How to Broadcast Gmail Project Updates to Slack with Zapier

Gmail > Settings > Labels > Create new label

Create a Gmail label for project emails

Before building the Zap, you need a consistent Gmail label to act as your trigger filter. Open Gmail, click the gear icon in the top right, then 'See all settings', go to the 'Labels' tab, and scroll to the bottom to click 'Create new label'. Name it something project-specific like 'Project-Phoenix-External'. This label is what Zapier will watch — without it, the trigger has no reliable way to isolate the right emails from your full inbox.

1. 1Open Gmail in your browser
2. 2Click the gear icon (top right) and select 'See all settings'
3. 3Click the 'Labels' tab
4. 4Scroll to the bottom and click 'Create new label'
5. 5Type your label name (e.g. 'Project-Phoenix-External') and click 'Create'

Gmail > Settings > Filters and Blocked Addresses > Create a new filter

Set up a Gmail filter to auto-label incoming emails

You want emails from vendors or stakeholders to get labeled automatically the moment they arrive. In Gmail Settings, go to 'Filters and Blocked Addresses' and click 'Create a new filter'. Enter the sender domain or specific address in the 'From' field (e.g. '[email protected]' or '@acmecorp.com'). On the next screen, check 'Apply the label' and select the label you created in Step 1. This removes the need for anyone to manually label emails before Zapier can pick them up.

1. 1In Gmail Settings, click 'Filters and Blocked Addresses'
2. 2Click 'Create a new filter'
3. 3Enter the sender address or domain in the 'From' field
4. 4Click 'Create filter'
5. 5Check 'Apply the label', select your project label, and click 'Create filter'

zapier.com > Create Zap > Trigger > Gmail > New Labeled Email

Create a new Zap and connect Gmail as the trigger

Go to zapier.com, click 'Create Zap' in the top left, and click the Trigger step. Search for 'Gmail' and select it. For the trigger event, choose 'New Labeled Email' — this fires each time a message gets the label you specified, which is more precise than 'New Email' which would catch everything. Connect your Google account when prompted and grant the requested permissions. Zapier needs read access to your Gmail labels and message content.

1. 1Go to zapier.com and click 'Create Zap'
2. 2Click the Trigger block and search for 'Gmail'
3. 3Select 'New Labeled Email' as the trigger event
4. 4Click 'Sign in to Gmail' and complete the Google OAuth flow
5. 5Grant the requested Gmail permissions and click 'Continue'

Zap Editor > Trigger > Gmail > Configure > Label/Mailbox

Configure the Gmail trigger label

After connecting your account, Zapier shows a 'Label/Mailbox' dropdown. Click it and select the exact label you created in Step 1. If you have many labels, type the label name to filter the list. Do not leave this set to 'INBOX' — that triggers on every incoming email and will spam every Slack channel you map. Click 'Continue' after selecting the label.

1. 1Click the 'Label/Mailbox' dropdown
2. 2Type the label name to filter the list
3. 3Select your project label (e.g. 'Project-Phoenix-External')
4. 4Click 'Continue'

Zap Editor > Trigger > Gmail > Test trigger

Test the Gmail trigger and inspect sample data

Click 'Test trigger'. Zapier pulls the 3 most recent emails with your chosen label and displays the parsed fields. Review the data carefully — you'll see 'From Name', 'From Email', 'Subject', 'Body Plain', 'Body HTML', and 'Date'. Make note of 'Body Plain' specifically: this is what you'll use in the Slack message, but it can be very long (full email threads). You'll trim it in the Slack step using Zapier Formatter. If no test data loads, go to Gmail, send yourself a test email from the filtered address, confirm the label applies, then return and click 'Test trigger' again.

1. 1Click 'Test trigger'
2. 2Review the returned fields in the sample data panel
3. 3Confirm 'Body Plain' and 'Subject' fields contain real email content
4. 4Click 'Continue with selected record' on the sample you want to use for mapping

Zap Editor > + Add Step > Formatter by Zapier > Text > Truncate

Add a Formatter step to trim the email body

Click the '+' button to add a step between the Gmail trigger and the Slack action. Search for 'Formatter by Zapier' and select it. Choose the 'Text' transform type, then select 'Truncate' as the Transform. Map 'Body Plain' from the Gmail trigger as the input. Set Max Length to 500 characters — this prevents Slack messages from becoming walls of text that nobody reads. Zapier will cut the body at 500 characters and you can append '...' in the suffix field. This step is optional but strongly recommended for thread-heavy vendor email chains.

1. 1Click '+' to add a step after the Gmail trigger
2. 2Search for 'Formatter by Zapier' and select it
3. 3Choose 'Text' as the action event
4. 4Select 'Truncate' from the Transform dropdown
5. 5Map 'Body Plain' as the Input, set Max Length to 500, and add '...' as the Append suffix

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

Zap Editor > + Add Step > Slack > Send Channel Message

Add Slack as the action and connect your workspace

Click '+' to add another step and search for 'Slack'. Select 'Send Channel Message' as the action event — this posts to a public or private channel, which is what you want for project visibility. Click 'Sign in to Slack' and complete the OAuth flow. You'll be asked to select which Slack workspace to connect. If your organization has multiple workspaces, make sure you select the one where your project channels live.

1. 1Click '+' to add a step after the Formatter
2. 2Search for 'Slack' and select it
3. 3Choose 'Send Channel Message' as the action event
4. 4Click 'Sign in to Slack'
5. 5Select your workspace in the OAuth window and click 'Allow'

Zap Editor > Slack Action > Configure

Configure the Slack message fields

In the Slack action configuration, set the Channel field to your project channel (e.g. #phoenix-external). In the Message Text field, build a structured message using Gmail trigger fields and the truncated body from the Formatter step. Set Bot Name to something like 'Project Mail Bot' so the source is clear. Set the Icon to an envelope emoji ':envelope:' for quick visual scanning. Toggle 'Send as Bot' to Yes — posting as a bot keeps your personal Slack account separate from automated messages.

1. 1Click the 'Channel' dropdown and select your project channel
2. 2In 'Message Text', paste your message template using the field inserter
3. 3Set 'Bot Name' to 'Project Mail Bot' or similar
4. 4Set 'Bot Icon' to ':envelope:'
5. 5Set 'Send as Bot' to Yes

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

Zap Editor > Slack Action > Message Text field

Build the Slack message template

Click inside the Message Text field. Use Zapier's field inserter (the '+' icon that appears when you click in the field) to pull in live data. A clear, scannable format works better than dumping raw email content. Use the format shown in the field mapping section below. Include the sender name, sender email, subject line, date received, and the truncated body. Adding a link to the original email thread using the 'Thread Link' field from the Gmail trigger lets teammates click through to reply or see the full chain directly in Gmail.

1. 1Click in the Message Text field
2. 2Type '*📧 New Project Email*' as a header line
3. 3Click the '+' inserter to add 'From Name' and 'From Email' fields from Gmail
4. 4Add 'Subject' and 'Date' fields on separate lines
5. 5Add the Formatter output (truncated body) as the final block, followed by the Gmail Thread Link

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

Zap Editor > Slack Action > Test action > Publish Zap

Test the full Zap and verify the Slack post

Click 'Test action' at the bottom of the Slack step. Zapier will immediately post the test message to your selected channel using the sample Gmail data. Open Slack and navigate to the channel. Confirm the message appears with the correct sender, subject, body preview, and thread link. Check that the bot name and emoji icon display correctly. If the message looks good, click 'Publish Zap' in the top right. If you see formatting issues or missing fields, return to the Message Text field and fix the template, then re-test.

1. 1Click 'Test action'
2. 2Open Slack and go to the project channel
3. 3Confirm the test message is visible with correct formatting
4. 4Check the thread link opens the correct Gmail thread
5. 5Return to Zapier and click 'Publish Zap' if everything looks correct

This Code by Zapier step runs after the Gmail trigger and before the Slack action. It parses the raw 'Body Plain' field to strip quoted reply chains (lines starting with '>'), extract the first 400 characters of the actual new content, and flag whether the email contains an attachment — giving you a cleaner Slack message than Formatter alone can produce. Paste this into a 'Code by Zapier' step (choose 'Run Javascript'), map 'bodyPlain' and 'hasAttachment' as input data from the Gmail trigger fields.

// Input data mapped from Gmail trigger:
// bodyPlain -> inputData.bodyPlain
// hasAttachment -> inputData.hasAttachment

// Input data mapped from Gmail trigger:
// bodyPlain -> inputData.bodyPlain
// hasAttachment -> inputData.hasAttachment

const body = inputData.bodyPlain || '';
const hasAttachment = inputData.hasAttachment === 'true';

// Strip quoted reply lines (lines starting with '>' or common quote markers)
const lines = body.split('\n');
const newContentLines = lines.filter(line => {
  const trimmed = line.trim();
  return !trimmed.startsWith('>') &&
         !trimmed.startsWith('On ') &&
         !trimmed.match(/^From:.*Sent:/) &&
         trimmed.length > 0;
});

const cleanBody = newContentLines.join(' ').replace(/\s+/g, ' ').trim();

// Truncate to 400 characters
const truncated = cleanBody.length > 400
  ? cleanBody.substring(0, 400) + '...'
  : cleanBody;

// Build attachment flag string for Slack message
const attachmentFlag = hasAttachment ? '\n📎 *This email includes an attachment — check Gmail*' : '';

output = [{
  cleanBodyTruncated: truncated,
  attachmentFlag: attachmentFlag,
  charCount: truncated.length
}];