How to Assign Todoist Tasks from Slack Mentions with Make

make.com > Scenarios > Create a new scenario

Create a new Make scenario

Log into Make at make.com and click the blue 'Create a new scenario' button in the top right. You'll land on the blank visual canvas with a large '+' circle in the center. This is where you'll add your first module. Give the scenario a name immediately using the pencil icon at the top — something like 'Slack Mention → Todoist Task' so you can find it later.

1. 1Click 'Create a new scenario' in the top right
2. 2Click the pencil icon next to 'New scenario' at the top
3. 3Type a name like 'Slack Mention → Todoist Task'
4. 4Press Enter to save the name

Scenario canvas > + > Slack > Watch Messages

Add the Slack trigger module

Click the '+' circle on the canvas to open the module picker. Search for 'Slack' and select it. From the list of triggers, choose 'Watch Messages' — this is the instant webhook-based trigger, not the polling one. You'll be prompted to connect your Slack account if you haven't already; click 'Add' and follow the OAuth flow to authorize Make in your Slack workspace.

1. 1Click the '+' circle on the canvas
2. 2Type 'Slack' in the search box
3. 3Select 'Slack' from the results
4. 4Choose 'Watch Messages' from the trigger list
5. 5Click 'Add' next to the connection field and complete the Slack OAuth flow

Slack module > Settings panel > Channel ID

Configure the Slack trigger for your target channel

In the Slack module settings, set the 'Channel ID' field to the specific channel you want to watch — for example, #design-requests or #eng-bugs. Click the Channel ID field and start typing the channel name; Make will autocomplete from your workspace. Set 'Trigger on' to 'New Message' and leave 'Include Bot Messages' set to No to avoid infinite loops if any bots post in those channels.

1. 1Click the Channel ID field and start typing your channel name
2. 2Select the correct channel from the autocomplete dropdown
3. 3Set 'Trigger on' to 'New Message'
4. 4Set 'Include Bot Messages' to 'No'
5. 5Click 'OK' to save the module settings

Scenario canvas > Arrow between modules > Filter (funnel icon)

Add a filter to check for @mentions

Click the small filter icon (the funnel) on the arrow between the Slack module and the next empty slot. This filter ensures the scenario only continues when the message actually contains an @mention. Without this, every single message in the channel creates a Todoist task — which is not what you want. In the filter condition, set the field to 'Text', set the operator to 'Contains', and enter '<@' as the value (that's the raw format Slack uses for user mentions in its API payload).

1. 1Hover over the arrow after the Slack module until the funnel icon appears
2. 2Click the funnel icon to open the Filter settings
3. 3Set Field to 'Text' from the Slack output variables
4. 4Set Operator to 'Contains (case insensitive)'
5. 5Type '<@' in the value field
6. 6Click 'OK' to apply the filter

Scenario canvas > + > Tools > Set Variable

Parse the @mention to extract the user ID

Add a 'Tools > Set Variable' module after the filter. Slack encodes mentions as '<@U12345ABC>' in message text. You need to extract the user ID between '<@' and '>'. In the variable value field, use Make's substring and indexOf functions to pull the ID out. Set Variable Name to 'mentioned_user_id' and paste the formula from the pro_tip_code section into the Variable Value field. This gives you a clean user ID like 'U12345ABC' that you'll resolve in the next step.

1. 1Click the '+' after the filter to add a new module
2. 2Search for 'Tools' and select it
3. 3Choose 'Set Variable' from the module list
4. 4Set Variable Name to 'mentioned_user_id'
5. 5Paste the substring formula into the Variable Value field
6. 6Click 'OK' to save

Scenario canvas > + > Slack > Get a User

Look up the Slack user's name

Add a Slack module for 'Get a User'. Map the 'User ID' field to the 'mentioned_user_id' variable from the previous step. This call returns the user's real name and email, which you'll use to set the Todoist task assignee and make the task description human-readable. Without this step, your Todoist tasks will show raw IDs instead of names.

1. 1Click '+' to add a module after Set Variable
2. 2Select 'Slack' from the app list
3. 3Choose 'Get a User' from the action list
4. 4Map the User ID field to '{{mentioned_user_id}}' from the previous module
5. 5Click 'OK' to save

Scenario canvas > + > Tools > Set Variable

Map the channel to a Todoist project

Add a 'Tools > Set Variable' module to map the Slack channel name to a specific Todoist project ID. This is the core routing logic. Use Make's if() function to check the channel name and return the right Todoist project ID. For example: if the channel is #design-requests, route to your Design project ID; if it's #eng-bugs, route to Engineering. You can get Todoist project IDs from the Todoist API or by running a 'List Projects' module and noting the IDs in the output.

1. 1Click '+' to add another Set Variable module
2. 2Set Variable Name to 'target_project_id'
3. 3Open the formula editor and write an if() expression mapping channel names to project IDs
4. 4Test the formula by clicking 'Run once' and checking the output panel
5. 5Click 'OK' to save

Scenario canvas > + > Todoist > List Collaborators

Find the Todoist collaborator to assign

Add a Todoist module for 'Get a Project Collaborator' or use 'List Collaborators' to find the right person by email. Map the email field to the Slack user's profile email from Step 6. This returns a Todoist user ID that you'll use in the task creation step. If your Slack emails don't match Todoist emails, you'll need a manual mapping table in a Google Sheet or Make's Data Store — plan for this before going live.

1. 1Click '+' to add a Todoist module
2. 2Connect your Todoist account via OAuth if not already connected
3. 3Choose 'List Collaborators' from the module list
4. 4Set the Project ID field to '{{target_project_id}}' from Step 7
5. 5Add a subsequent filter or iterator to match by email against the Slack user email from Step 6

Scenario canvas > + > Todoist > Create a Task

Create the Todoist task

Add a Todoist module for 'Create a Task'. Map Content to the Slack message text from Step 2. Map Project ID to '{{target_project_id}}'. Map Assignee ID to the collaborator ID resolved in Step 8. Set Description to include the Slack channel name, the sender's name (from Slack message 'User' field), and the timestamp so anyone reading the task knows exactly where it came from. Set a due date of today or leave it blank depending on your team's preference.

1. 1Click '+' to add a Todoist module
2. 2Select 'Create a Task'
3. 3Map 'Content' to the Slack message text variable
4. 4Map 'Project ID' to '{{target_project_id}}'
5. 5Map 'Assignee ID' to the collaborator ID from Step 8
6. 6Set 'Description' to a formatted string including channel name, sender name, and message link

Scenario canvas > Module right-click > Add error handler | Scenario Settings > gear icon

Add error handling to the scenario

Click the wrench icon on any module where failure is likely — specifically the Todoist 'Create a Task' module and the 'Get a User' Slack module. Set the error handler to 'Break' so the scenario stops cleanly rather than silently skipping. In the scenario settings (top right gear icon), enable 'Auto commit' to save scenario state between runs and enable 'Sequential processing' so messages don't race if two @mentions arrive within seconds of each other.

1. 1Right-click the Todoist 'Create a Task' module
2. 2Select 'Add error handler'
3. 3Choose 'Break' as the error handler type
4. 4Click the gear icon in the top right of the canvas
5. 5Enable 'Sequential processing' in scenario settings
6. 6Click 'Save' on the settings panel

Scenario canvas > Save button > ON/OFF toggle

Activate the scenario and run a live test

Click the blue 'Save' button, then flip the toggle at the bottom of the canvas from OFF to ON. Post a test message in your target Slack channel that @mentions a team member — something like '@sarah can you review the homepage copy?'. Watch the Make scenario execution history refresh. Within 10-15 seconds you should see a green execution record. Open Todoist and confirm the task appeared assigned to Sarah in the correct project.

1. 1Click the blue 'Save' button in the bottom right
2. 2Flip the scenario toggle from OFF to ON
3. 3Post a test @mention message in your watched Slack channel
4. 4Click 'History' in the top menu to watch executions come in
5. 5Open Todoist and verify the task was created with correct assignment and project

This formula goes in the Variable Value field of the 'Set Variable' module in Step 5. It extracts a clean Slack user ID from the raw message text. Paste it into the formula editor — click the 'fx' icon in the Variable Value field to open it.

{{substring(
  1.text,
  add(

{{substring(
  1.text,
  add(
    indexOf(1.text, "<@"),
    2
  ),
  subtract(
    indexOf(
      substring(
        1.text,
        add(indexOf(1.text, "<@"), 2),
        length(1.text)
      ),
      ">"
    ),
    0
  )
)}}

// What this does:
// 1. indexOf(1.text, "<@") finds the position of the mention start
// 2. add(..., 2) skips past the "<@" characters
// 3. The outer substring starts from that position
// 4. The inner indexOf finds the closing ">" in the remaining string
// 5. Result is a clean user ID like "U08XYZ3456"
// Replace "1.text" with your actual Slack module number if it's not module 1
// Example input:  "<@U08XYZ3456> can you fix this?"
// Example output: "U08XYZ3456"