How to Assign Todoist Tasks from Slack Mentions with Pipedream

pipedream.com > Workflows > + New Workflow

Create a new Pipedream Workflow

Go to pipedream.com and log in. Click 'Workflows' in the left sidebar, then click the blue '+ New Workflow' button in the top right. Give it a name like 'Slack Mention → Todoist Task' so you can find it later. You'll land on the workflow canvas with a trigger slot at the top.

1. 1Click 'Workflows' in the left sidebar
2. 2Click the blue '+ New Workflow' button
3. 3Type a workflow name in the title field at the top
4. 4Click 'Save' to confirm the name

Workflow Canvas > Add a trigger > Slack > New Mention (Instant)

Add the Slack Event Mention trigger

Click the 'Add a trigger' slot on the canvas. Search for 'Slack' in the app search box and select it. Scroll through the trigger options and choose 'New Mention (Instant)' — this fires every time a user is @-mentioned in a channel your bot is in. Do not pick 'New Message Posted to Channel' — that fires on every message and will generate far more noise than you need.

1. 1Click the 'Add a trigger' slot
2. 2Type 'Slack' in the search box
3. 3Click 'Slack' in the results
4. 4Select 'New Mention (Instant)' from the trigger list

Trigger Card > Connect Account > OAuth > Channel dropdown

Connect your Slack account and configure the channel filter

Click 'Connect your Slack account' inside the trigger card. Pipedream opens an OAuth window — sign in with the Slack workspace where your project channels live and click Allow. Back in the trigger config, locate the 'Channel' dropdown and select only the specific channels you want this workflow to watch (e.g., #sprint-42). You can select multiple channels. Leave the 'Resolve names' toggle ON so the payload includes readable usernames.

1. 1Click 'Connect your Slack account'
2. 2Authenticate in the Slack OAuth popup
3. 3Return to Pipedream and open the 'Channel' dropdown
4. 4Select one or more specific project channels
5. 5Confirm 'Resolve names' is toggled ON

Trigger Card > Generate Test Event

Send a test mention to generate sample data

Click 'Generate Test Event' at the bottom of the trigger card. Pipedream will listen for 30 seconds. During that window, go to your selected Slack channel and type a message that @-mentions one of your team members, like '@alex please review the API spec'. Switch back to Pipedream — the test event should appear with the raw Slack payload including the user ID, channel ID, and message text. Click on the event to expand it and confirm the fields are populated.

1. 1Click 'Generate Test Event'
2. 2Switch to Slack and post a message mentioning a team member
3. 3Switch back to Pipedream
4. 4Click the incoming test event to inspect the payload

Workflow Canvas > + > Run Node.js code

Add a Node.js code step to parse the mention and resolve the assignee

Click the '+' button below the trigger to add a new step. Choose 'Run Node.js code'. This step will extract the mentioned user's Slack ID from the message text, look up their display name via the Slack API, and map them to a Todoist assignee ID based on a hardcoded lookup table you define. It also strips the channel ID into a readable project name. Paste the code from the Pro Tip section below into the code editor.

1. 1Click the '+' button below the Slack trigger
2. 2Select 'Run Node.js code'
3. 3Clear the default code in the editor
4. 4Paste your custom parsing code
5. 5Click 'Test' to run the step against your sample event

Paste this into the Node.js code step added in Step 5. It extracts the mentioned user's Slack ID, resolves their display name via the Slack API, maps them to a Todoist collaborator ID using a lookup table you define, builds clean task content, and generates the Slack permalink. Replace the SLACK_USER_MAP and CHANNEL_PROJECT_MAP objects with your actual IDs before deploying.

import axios from 'axios';
export default defineComponent({
  async run({ steps, $ }) {

import axios from 'axios';

export default defineComponent({
  async run({ steps, $ }) {
    // --- CONFIG: Update these maps with your real IDs ---
    const SLACK_USER_MAP = {
      'U04KXYZ99': { name: 'Alex Morgan', todoist_id: '45678901' },
      'U04KABC12': { name: 'Sam Rivera',  todoist_id: '45678902' },
      'U04KDEF34': { name: 'Jordan Lee',  todoist_id: '45678903' },
    };

    const CHANNEL_PROJECT_MAP = {
      'C05SPRINT42': { name: 'Sprint 42', todoist_project_id: '2347891234' },
      'C05SPRINT43': { name: 'Sprint 43', todoist_project_id: '2347891235' },
      'C05BUGFIX':   { name: 'Bug Fixes', todoist_project_id: '2347891236' },
    };
    // --- END CONFIG ---

    const text    = steps.trigger.event.text || '';
    const channel = steps.trigger.event.channel;
    const ts      = steps.trigger.event.ts;

    // Extract the first user mention from message text
    const mentionMatch = text.match(/<@([A-Z0-9]+)>/);
    if (!mentionMatch) {
      $.flow.exit('No user mention found — skipping');
    }
    const slackUserId = mentionMatch[1];

    // Resolve user from lookup table
    const user = SLACK_USER_MAP[slackUserId];
    if (!user) {
      $.flow.exit(`User ${slackUserId} not in lookup table — skipping`);
    }

    // Resolve channel to Todoist project
    const project = CHANNEL_PROJECT_MAP[channel];
    if (!project) {
      $.flow.exit(`Channel ${channel} not in lookup table — skipping`);
    }

    // Clean message text: replace raw mention with display name
    const cleanText = text
      .replace(/<@[A-Z0-9]+>/g, user.name)
      .replace(/<[^>]+>/g, '')  // strip other Slack formatting
      .trim();

    // Build Slack permalink using workspace domain
    const workspaceDomain = 'yourworkspace'; // replace with your Slack subdomain
    const tsFormatted = ts.replace('.', '');
    const messageUrl = `https://${workspaceDomain}.slack.com/archives/${channel}/p${tsFormatted}`;

    return {
      task_content:        `${user.name}: ${cleanText}`,
      todoist_assignee_id: user.todoist_id,
      todoist_project_id:  project.todoist_project_id,
      channel_name:        project.name,
      message_url:         messageUrl,
    };
  },
});

Workflow Canvas > + > Filter

Add a conditional filter to skip non-actionable mentions

Click '+' to add another step. Select 'Filter' from the Pipedream built-in options. Set the condition to check that the parsed assignee_id from the previous step is not null. This prevents the workflow from creating blank Todoist tasks when someone mentions a channel (@here, @channel) or a bot account that has no Todoist equivalent. Configure the filter to 'End workflow' if the condition fails.

1. 1Click '+' below the Node.js step
2. 2Select 'Filter' from the built-in step list
3. 3Set field to '{{steps.code.$return_value.todoist_assignee_id}}'
4. 4Set operator to 'is not empty'
5. 5Set action on failure to 'End workflow execution'

Workflow Canvas > + > Todoist > Create Task

Add the Todoist 'Create Task' action

Click '+' to add a new step. Search for 'Todoist' and select it. Choose the 'Create Task' action. Click 'Connect your Todoist account' and complete the OAuth flow — use the account that has access to all the projects you want to write to. The action card will show a form with fields for Content, Project, Due Date, and Assignee.

1. 1Click '+' below the Filter step
2. 2Search for 'Todoist' and click it
3. 3Select 'Create Task'
4. 4Click 'Connect your Todoist account'
5. 5Complete the OAuth flow and return to Pipedream

Todoist Step > Create Task > Field mapping form

Map the Slack data to Todoist task fields

In the Todoist Create Task form, map each field using the output from your Node.js step. Set Content to '{{steps.code.$return_value.task_content}}', which includes the original Slack message. Set Project ID to the mapped project ID from your channel lookup. Set Assignee ID to '{{steps.code.$return_value.todoist_assignee_id}}'. Set Description to '{{steps.code.$return_value.message_url}}' so the task links back to the original Slack thread.

1. 1Click the Content field and type '{{' to open the data picker
2. 2Select 'steps.code.$return_value.task_content'
3. 3Repeat for Project ID using 'steps.code.$return_value.todoist_project_id'
4. 4Set Assignee ID to 'steps.code.$return_value.todoist_assignee_id'
5. 5Set Description to 'steps.code.$return_value.message_url'

Workflow Canvas > Test workflow button (top right)

Test the full workflow end-to-end

Click 'Test workflow' at the top of the canvas to run all steps in sequence using your saved test event. Watch the step-by-step execution log on the right side — each step shows green for success or red for errors. After the test completes, open your Todoist project and confirm the task appears with the correct assignee, content, and description link. Check that the Slack message URL in the description resolves to the correct message.

1. 1Click 'Test workflow' in the top toolbar
2. 2Watch each step turn green in the execution log
3. 3Open Todoist and find the new task in the expected project
4. 4Click the Slack URL in the task description to confirm it opens the correct message

Workflow Canvas > Deploy button > Events tab

Deploy the workflow and verify it's active

Click the grey 'Deploy' button in the top right corner of the canvas. The workflow status changes from 'Inactive' to 'Active' and Pipedream begins listening for real Slack events. Go to your Slack channel and post a live @mention. Within 5–10 seconds, the task should appear in Todoist. Check the Pipedream event log under 'Events' in the left sidebar to see incoming events and confirm none are failing.

1. 1Click the grey 'Deploy' button
2. 2Confirm the status indicator changes to 'Active'
3. 3Go to Slack and post a real @mention in the target channel
4. 4Return to Pipedream and click 'Events' in the left sidebar
5. 5Confirm the event shows a 200 status and all steps succeeded