slack message text via API

Click '+ Add a step' below the trigger, then select 'Run Node.js code'. This step calls the Slack conversations.history API with the channel ID and timestamp from the trigger to retrieve the actual message text. You'll use the Pipedream $ helper and your connected Slack account's OAuth token to make the authenticated request. Paste the code from the pro_tip_code section into this code step.

1. 1Click '+ Add a step' below the Slack trigger
2. 2Select 'Run Node.js code' from the step type list
3. 3Rename the step to 'fetch_message' by clicking the step title
4. 4Paste the Node.js code into the code editor
5. 5Click 'Test' to run the step against your sample event

Workflow Canvas > + Add a step > Run Node.js code

Identify the Copper contact by email or name

Add another Node.js code step. This step calls the Copper People Search API to find the contact that matches the Slack channel name or a known email. The simplest approach: parse the channel name (e.g. #client-acme) to extract 'acme', then query Copper's /v1/people/search endpoint with that term. If your Slack channel names don't map to company names, you'll need a lookup table or to use a Slack user's email instead.

1. 1Click '+ Add a step' below the fetch_message step
2. 2Select 'Run Node.js code'
3. 3Rename the step to 'find_copper_contact'
4. 4Paste your contact lookup code referencing steps.trigger.event.item.channel
5. 5Click 'Test' and verify the output includes a valid Copper contact ID

Workflow Canvas > + Add a step > Run Node.js code

Fetch the Slack user's display name

The reaction event gives you a Slack user ID (e.g. U04XYZABC), not a human name. Add a Node.js step that calls the Slack users.info API to resolve this to a real name. This matters because the Copper activity log will show who logged the message — 'sarah.jones' is more useful than 'U04XYZABC' when a manager reviews the contact history.

1. 1Click '+ Add a step' below find_copper_contact
2. 2Select 'Run Node.js code'
3. 3Rename the step to 'resolve_slack_user'
4. 4Call the Slack users.info API using the event.user field from the trigger
5. 5Click 'Test' and confirm the output includes the user's real_name or display_name

Workflow Canvas > + Add a step > Run Node.js code

Create a Copper Activity (Note) via API

Add a final Node.js code step that POSTs to Copper's /v1/activities endpoint. Set the parent type to 'person', the parent ID to the contact ID found in step 5, and the details field to a formatted string combining the message text, the Slack user's name, the channel name, and the message timestamp. Copper's activity API uses an activity_type_id — the default 'Note' type ID is typically 0, but you should verify this in your Copper account under Settings > Activity Types.

1. 1Click '+ Add a step' below resolve_slack_user
2. 2Select 'Run Node.js code'
3. 3Rename the step to 'create_copper_activity'
4. 4Reference the contact ID from steps.find_copper_contact.$return_value
5. 5POST to https://api.copper.com/developer_api/v1/activities with your API key and user email headers
6. 6Click 'Test' and confirm the response includes a numeric activity ID

Workflow Canvas > find_copper_contact step > Settings > Error Handling

Add error handling for failed contact lookups

Not every Slack channel will have a matching Copper contact. Add a conditional check after the find_copper_contact step: if the contact ID is null or empty, route to a fallback step that sends a Slack DM to the user who added the reaction, telling them the contact wasn't found in Copper. This prevents silent failures and keeps your team informed. In Pipedream, use a 'Continue workflow on error' setting or an explicit null check in code.

1. 1Click the find_copper_contact step to open its settings panel
2. 2Scroll to the 'Error Handling' section
3. 3Toggle on 'Continue workflow on error'
4. 4Add an if/else check at the top of your create_copper_activity step: if no contact ID, call $.flow.exit('No matching Copper contact found')
5. 5Optionally add a Slack 'Send a Direct Message' step to alert the user who reacted

Workflow Canvas > Deploy button (top right) > Executions tab

Deploy and test end-to-end

Click 'Deploy' in the top-right corner of the workflow canvas. The workflow is now live and listening for reactions. Go to Slack, find a real customer message in a customer channel, and add your designated reaction emoji. Watch the Pipedream workflow executions list — you should see a new run appear within 5 seconds. Click into the run to see each step's input/output and confirm all steps passed green.

1. 1Click the blue 'Deploy' button in the top-right of the canvas
2. 2Switch to your Slack workspace and add the designated emoji reaction to a customer message
3. 3Return to Pipedream and click the 'Executions' tab in the left sidebar
4. 4Click the most recent execution to open the run detail view
5. 5Check each step's output for green status indicators

This single Node.js step handles all four API calls in sequence — fetch the Slack message, resolve the user's name, look up the Copper contact, and create the activity — with proper error handling at each stage. Paste this into a single 'Run Node.js code' step after your Slack trigger, replacing the four separate steps if you want a more compact workflow.

import axios from 'axios';
export default defineComponent({
  async run({ steps, $ }) {

import axios from 'axios';

export default defineComponent({
  async run({ steps, $ }) {
    const SLACK_TOKEN = process.env.SLACK_BOT_TOKEN;
    const COPPER_API_KEY = process.env.COPPER_API_KEY;
    const COPPER_USER_EMAIL = process.env.COPPER_USER_EMAIL;
    const CUSTOMER_CHANNEL_PREFIX = 'client-';

    const { channel, ts, user } = steps.trigger.event.item;

    // 1. Fetch the original message text
    const historyRes = await axios.get('https://slack.com/api/conversations.history', {
      headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${SLACK_TOKEN}` },
      params: { channel, latest: ts, inclusive: true, limit: 1 },
    });
    if (!historyRes.data.ok) throw new Error(`Slack history error: ${historyRes.data.error}`);
    const message = historyRes.data.messages?.[0];
    if (!message) $.flow.exit('Message not found in channel history');
    const messageText = message.text;

    // 2. Resolve Slack user display name
    const userRes = await axios.get('https://slack.com/api/users.info', {
      headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${SLACK_TOKEN}` },
      params: { user },
    });
    if (!userRes.data.ok) throw new Error(`Slack user error: ${userRes.data.error}`);
    const displayName = userRes.data.user?.profile?.display_name || userRes.data.user?.real_name || 'Unknown';

    // 3. Resolve channel name and guard against non-customer channels
    const chanInfoRes = await axios.get('https://slack.com/api/conversations.info', {
      headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${SLACK_TOKEN}` },
      params: { channel },
    });
    if (!chanInfoRes.data.ok) throw new Error(`Slack channel error: ${chanInfoRes.data.error}`);
    const channelName = chanInfoRes.data.channel?.name || '';
    if (!channelName.startsWith(CUSTOMER_CHANNEL_PREFIX)) {
      $.flow.exit(`Skipped: #${channelName} is not a customer channel`);
    }
    const companySearchTerm = channelName.replace(CUSTOMER_CHANNEL_PREFIX, '').replace(/-/g, ' ');

    // 4. Search for matching Copper contact
    const copperHeaders = {
      'X-PW-AccessToken': COPPER_API_KEY,
      'X-PW-UserEmail': COPPER_USER_EMAIL,
      'X-PW-Application': 'developer_api',
      'Content-Type': 'application/json',
    };
    const searchRes = await axios.post(
      'https://api.copper.com/developer_api/v1/people/search',
      { page_size: 5, name: companySearchTerm },
      { headers: copperHeaders }
    );
    const contacts = searchRes.data;
    if (!contacts || contacts.length === 0) {
      $.flow.exit(`No Copper contact found for search term: ${companySearchTerm}`);
    }
    if (contacts.length > 1) {
      console.log(`Multiple contacts matched: ${contacts.map(c => c.name).join(', ')} — using first result`);
    }
    const contact = contacts[0];

    // 5. Build the note body
    const messageDate = new Date(parseFloat(ts) * 1000).toISOString().replace('T', ' ').substring(0, 16) + ' UTC';
    const permalink = `https://slack.com/archives/${channel}/p${ts.replace('.', '')}`;
    const noteBody = [
      `[Slack Log] ${messageDate}`,
      `Channel: #${channelName}`,
      `Logged by: ${displayName}`,
      '',
      messageText,
      '',
      permalink,
    ].join('\n');

    // 6. Create Copper Activity
    const activityRes = await axios.post(
      'https://api.copper.com/developer_api/v1/activities',
      {
        parent: { id: contact.id, type: 'person' },
        type: { category: 'note' },
        details: noteBody,
      },
      { headers: copperHeaders }
    );

    return {
      copper_activity_id: activityRes.data.id,
      contact_name: contact.name,
      contact_id: contact.id,
      channel_name: channelName,
      logged_by: displayName,
      message_preview: messageText.substring(0, 100),
    };
  },
});