How to Send Notion Database Alerts to Slack with Make

Make Dashboard > Scenarios > Create a new scenario

Create a new Make scenario

Log in to Make at make.com. Click the blue 'Create a new scenario' button in the top right of the Scenarios dashboard. You will land on the visual editor — a blank canvas with a large circle in the center. This is where you will place your trigger module. Do not click the clock icon yet; that controls scheduling and you will set it last.

1. 1Log in at make.com
2. 2Click 'Create a new scenario' in the top right
3. 3When prompted to choose an app, type 'Notion' in the search box
4. 4Select 'Notion' from the results

Scenario Editor > Notion > Watch Database Items

Configure the Notion trigger

From the Notion module list, select 'Watch Database Items' — this is the polling trigger that checks for new and updated rows. You will be prompted to connect your Notion account if you haven't already. Make uses OAuth, so clicking 'Add' opens a Notion authorization window where you select which pages and databases to share with Make. Only databases you explicitly share here will be accessible.

1. 1Select 'Watch Database Items' from the Notion trigger list
2. 2Click 'Add' next to the Connection field to authenticate
3. 3In the Notion OAuth window, click 'Select pages' and choose the workspace databases you want to monitor
4. 4Click 'Allow access' to complete authentication
5. 5Return to Make — the Connection field should now show your account name

Notion Trigger Module > Database ID > Watch > Limit

Select your target database

With the connection confirmed, the 'Database ID' field will now show a dropdown of every Notion database you granted access to. Select the specific database you want to monitor. Below that, set 'Watch' to 'New and Updated Items' so the trigger fires on both new rows and edits to existing ones. The 'Limit' field controls how many records Make fetches per polling cycle — set this to 10 unless your database receives extremely high traffic.

1. 1Click the 'Database ID' dropdown and select your target database
2. 2Set 'Watch' to 'New and Updated Items'
3. 3Set 'Limit' to 10
4. 4Click 'OK' to save the module configuration

Scenario Editor > Run once (bottom toolbar)

Run the trigger once to load sample data

Before adding the Slack module, you need Make to pull in a sample record from Notion so you can map real fields later. Click 'Run once' at the bottom left of the scenario editor. Make will execute one polling cycle and pull the most recent item from your database. You should see a small bubble appear on the Notion module showing how many records were returned. Click that bubble to inspect the data structure.

1. 1Click the 'Run once' button in the bottom toolbar
2. 2Wait 5-10 seconds for Make to poll Notion
3. 3Click the number bubble that appears on the Notion module
4. 4Inspect the output to confirm your database fields are visible (title, status, assignee, etc.)

Notion Module > Right-click or wrench icon > Add a router

Add a Router for new vs. updated items

Because you are watching both new and updated items, you likely want different Slack messages for each case. Click the small wrench icon on the right edge of the Notion module and select 'Add a router'. A Router module splits the execution into two parallel paths. You will configure a filter on each path — one for new items and one for updates — so Slack receives a tailored message per event type.

1. 1Hover over the Notion trigger module to reveal the small dots on its right edge
2. 2Click the rightmost dot and drag to an empty area — this opens the module picker
3. 3Type 'Router' and select the Router module
4. 4You will see two output paths appear from the Router — Path 1 and Path 2

Router > Path filter icon > Condition builder

Set filters on each Router path

Click the filter icon (a small funnel) on Path 1. Set the condition: 'Created time' equals 'Last edited time'. This identifies new rows — when a record is created, both timestamps match. On Path 2, set the condition: 'Created time' does not equal 'Last edited time'. This catches updates. Label Path 1 'New Item' and Path 2 'Updated Item' by clicking the path label to rename it.

1. 1Click the funnel icon on Path 1
2. 2Set field to 'Created time', operator to 'Equal to', value to '{{1.created_time}}'... actually map it as: field 'Created time' equals field 'Last edited time' using the variable picker
3. 3Click OK to save Path 1 filter
4. 4Click the funnel icon on Path 2
5. 5Set field to 'Created time', operator to 'Not equal to', value mapped to 'Last edited time'
6. 6Click OK to save Path 2 filter

Path 1 > + Module > Slack > Create a Message

Add a Slack module to Path 1 (new item alert)

Click the empty circle at the end of Path 1 and search for 'Slack'. Select the 'Create a Message' action. Connect your Slack account via OAuth — Make will open a Slack authorization page where you approve access to your workspace. Once connected, set the 'Channel' field to the Slack channel where new-item alerts should go (e.g., #project-updates). Then compose the message text using Notion fields from the variable panel on the right.

1. 1Click the empty circle at the end of Path 1
2. 2Search for 'Slack' and select it
3. 3Choose 'Create a Message'
4. 4Click 'Add' next to Connection and authorize Slack via OAuth
5. 5Set the Channel field to your target Slack channel
6. 6In the Text field, compose your message using the variable picker to insert Notion fields

Slack Module > Text field

Compose the Slack message for new items

In the Slack 'Text' field, write the message body using Make's variable picker to pull in Notion data. A clear format for new-item alerts is: the item title, who created it, the status, and a direct link back to the Notion page. Use Slack's mrkdwn syntax — *bold* for the title, and angle brackets for the URL. The Notion module outputs a 'URL' field that links directly to the record — always include this so recipients can click through.

1. 1Click inside the 'Text' field of the Slack module
2. 2Type '*New item added:* ' then click the variable icon and select 'Name' (or 'Title') from the Notion output
3. 3Press Enter and type 'Status: ' then map the Status property from Notion
4. 4Press Enter and type 'Created by: ' then map the Created by field
5. 5Press Enter and type the URL using format: '<{{1.url}}|View in Notion>'

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

Path 2 > + Module > Slack > Create a Message

Add and configure the Slack module for Path 2 (update alert)

Repeat the same Slack module setup on Path 2, but change the message text to indicate this is an update, not a new item. Include the Last edited time field so recipients know when the change happened. If your Notion database has a 'Status' property, include it prominently — status changes are usually the reason teams want update alerts. Use a different emoji or prefix (e.g., ✏️ Updated:) so recipients can visually distinguish update messages from new-item messages at a glance.

1. 1Click the empty circle at the end of Path 2
2. 2Search for Slack and select 'Create a Message'
3. 3Reuse the existing Slack connection — no need to re-authenticate
4. 4Set the Channel field (can be same or different channel than Path 1)
5. 5Compose the update message: '✏️ *Updated:* [Title] — Status: [Status] — Last edited: [Last edited time] — <[URL]|View in Notion>'

Scenario Editor > Clock icon (bottom left) > Scheduling panel

Set the polling schedule

Click the clock icon in the bottom left of the scenario editor — this opens the scheduling panel. Set the interval to every 5 minutes for near-real-time alerting. Make's free tier runs scenarios every 15 minutes; the Core plan ($9/month) unlocks 1-minute intervals. For most project teams, 5 minutes is the right balance between freshness and operation consumption. Each polling cycle that finds records consumes one operation per record processed.

1. 1Click the clock icon in the bottom toolbar
2. 2Set 'Run scenario' to 'At regular intervals'
3. 3Set the interval to 5 minutes
4. 4Click 'OK' to confirm

Scenario Editor > Active toggle (top right)

Activate the scenario and verify

Toggle the 'Active' switch in the top right of the scenario editor from grey (off) to blue (on). Make will now poll Notion on your chosen schedule automatically. To verify it works end-to-end, add a new row to your Notion database and wait up to 5 minutes. Check your Slack channel for the notification. If it arrives with correctly formatted data, you are done. Check the scenario's execution history under Scenario > History to see every run and any errors.

1. 1Click the grey 'Active' toggle in the top right — it turns blue
2. 2Add a test row to your Notion database
3. 3Wait up to 5 minutes
4. 4Check your Slack channel for the notification message
5. 5Go to Scenario > History to confirm the run completed without errors

Paste this into a Make 'Set Variable' module placed between the Notion trigger and the Router. It formats the due date, resolves the status to an emoji, and constructs a clean Slack message string — so your Slack modules just reference the {{variable}} instead of repeating the formatting logic on both paths.

// Make formula — paste into a Set Variable module
// Module name: Format Notification Fields
// Variable 1: formatted_due_date

// Make formula — paste into a Set Variable module
// Module name: Format Notification Fields

// Variable 1: formatted_due_date
// Use in: Text field of Set Variable
formatDate({{1.properties.Due Date.date.start}}; "MMM D, YYYY")

// Variable 2: status_emoji
// Resolves Status text to an emoji prefix for Slack readability
if({{1.properties.Status.status.name}} = "Done"; "✅";
  if({{1.properties.Status.status.name}} = "In Progress"; "🔄";
    if({{1.properties.Status.status.name}} = "Blocked"; "🚫";
      "📋"
    )
  )
)

// Variable 3: assignee_name
// Safely extracts first assignee name or falls back to 'Unassigned'
if({{1.properties.Assignee.people[].name}} != ""; {{1.properties.Assignee.people[].name}}; "Unassigned")

// Variable 4: notion_url_safe
// Constructs URL from record ID as fallback if URL field is empty
if({{1.url}} != ""; {{1.url}}; "https://notion.so/" + replace({{1.id}}; "-"; ""))