How to Send Help Scout Ticket Updates to Slack with Pipedream

pipedream.com > Workflows > New Workflow

Create a new Pipedream workflow

Go to pipedream.com and click 'New Workflow' in the top-right corner. You'll land on a blank canvas with a trigger slot at the top. Give your workflow a name like 'Help Scout → Slack Status Updates' so it's easy to find later. Pipedream saves drafts automatically, so you can leave and return without losing progress.

1. 1Log in to pipedream.com
2. 2Click 'New Workflow' in the top-right
3. 3Click the workflow title field and rename it to 'Help Scout → Slack Status Updates'
4. 4Click 'Save' or press Enter to confirm the name

Workflow Canvas > Add a trigger > Help Scout > New Conversation Event (Instant)

Add the Help Scout webhook trigger

Click the 'Add a trigger' box at the top of the canvas. Search for 'Help Scout' in the app search field and select it. Choose the trigger type 'New Conversation Event (Instant)' — this fires on status changes including closed, reopened, and assigned. Pipedream will generate a unique webhook URL that you'll paste into Help Scout in the next step.

1. 1Click 'Add a trigger'
2. 2Type 'Help Scout' in the search box
3. 3Select 'Help Scout' from the results
4. 4Choose 'New Conversation Event (Instant)' as the trigger
5. 5Click 'Connect Help Scout' and authenticate with your Help Scout account

Help Scout > Mailbox Settings > Integrations > Webhooks > Add Webhook

Register the webhook URL in Help Scout

Copy the webhook URL Pipedream generated in the previous step. Open Help Scout in a new tab, go to your Mailbox Settings, then navigate to 'Integrations' and select 'Webhooks'. Click 'Add Webhook', paste the Pipedream URL into the URL field, and check the events: 'Conversation Status Changed', 'Conversation Assigned', and 'Conversation Unassigned'. Save the webhook.

1. 1In Help Scout, click your mailbox name in the left sidebar
2. 2Go to Settings > Integrations > Webhooks
3. 3Click 'Add Webhook'
4. 4Paste the Pipedream webhook URL into the Endpoint URL field
5. 5Check 'Conversation Status Changed', 'Conversation Assigned', and 'Conversation Unassigned'
6. 6Click 'Save'

Workflow Canvas > Trigger Step > Event Inspector

Test the trigger and inspect the payload

Back in Pipedream, click 'Generate Test Event' or manually change a ticket status in Help Scout to fire a real webhook. Pipedream will capture the payload and show you the raw JSON in the trigger step. Expand the event object to see fields like status, conversation.id, conversation.subject, assignee.firstName, and conversation.mailboxId. These are the fields you'll use in your Slack message.

1. 1Click 'Test trigger' in the Pipedream trigger panel
2. 2Open Help Scout and change a test ticket status to 'Closed'
3. 3Return to Pipedream and watch for the incoming event in the inspector
4. 4Click the event to expand the full JSON payload
5. 5Note the field paths for status, subject, assignee, and ticket URL

Workflow Canvas > + > Run Node.js code

Add a Node.js code step to filter status events

Click the '+' button below the trigger to add a new step. Select 'Run Node.js code'. This step filters the webhook payload so only the status changes you care about (closed, active, pending) proceed. If the event doesn't match your target statuses, the step calls $.flow.exit() to stop the workflow without consuming additional credits. Paste the filter code from the Pro Tip section below.

1. 1Click the '+' button below the trigger step
2. 2Select 'Run Node.js code' from the step options
3. 3Click into the code editor
4. 4Paste the filter and formatting code
5. 5Click 'Test' to verify the step runs without errors on your test event

Paste this into the Node.js code step (Step 5 in this guide) — it filters unwanted event types, formats a readable status label, constructs the Help Scout URL, and exports a ready-to-use message string for the Slack step. Place it as the first step after the trigger.

export default defineComponent({
  async run({ steps, $ }) {
    const event = steps.trigger.event;

export default defineComponent({
  async run({ steps, $ }) {
    const event = steps.trigger.event;
    const obj = event.eventObject;

    // Only process status-related events
    const allowedTypes = [
      'convo-status-changed',
      'convo-assigned',
      'convo-unassigned'
    ];

    if (!allowedTypes.includes(obj.type)) {
      $.flow.exit(`Skipping event type: ${obj.type}`);
    }

    // Map raw status to human-readable label with emoji
    const statusLabels = {
      closed: '✅ Closed',
      active: '🔄 Reopened',
      pending: '⏳ Pending',
      spam: '🚫 Marked as Spam'
    };

    const statusLabel = statusLabels[obj.status] || obj.status;

    // Safely resolve assignee name
    const assignee = obj.assignee
      ? `${obj.assignee.firstName} ${obj.assignee.lastName}`.trim()
      : 'Unassigned';

    // Build direct Help Scout URL
    const ticketUrl = `https://secure.helpscout.net/conversation/${obj.id}`;

    // Build the Slack message string
    const message = [
      `*${statusLabel}* — ${obj.subject}`,
      `Assignee: ${assignee}`,
      `Customer: ${obj.primaryCustomer?.email || 'Unknown'}`,
      `<${ticketUrl}|View in Help Scout>`
    ].join('\n');

    return {
      statusLabel,
      assignee,
      ticketUrl,
      subject: obj.subject,
      message
    };
  }
});

Workflow Canvas > + > Slack > Send Message to a Channel

Add the Slack step and connect your account

Click '+' below the code step. Search for 'Slack' and select it. Choose the action 'Send Message to a Channel'. Click 'Connect Slack' and authenticate with the Slack workspace where you want notifications posted. You'll need to grant Pipedream permission to post to channels — this uses Slack's OAuth flow and takes about 30 seconds.

1. 1Click the '+' button below the Node.js code step
2. 2Search for 'Slack' in the app search field
3. 3Select 'Send Message to a Channel'
4. 4Click 'Connect Slack'
5. 5Authorize Pipedream in the Slack OAuth popup
6. 6Select your workspace and click 'Allow'

Workflow Canvas > Slack Step > Configuration Panel

Configure the Slack message fields

In the Slack step configuration, set the Channel field to your target channel (e.g., #support-ops). In the Message Text field, reference the output from your Node.js step using Pipedream's expression syntax. You can reference steps.nodejs.$return_value.message to pull the pre-formatted message string built in the code step. Optionally, enable 'Send as blocks' and use the Block Kit JSON also exported from the code step for richer formatting.

1. 1Click the 'Channel' field and type or select your target Slack channel
2. 2Click the 'Message Text' field
3. 3Click the '{}' expression icon or type '{{' to open the variable picker
4. 4Navigate to 'steps' > your Node.js step name > 'return_value' > 'message'
5. 5Optionally toggle 'Use Block Kit' and paste the block JSON from your code step output

Workflow Canvas > Test workflow button (top toolbar)

Test the full workflow end-to-end

Click 'Test workflow' at the top of the canvas. This runs every step in sequence using the captured test event. Watch each step turn green as it completes. Check your Slack channel — you should see the test notification appear within 5 seconds. If you see a yellow or red step indicator, click that step to expand the error log.

1. 1Click 'Test workflow' in the top toolbar
2. 2Watch each step indicator — green means success, red means error
3. 3Open your target Slack channel and confirm the message arrived
4. 4Click any failed step to read the error details
5. 5If the Slack step fails, verify the channel name includes the # prefix

Workflow Canvas > Deploy button (top-right)

Deploy the workflow

Click the 'Deploy' button in the top-right corner of the canvas. Pipedream switches the workflow from draft mode to active. The webhook URL registered in Help Scout is now live. From this point, every matching status change in Help Scout will trigger a Slack notification in real time — typically within 2-5 seconds of the event.

1. 1Click the blue 'Deploy' button in the top-right
2. 2Confirm the deployment in the dialog if prompted
3. 3Wait for the status indicator to switch from 'Draft' to 'Active'
4. 4Change a real ticket status in Help Scout to confirm the live workflow fires

pipedream.com > Workflows > [Your Workflow] > Events tab

Monitor runs in the event inspector

In Pipedream, click on your workflow name to open it, then click the 'Logs' or 'Events' tab to see every run. Each row shows the trigger timestamp, run duration, and pass/fail status. Click any run to inspect the data at each step — this is your first stop when a notification stops showing up in Slack. Pipedream retains logs for 30 days on the free tier.

1. 1Navigate to pipedream.com > Workflows
2. 2Click your workflow name
3. 3Click the 'Events' tab
4. 4Click any event row to expand the step-by-step run log
5. 5Check the output of each step to trace where data transformation happened