How to Summarize Slack Threads with OpenAI Using Make

Dashboard > Create Scenario > Add Module > Slack

Create New Scenario in Make

Start building your thread summarization workflow. Make will watch for specific emoji reactions in Slack channels.

1. 1Click 'Create a new scenario' from your Make dashboard
2. 2Click the blue '+' button to add your first module
3. 3Search for 'Slack' in the app list
4. 4Select 'Watch Reactions Added' trigger

Slack Module > Connection > Add

Connect Slack Account

Authenticate Make to access your Slack workspace. You'll need admin permissions to read message content and reactions.

1. 1Click 'Add' next to Connection field
2. 2Select 'OAuth 2.0' connection type
3. 3Click 'Continue' and authorize Make in the Slack popup
4. 4Choose your workspace from the dropdown

Slack Module > Configure

Configure Reaction Trigger

Set the trigger to fire only when someone adds the 📝 emoji. This prevents the automation from running on every reaction in your workspace.

1. 1Select specific channels or leave blank for all channels
2. 2In the 'Reaction' field, type 'memo' (the emoji code for 📝)
3. 3Set 'Limit' to 1 to process one reaction at a time
4. 4Click 'OK' to save the trigger configuration

Add Module > Slack > Get Thread

Add Slack Get Thread Module

Fetch the complete thread conversation. This module retrieves all messages in the thread so OpenAI has the full context to summarize.

1. 1Click the '+' button after your reaction trigger
2. 2Search for 'Slack' and select 'Get Thread'
3. 3Use the same connection from step 2
4. 4Map 'Channel' field to the trigger's channel ID
5. 5Map 'Timestamp' field to the trigger's message timestamp

Add Module > Tools > Text Aggregator

Add Text Aggregator

Combine all thread messages into a single text block. OpenAI needs one continuous text input, not separate message objects.

1. 1Click '+' and search for 'Text aggregator'
2. 2Select 'Text aggregator' from Tools category
3. 3Set 'Source Module' to the Get Thread module
4. 4In 'Text' field, map: {{2.messages[].user}}: {{2.messages[].text}}
5. 5Set 'Row separator' to line break (\n)

Add Module > OpenAI > Create a Completion

Add OpenAI Module

Connect to OpenAI's API to generate the thread summary. This module sends the aggregated text and receives the AI-generated summary.

1. 1Click '+' and search for 'OpenAI'
2. 2Select 'Create a Completion' action
3. 3Click 'Add' next to Connection
4. 4Paste your OpenAI API key in the API Key field
5. 5Click 'Save' to establish the connection

OpenAI Module > Configure

Configure OpenAI Completion

Set up the AI prompt and parameters for thread summarization. The model and temperature settings control summary quality and consistency.

1. 1Set Model to 'gpt-3.5-turbo-instruct'
2. 2In Prompt field, enter: 'Summarize this Slack conversation in 2-3 bullet points:\n{{5.text}}'
3. 3Set Max Tokens to 150
4. 4Set Temperature to 0.3 for consistent summaries
5. 5Leave other fields at default values

Add Module > Slack > Create a Message

Add Reply Module

Post the AI summary back to the original Slack thread. This creates a threaded reply so the summary appears in context.

1. 1Click '+' and add another Slack module
2. 2Select 'Create a Message' action
3. 3Use existing Slack connection
4. 4Map Channel to the original trigger channel
5. 5Map Thread Timestamp to the trigger's message timestamp

Slack Message Module > Configure

Format Summary Message

Create the final message format with the AI summary. Add context so users know this is an automated summary.

1. 1In the Text field, enter: '🤖 Thread Summary:\n{{6.choices[].text}}'
2. 2Set 'Parse Mode' to 'none'
3. 3Enable 'Unfurl Links' if you want link previews
4. 4Leave 'As User' disabled to post as the bot

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

Right-click OpenAI Module > Add Error Handler

Add Error Handling

Configure what happens when OpenAI is unavailable or rate limited. This prevents the scenario from breaking on API errors.

1. 1Right-click the OpenAI module
2. 2Select 'Add error handler'
3. 3Choose 'Break' directive
4. 4Add a Slack message module in the error path
5. 5Set error message: 'Sorry, I couldn\'t generate a summary right now. Please try again later.'

Scenario > Run Once

Test the Scenario

Run a test to verify the complete workflow. Make will simulate a real emoji reaction and show you each step's output.

1. 1Click 'Run once' at the bottom left
2. 2Go to Slack and add 📝 reaction to a test thread
3. 3Return to Make and watch the execution progress
4. 4Check each module's output in the execution log
5. 5Verify the summary appears in your Slack thread

Scenario > Schedule > ON

Enable Automatic Scheduling

Turn on the scenario to run continuously. Make will now monitor all reactions in real-time and generate summaries automatically.

1. 1Click the 'OFF' toggle in the bottom left corner
2. 2Select 'Immediately' for the schedule
3. 3Click 'OK' to confirm activation
4. 4The toggle should now show 'ON' with a green indicator

Drop this into a Make custom function.

{{if(length(5.text) > 2000; left(5.text; 2000) + "\n[Thread truncated - showing first 2000 characters]"; 5.text)}}

{{if(length(5.text) > 2000; left(5.text; 2000) + "\n[Thread truncated - showing first 2000 characters]"; 5.text)}}