How to Sync Slack Members to Copper Contacts with Make

make.com > Scenarios > Create a new scenario

Create a new Make scenario

Log into Make at make.com and click the blue 'Create a new scenario' button in the top-right corner of the Scenarios dashboard. You'll land on the visual canvas — a dark grid where modules connect left to right. This is where you'll build the entire workflow. Don't rename it yet; focus on getting the trigger set first.

1. 1Go to make.com and sign in
2. 2Click 'Create a new scenario' in the top-right corner
3. 3Wait for the visual canvas to load — you'll see a single grey circle with a '+' in the center

Canvas > + > Slack > Watch Channel Members

Add the Slack trigger: Member Joined Channel

Click the grey '+' circle to open the module search panel on the right. Type 'Slack' and select the Slack app. Scroll through the trigger list and choose 'Watch Channel Members' — this fires instantly when a user is added to a channel via Make's Slack webhook connection. This is an instant trigger, not a poll, so it will react within seconds of the join event.

1. 1Click the grey '+' circle on the canvas
2. 2Type 'Slack' in the search bar
3. 3Select 'Slack' from the results
4. 4Scroll to find and click 'Watch Channel Members'
5. 5Click 'Add' to place it on the canvas

Slack Module > Connection > Add > Slack OAuth

Connect your Slack account

In the configuration panel, click 'Add' next to the Connection field. A pop-up will open asking you to authorize Make's Slack app. Click 'Allow' on the Slack OAuth screen. After authorization, you'll be returned to Make and the Connection dropdown will show your workspace name. Make sure you are authorizing with an account that has access to the channels you want to monitor.

1. 1Click 'Add' next to the Connection field in the Slack module panel
2. 2Sign in to Slack if prompted
3. 3Click 'Allow' on the OAuth permissions screen
4. 4Confirm your workspace name appears in the Connection dropdown

Slack Module > Channel > dropdown

Select the target Slack channel

With your Slack account connected, the Channel dropdown will populate with all public channels your account can see. Select the specific channel you want to monitor — for example, #partners or #new-clients. If you need to monitor multiple channels, you'll add a Router module later. For now, pick one channel to validate the flow end to end.

1. 1Click the Channel dropdown in the Slack module panel
2. 2Type the channel name or scroll to find it
3. 3Select the channel (e.g., '#partners')
4. 4Click 'OK' to save the module configuration

Canvas > + > Slack > Get a User

Add a Slack Get User Info module

The 'Watch Channel Members' trigger only returns a user ID, not full profile data. You need a second Slack module to fetch the actual name, email, and title. Click the '+' on the right edge of the Slack trigger module to add a new module. Search for Slack again and this time select 'Get a User'. Map the User ID field to the output from the trigger using Make's variable picker — it will appear as '1. User ID'.

1. 1Click the '+' on the right side of the Slack trigger module
2. 2Search for 'Slack' and select 'Get a User'
3. 3In the User field, click the variable picker icon
4. 4Select '1. User ID' from the trigger output
5. 5Click 'OK' to save

Canvas > Arrow between modules > Set up a filter

Add a Filter to exclude bots and missing emails

Click the small wrench icon on the arrow between the 'Get a User' module and the next module slot — this adds a Filter. Set Condition 1 to: '2. Is Bot' equals 'false'. Add a second condition (AND): '2. Profile: Email' — set the operator to 'Exists'. This ensures only real humans with valid email addresses flow through to Copper. Without this filter, bot joins and users without email addresses will cause errors downstream.

1. 1Click the small wrench/filter icon on the connector arrow between 'Get a User' and the next module slot
2. 2Set Condition 1: Field = '2. Is Bot', Operator = 'Equal to', Value = 'false'
3. 3Click 'Add AND rule'
4. 4Set Condition 2: Field = '2. Profile: Email', Operator = 'Exists'
5. 5Click 'OK' to save the filter

Canvas > + > Copper > Create a Person > Add Connection

Connect your Copper account

Click the '+' to add a new module after the filter. Search for 'Copper' and select 'Create a Person'. In the connection setup, Copper requires an API key, not OAuth. Open a separate browser tab, go to Copper > Settings > Integrations > API Keys, and generate a new key. Copy it and paste it into Make's Copper connection panel along with the email address tied to your Copper account. This email must match your Copper login exactly.

1. 1Click '+' after the filter to add a new module
2. 2Search 'Copper' and select 'Create a Person'
3. 3Click 'Add' next to the Connection field
4. 4In a new tab, go to Copper > Settings > Integrations > API Keys
5. 5Copy the API key and paste it into Make's connection panel
6. 6Enter the email address associated with your Copper account and click 'Save'

Copper Module > Create a Person > field mapping panel

Map Slack profile fields to Copper contact fields

In the Copper 'Create a Person' module, you'll see fields like Name, Email, Phone, and Title. Click into each field and use the variable picker to pull data from the '2. Get a User' module. Map Full Name to '2. Profile: Real Name', Email to '2. Profile: Email', and Title/Role to '2. Profile: Title'. For the Name field specifically, Copper expects separate First Name and Last Name — use Make's 'substring' formula if you need to split the real name field, or use '2. Profile: First Name' and '2. Profile: Last Name' if Slack has them populated.

1. 1Click into the 'First Name' field and select '2. Profile: First Name' from the variable picker
2. 2Click into the 'Last Name' field and select '2. Profile: Last Name'
3. 3Click into the 'Email' field and select '2. Profile: Email'
4. 4Click into the 'Title' field and select '2. Profile: Title'
5. 5Click 'OK' to save the Copper module

Canvas > + (before Create a Person) > Copper > Search People

Add a duplicate check before creating the contact

Before the Copper 'Create a Person' module, insert a Copper 'Search People' module. Set the search criterion to Email equals '2. Profile: Email'. Then add a Filter after the search: only proceed if 'Total Count of Persons' equals 0. This prevents duplicate contacts when the same person is re-added to a channel or added to a second monitored channel. This is the step most people skip and regret.

1. 1Click the connector between the filter and the 'Create a Person' module to insert a new module
2. 2Search 'Copper' and select 'Search People'
3. 3Set the Email field to '2. Profile: Email'
4. 4Add a new Filter after this module: '3. Total Count of Persons' Equal to '0'
5. 5Click 'OK' on both the module and the filter

Canvas > Run once button (bottom toolbar)

Run a test with a real Slack join event

Click 'Run once' at the bottom of the canvas. Then in Slack, manually add a real team member (not a bot) to your monitored channel using '/invite @username'. Return to Make — within 30-60 seconds you'll see execution bubbles appear on each module showing green checkmarks and record counts. Click on the Copper module bubble to confirm the contact was created with the correct name, email, and title.

1. 1Click 'Run once' at the bottom of the Make canvas
2. 2Switch to Slack and run '/invite @[real-team-member]' in the monitored channel
3. 3Return to Make and watch for the green execution bubbles
4. 4Click the bubble on the Copper module to inspect the output data
5. 5Open Copper and confirm the new contact exists with correct details

Canvas > Save > Toggle ON > Scenario name (top-left)

Activate the scenario and set scheduling

Once the test passes, click 'Save' in the bottom toolbar, then toggle the scenario from OFF to ON using the switch in the bottom-left corner. Because this uses Slack's Events API (instant trigger), Make will receive events continuously — you don't need to set a polling interval. Rename the scenario something descriptive like 'Slack → Copper: New Channel Member Sync' so your team can find it in 6 months.

1. 1Click 'Save' in the bottom toolbar
2. 2Click the scenario name at the top-left and rename it to 'Slack → Copper: New Channel Member Sync'
3. 3Toggle the scenario switch from OFF (grey) to ON (blue) in the bottom-left corner
4. 4Confirm the status badge in the Scenarios list shows 'Active'

Paste this formula into Make's 'Details' field on the Copper 'Create a Person' module. It builds a structured audit string showing which Slack channel triggered the contact creation and when — useful for tracing where a contact came from months later. The formatDate function uses Make's built-in date formatting, and the entire expression goes directly into the Details field variable picker as a text formula.

{{formatDate(now; "YYYY-MM-DD HH:mm"; "UTC")}}
Contact auto-created from Slack.
Channel: {{if(1.channel; 1.channel; "unknown")}}

{{formatDate(now; "YYYY-MM-DD HH:mm"; "UTC")}}

Contact auto-created from Slack.
Channel: {{if(1.channel; 1.channel; "unknown")}}
Slack User ID: {{2.id}}
Display Name: {{if(2.profile.display_name; 2.profile.display_name; 2.profile.real_name)}}
Title: {{if(2.profile.title; 2.profile.title; "Not provided")}}
Phone: {{if(2.profile.phone; 2.profile.phone; "Not provided")}}
Bot Account: {{2.is_bot}}
Workspace: {{2.team_id}}
Created via: Make scenario — Slack → Copper Sync