How to Send Gmail Digests to Slack with Make

make.com > Scenarios > + Create a new scenario

Create a new Make scenario

Log into make.com and click the blue 'Create a new scenario' button on your Scenarios dashboard. You'll land on the canvas — a blank dark-grey workspace with a single circle in the center labeled 'Add a module'. This is where the scheduled trigger goes. Make opens every new scenario in the canvas editor; you don't need to visit any settings page first.

1. 1Go to make.com and log in
2. 2Click '+ Create a new scenario' in the top-right corner of the Scenarios page
3. 3Wait for the canvas editor to open — you'll see a grey circle with a plus icon in the center

Canvas > Empty Module Circle > Tools > Clock > Run a scenario

Add a Schedule trigger

Click the empty circle on the canvas to open the module picker. Search for 'Clock' or scroll to the Tools section and select 'Clock'. Choose 'Run a scenario' as the trigger type — this is Make's native scheduler. Set your interval: for a daily digest, choose 'Every Day' and set the time to 08:00 in your team's timezone. For a weekly digest, select 'Every Week', choose the day, and set the time.

1. 1Click the grey circle on the canvas
2. 2Type 'Clock' in the search box
3. 3Select 'Tools – Clock' from the results
4. 4Choose 'Run a scenario' as the trigger event
5. 5Set 'Every Day' and enter '08:00' as the time, then select your timezone from the dropdown

Canvas > + > Gmail > Search Emails (Advanced)

Connect Gmail and search for emails

Click the '+' button to the right of the Clock module to add the next module. Search for 'Gmail' and select it. Choose the action 'Search Emails (Advanced)'. You'll be prompted to connect a Google account — click 'Add' and complete the OAuth flow in the popup window. Make will ask for Gmail read permissions; you must allow these or the search will fail.

1. 1Click the '+' icon to the right of the Clock module
2. 2Search 'Gmail' and click the Gmail app
3. 3Select 'Search Emails (Advanced)' as the action
4. 4Click 'Add' next to the Connection field
5. 5Complete the Google OAuth popup and click 'Allow' on the permissions screen

Canvas > Gmail Module > Search Emails (Advanced) > Query Fields

Configure your Gmail search query

In the 'Search Query' field, enter a Gmail search string exactly as you would in the Gmail search bar. To filter by label, use 'label:important is:unread'. To filter by sender domain, use 'from:@acme.com'. Combine them with 'AND': 'from:@acme.com is:unread'. In the 'Maximum Number of Results' field, enter 50 — this caps the batch and prevents Make from pulling hundreds of emails on the first run. Set 'Mark as Read' to No so the digest doesn't alter email state.

1. 1Click inside the 'Search Query' field
2. 2Enter your Gmail query string (e.g., 'label:client-updates is:unread')
3. 3Set 'Maximum Number of Results' to 50
4. 4Set 'Mark as Read' to No
5. 5Leave 'After Date' blank unless you want to limit results to today only

Canvas > + > Tools > Text Aggregator

Aggregate emails into a single bundle

By default, the Gmail module outputs one bundle per email, which would post one Slack message per email — not a digest. Add a 'Text Aggregator' module from the Tools section. In the 'Source Module' dropdown, select your Gmail module. In the 'Text' field, build one line per email using Make's formula panel: combine Subject, From, and a link to the email. Separate each line with a newline character using the newline option in the text editor.

1. 1Click '+' after the Gmail module
2. 2Search 'Text Aggregator' and select it from Tools
3. 3In 'Source Module', choose your Gmail search module from the dropdown
4. 4In the 'Text' field, click into the editor and map: '• {{subject}} — from {{from}} — {{id}}'
5. 5Click the newline button (the arrow icon) at the end of the text line to separate entries

Canvas > + > Flow Control > Router

Add a Router to handle empty results

If no emails match your query today, the Text Aggregator outputs an empty string. Without handling this, Make will post a blank Slack message. Add a 'Router' module after the Text Aggregator. Create two routes: Route 1 checks that the aggregated text is not empty (use the filter 'Text > Does not equal > empty string'). Route 2 is the fallback — you can stop the scenario here or post a 'No new emails today' message.

1. 1Click '+' after the Text Aggregator
2. 2Search 'Router' and select it from Flow Control
3. 3Click the wrench icon on Route 1 to open the filter editor
4. 4Set condition: 'Text' (map the aggregated text field) 'Does not equal' and leave the value field empty
5. 5Leave Route 2 without a filter — it acts as the fallback for empty results

Canvas > Router > Route 1 > + > Slack > Create a Message

Connect Slack and post the digest to Route 1

On Route 1, click '+' to add a Slack module. Search 'Slack' and choose 'Create a Message'. Connect your Slack workspace via OAuth when prompted. In the 'Channel' field, type or search for your target channel (e.g., #cs-email-digest). In the 'Text' field, write a header like '*📧 Daily Email Digest*' then add a newline and map the aggregated text from the Text Aggregator. Slack uses mrkdwn formatting — wrap bold text in asterisks.

1. 1Click '+' on the Route 1 line
2. 2Search 'Slack' and select the Slack app
3. 3Choose 'Create a Message' as the action
4. 4Click 'Add' next to Connection and authorize your Slack workspace
5. 5In 'Channel', search and select your target channel
6. 6In 'Text', type your header line, click the newline button, then map the Text Aggregator output

Canvas > Tools > Set Variable (insert before Slack module)

Format the digest message with a Set Variable module

Before the Slack module, insert a 'Set Variable' module from Tools to clean up the digest text. Map the aggregated text into the variable and apply Make's 'replace()' and 'trim()' functions to strip any trailing newlines or double spaces. This prevents the Slack message from having blank lines between entries when an email subject line is empty. Store the result in a variable named 'cleaned_digest'.

1. 1Right-click the connection line between the Text Aggregator and the Slack module
2. 2Select 'Add a module between'
3. 3Search 'Set Variable' from Tools
4. 4Name the variable 'cleaned_digest'
5. 5In the Value field, enter: trim(replace({{aggregated_text}}, "\n\n", "\n"))

📬 New entry: {{1.name}}
Email: {{1.email}}
Details: {{1.description}}

Canvas > Slack Module > Create a Message > Text Field

Add a date header to the digest

Inside the Slack 'Create a Message' text field, prefix the digest with today's date so recipients know which day the digest covers. Use Make's 'formatDate()' function directly in the text field: formatDate(now; 'MMMM D, YYYY'). This outputs something like 'November 14, 2024'. Put it on the first line before your email list. The 'now' variable is built into Make and always reflects the moment the scenario runs.

1. 1Click into the Slack module's Text field
2. 2On the first line, type '*Email Digest — '
3. 3Open the formula editor (the function icon) and enter: formatDate(now; 'MMMM D, YYYY')
4. 4Close the formula with '*' to bold the entire header line
5. 5Press newline, then map the 'cleaned_digest' variable on the next line

Canvas > Bottom Toolbar > Run once

Test the scenario end to end

Click 'Run once' in the bottom toolbar to execute the scenario manually. Make will highlight each module as it executes, showing a green checkmark when successful and a count bubble showing how many bundles passed through. Click the bubble on the Gmail module to see which emails were fetched. Click the bubble on the Slack module to confirm a message was sent. Check your Slack channel to verify the digest looks correct.

1. 1Click 'Run once' in the bottom-left toolbar
2. 2Watch the modules highlight in sequence left to right
3. 3Click the number bubble above the Gmail module to inspect fetched emails
4. 4Click the number bubble above the Slack module to confirm the message payload
5. 5Open your Slack channel and verify the digest message appeared

Canvas > Bottom Toolbar > Scheduling Toggle > Activate

Activate the scenario and set scheduling

Once the test passes, click the 'Scheduling' toggle in the bottom toolbar to activate the scenario. Make will confirm activation with a blue dot on the scenario card in your dashboard. The Clock module's schedule is now live. Return to the Scenarios dashboard and verify the scenario shows 'Active' status and the next scheduled run time. Make will now run this automatically without any manual intervention.

1. 1Click the 'Scheduling' toggle in the bottom-left toolbar (it turns blue when active)
2. 2Click 'Activate' in the confirmation popup
3. 3Navigate back to the Scenarios dashboard
4. 4Confirm the scenario card shows 'Active' and the next run timestamp

Paste this into a Make 'Set Variable' module placed after the Text Aggregator and before the Slack module. It takes the raw aggregated text and reformats each line to add emoji priority indicators based on keywords in the subject line, then trims the output. Map the 'prioritized_digest' variable into your Slack text field instead of the raw aggregator output.

{{-- Paste into Make Set Variable > Value field as a formula --}}
join(
  map(

{{-- Paste into Make Set Variable > Value field as a formula --}}

join(
  map(
    split(aggregatedText; "\n");
    line;
    if(
      contains(toLowerCase(line); "urgent");
      concat("🔴 "; line);
      if(
        contains(toLowerCase(line); "invoice");
        concat("💰 "; line);
        if(
          contains(toLowerCase(line); "bug");
          concat("🐛 "; line);
          if(
            contains(toLowerCase(line); "renewal");
            concat("📋 "; line);
            concat("• "; line)
          )
        )
      )
    )
  );
  "\n"
)