How to Turn Slack Messages into Todoist Tasks with Power Automate

make.powerautomate.com > Create > Automated cloud flow

Create a new Automated cloud flow

Go to make.powerautomate.com and sign in with your Microsoft 365 account. Click 'Create' in the left sidebar, then select 'Automated cloud flow' from the three options shown. Give the flow a name — something like 'Slack Reaction to Todoist Task' — so it's identifiable later. You'll be prompted to search for a trigger before the flow editor opens.

1. 1Click 'Create' in the left sidebar
2. 2Select 'Automated cloud flow'
3. 3Type a flow name in the 'Flow name' field
4. 4Click 'Skip' on the trigger picker — you'll add it manually in the next step

Flow canvas > Choose an operation > Search 'Slack' > Triggers tab

Add the Slack 'When a reaction is added to a message' trigger

Click the empty trigger block and type 'Slack' in the search bar. Select the Slack connector from the results — it shows the Slack bolt logo. From the list of triggers, choose 'When a reaction is added to a message'. This trigger fires in real-time via webhook whenever someone adds an emoji reaction in a channel you specify.

1. 1Click the empty trigger block on the canvas
2. 2Type 'Slack' in the search bar
3. 3Click the Slack connector icon
4. 4Click the 'Triggers' tab
5. 5Select 'When a reaction is added to a message'

Trigger block > Sign in > Slack OAuth popup

Connect your Slack account

Click 'Sign in' when prompted inside the trigger block. A browser popup opens asking you to authorize Power Automate's access to your Slack workspace. Sign in with the Slack account that has access to the channels you want to monitor. The connection is saved under your Power Automate Connections and can be reused across flows.

1. 1Click the 'Sign in' button inside the trigger block
2. 2Authorize Power Automate in the Slack OAuth popup
3. 3Select your workspace from the dropdown if prompted
4. 4Click 'Allow'

Trigger block > Channel Name dropdown > Reaction Name field

Configure the trigger: channel and reaction

In the 'Channel Name' dropdown, select the Slack channel you want to monitor — for example, #sprint-planning. In the 'Reaction Name' field, type the emoji shortcode without colons — type 'white_check_mark' for ✅, or 'pushpin' for 📌. This is the specific reaction that will trigger task creation. Only messages in that channel with that exact reaction will fire the flow.

1. 1Click the 'Channel Name' dropdown and select your target channel
2. 2Click the 'Reaction Name' field
3. 3Type the emoji shortcode without colons (e.g. 'white_check_mark')

Flow canvas > + New step > Search 'Slack' > Actions > Get message

Add a 'Get message' action to fetch the full message text

The reaction trigger only gives you the message timestamp and channel — it doesn't include the actual message text. Click '+ New step' and search for 'Slack'. Select the action 'Get message'. This fetches the full message content using the channel ID and message timestamp provided by the trigger. You'll need both to retrieve the right message.

1. 1Click '+ New step' below the trigger
2. 2Type 'Slack' in the search bar
3. 3Click the 'Actions' tab
4. 4Select 'Get message'
5. 5In 'Channel ID', click inside the field and select 'Channel ID' from the dynamic content panel
6. 6In 'Message Timestamp', select 'Message Timestamp' from the dynamic content panel

Flow canvas > + New step > Condition

Add a Condition to filter out bot messages

You don't want tasks created from bot messages or automated notifications. Click '+ New step' and search for 'Condition'. In the condition editor, set the left field to the dynamic content value 'Subtype' from the Get message action. Set the operator to 'is not equal to' and the right value to 'bot_message'. This ensures only human messages get converted to tasks.

1. 1Click '+ New step'
2. 2Search for 'Condition' and select it
3. 3Click the left field in the condition row
4. 4Select 'Subtype' from the Get message dynamic content
5. 5Set the middle dropdown to 'is not equal to'
6. 6Type 'bot_message' in the right field

Condition > If yes branch > Add an action > Search 'Todoist' > Sign in

Connect your Todoist account

Inside the 'If yes' branch, click 'Add an action'. Search for 'Todoist' in the connector search bar. Select the Todoist connector. You'll see a prompt to sign in — click it and authorize via Todoist's OAuth popup. Use the Todoist account that owns or has access to the project where tasks should be created.

1. 1Click 'Add an action' inside the 'If yes' branch
2. 2Type 'Todoist' in the search bar
3. 3Select the Todoist connector
4. 4Click 'Sign in'
5. 5Complete the Todoist OAuth flow in the popup

If yes branch > Todoist > Create task

Add the 'Create task' Todoist action and map fields

Select 'Create task' from the Todoist actions list. The action block shows fields for Content, Project ID, Due Date, and Priority. Map these using dynamic content from earlier steps. For Content, combine the Slack message text with context — for example, prefix it with 'From @[User] in #[Channel]:' followed by the message body. Set Project ID by selecting your target Todoist project from the dropdown.

1. 1Select 'Create task' from the Todoist action list
2. 2Click the 'Content' field and type 'From Slack: ' then insert dynamic content 'Text' from Get message
3. 3Click the 'Project ID' dropdown and select your target Todoist project
4. 4Optionally set 'Due Date' to the expression 'utcNow()' for today's date
5. 5Set 'Priority' to 2 (high) or leave default

If yes branch > Add an action > Data Operation > Compose

Add a Compose action to build a clean task description

Before the Create task action, click 'Add an action' and search for 'Compose' — it's a Data Operation action. Use this step to build a formatted task description that includes the Slack channel name, the user who sent the message, the message timestamp converted to a readable date, and a direct link back to the Slack message. This gives whoever picks up the task full context without opening Slack.

1. 1Click 'Add an action' above the Create task step
2. 2Search for 'Compose' and select it under Data Operation
3. 3In the Inputs field, build your description using dynamic content: 'Channel: #[Channel Name] | Sent by: [User] | Link: https://slack.com/archives/[Channel ID]/p[Message Timestamp]'

Paste this into a 'Compose' action placed between 'Get message' and 'Create task'. It resolves the raw Slack timestamp into a readable date, strips HTML entities from the message text, caps content at 490 characters, and builds a direct deep-link URL back to the original Slack message. Reference the Compose output in the Todoist Content and Description fields.

// Power Automate Compose — paste each expression into its own Compose step
// Step A: Clean message text (strip HTML entities, cap at 490 chars)
replace(

// Power Automate Compose — paste each expression into its own Compose step

// Step A: Clean message text (strip HTML entities, cap at 490 chars)
replace(
  replace(
    replace(
      if(
        greater(length(body('Get_message')?['text']), 490),
        concat(substring(body('Get_message')?['text'], 0, 490), '...'),
        body('Get_message')?['text']
      ),
      '&', '&'
    ),
    '&lt;', '<'
  ),
  '&gt;', '>'
)

// Step B: Convert Slack timestamp to readable date
// Slack timestamps are Unix epoch with microseconds (e.g. 1712145600.000200)
formatDateTime(
  addSeconds(
    '1970-01-01T00:00:00Z',
    int(first(split(triggerBody()?['event']?['event_ts'], '.')))
  ),
  'yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm UTC'
)

// Step C: Build Slack deep link
// Channel IDs start with C, timestamps need the dot removed and prefixed with p
concat(
  'https://slack.com/archives/',
  triggerBody()?['event']?['item']?['channel'],
  '/p',
  replace(triggerBody()?['event']?['item']?['ts'], '.', '')
)

Flow canvas > Save > Test > Manually > Test

Test the flow with a live Slack reaction

Click 'Save' at the top of the flow canvas, then click 'Test' in the top-right corner. Select 'Manually' and then 'Test'. Power Automate will wait for a real trigger event. Go to Slack, find a message in your configured channel, and add the reaction you specified. Return to Power Automate — the test panel should show each step turning green within 15-30 seconds.

1. 1Click 'Save' at the top of the canvas
2. 2Click 'Test' in the top-right
3. 3Select 'Manually' and click 'Test'
4. 4Go to Slack and add the configured reaction to any message in the monitored channel
5. 5Return to Power Automate and watch the run panel

make.powerautomate.com > My flows > [Flow name] > 28-day run history

Turn the flow on and monitor the run history

Click 'Turn on' if the flow isn't already active after saving. Navigate to 'My flows' in the left sidebar and click the flow name to open its detail page. The '28-day run history' section at the bottom shows every trigger event, whether it succeeded or failed, and the exact inputs and outputs at each step. Check this after your team uses the reaction for the first time in a real conversation.

1. 1Click 'Turn on' if prompted on the canvas
2. 2Navigate to 'My flows' in the left sidebar
3. 3Click your flow name
4. 4Scroll to '28-day run history' to see live run logs