How to Send Todoist Deadline Alerts to Slack with Pipedream

pipedream.com > Workflows > New Workflow

Create a new Pipedream workflow

Go to pipedream.com and click 'New Workflow' in the top-right corner of the Workflows dashboard. Give the workflow a clear name like 'Todoist Deadline Alerts to Slack'. This name appears in your workflow list and in error email subjects, so make it specific. You'll land on the workflow canvas where you'll add a trigger first.

1. 1Click 'New Workflow' in the top right
2. 2Type a name: 'Todoist Deadline Alerts to Slack'
3. 3Click 'Create' to open the workflow canvas

Workflow Canvas > Add Trigger > Schedule

Add a Schedule trigger

Click 'Add Trigger' on the canvas and select 'Schedule' from the trigger list. This workflow runs on a cron schedule, not a webhook, because Todoist doesn't push deadline events — you have to go fetch them. Set the schedule to run once daily at a time that makes sense for your team, like 8:00am in your local timezone. Pipedream's Schedule trigger uses standard cron syntax if you want finer control.

1. 1Click 'Add Trigger'
2. 2Search for and select 'Schedule'
3. 3Set the interval to 'Custom (CRON expression)'
4. 4Enter: 0 8 * * 1-5 (weekdays at 8am UTC — adjust for your timezone)
5. 5Click 'Save and continue'

Workflow Canvas > Add Step > Todoist > Get Tasks

Connect your Todoist account

Click 'Add a step' below the trigger and search for 'Todoist'. Select the 'Get Tasks' action. In the step configuration panel on the right, click 'Connect Account' and authenticate with your Todoist credentials. Pipedream stores the token as a Connected Account — you won't need to paste it manually again in future steps or workflows.

1. 1Click 'Add a step' below the trigger
2. 2Search 'Todoist' in the app search bar
3. 3Select the 'Get Tasks' action
4. 4Click 'Connect Account' in the right panel
5. 5Authorize Todoist in the OAuth popup that appears

Workflow Canvas > Todoist Step > Filter Field

Configure the Todoist task filter

In the 'Get Tasks' step, find the Filter field. Todoist's API accepts filter strings using their built-in filter syntax. To catch overdue and today's tasks, enter: overdue | today. This fetches both categories in a single API call. You can also scope it to a specific project by appending: overdue | today & #ProjectName — replace ProjectName with your exact Todoist project name.

1. 1In the Todoist step config, find the 'Filter' input field
2. 2Type: overdue | today
3. 3Optionally add project scope: overdue | today & #YourProjectName
4. 4Leave 'Project ID' blank unless filtering by ID instead of filter string
5. 5Click 'Test' to confirm the filter returns tasks

Workflow Canvas > Add Step > Run Node.js code

Add a Node.js code step to format and filter tasks

Click 'Add a step' and select 'Run Node.js code'. This step processes the raw Todoist task array, separates overdue tasks from today's tasks, and builds the Slack message payload. Without this step, you'd post raw JSON to Slack or send one Slack message per task with no context — this step batches them into a single readable message. Paste the code from the Pro Tip section below into this step.

1. 1Click 'Add a step' below the Todoist step
2. 2Select 'Run Node.js code'
3. 3Delete the default placeholder code
4. 4Paste the formatting code from the Pro Tip section
5. 5Click 'Test' to verify the output object

Paste this into the Node.js code step (Step 5). It processes the raw Todoist task array from the previous step, separates overdue from today's tasks, resolves assignee IDs to names, applies priority emoji, and returns a single formatted Slack mrkdwn string ready to post.

// Step name in Pipedream: format_tasks
// Requires: steps.get_tasks.$return_value to be the Todoist task array
export default defineComponent({

// Step name in Pipedream: format_tasks
// Requires: steps.get_tasks.$return_value to be the Todoist task array

export default defineComponent({
  async run({ steps, $ }) {
    const tasks = steps.get_tasks.$return_value || [];
    const today = new Date().toISOString().split('T')[0]; // YYYY-MM-DD

    // Add your team's Todoist user IDs and names here
    const collaboratorMap = {
      '40182934': 'Marcus Reid',
      '40182967': 'Sarah Chen',
      '40182988': 'Priya Nair',
    };

    const priorityEmoji = (p) => {
      if (p === 4) return ' 🚨 Urgent';
      if (p === 3) return ' ⚠️ High';
      return '';
    };

    const formatTask = (task) => {
      const assignee = task.assignee_id
        ? collaboratorMap[task.assignee_id] || `User ${task.assignee_id}`
        : 'Unassigned';
      const dueLabel = task.due?.date || 'No date';
      const priority = priorityEmoji(task.priority);
      const link = task.url
        ? `<${task.url}|${task.content}>`
        : task.content;
      return `• ${link} — due ${dueLabel} — assigned to ${assignee}${priority}`;
    };

    // Separate overdue vs due today
    const overdueTasks = tasks
      .filter(t => t.due?.date && t.due.date < today)
      .map(formatTask);

    const todayTasks = tasks
      .filter(t => t.due?.date && t.due.date === today)
      .map(formatTask);

    // Build the Slack mrkdwn message
    const sections = [];

    if (overdueTasks.length > 0) {
      sections.push(`*🔴 Overdue Tasks (${overdueTasks.length})*\n${overdueTasks.join('\n')}`);
    }

    if (todayTasks.length > 0) {
      sections.push(`*📅 Due Today (${todayTasks.length})*\n${todayTasks.join('\n')}`);
    }

    const slackMessage = sections.join('\n\n');

    return {
      overdueTasks,
      todayTasks,
      slackMessage,
      totalCount: overdueTasks.length + todayTasks.length,
    };
  },
});

Workflow Canvas > Add Step > Run Node.js code

Add a filter step to skip empty runs

When no tasks are overdue or due today, you don't want Pipedream to post a 'nothing due' message to Slack every morning. Add another Node.js code step immediately after the formatting step. This step checks whether both task arrays are empty and throws an error to halt execution if so — Pipedream treats a thrown error as a workflow stop, so no Slack message gets sent.

1. 1Click 'Add a step' after the formatting step
2. 2Select 'Run Node.js code'
3. 3Paste the early-exit guard: if (steps.format_tasks.$return_value.overdueTasks.length === 0 && steps.format_tasks.$return_value.todayTasks.length === 0) { $.flow.exit('No tasks due or overdue today') }
4. 4Click 'Test' to verify the guard behaves correctly when task arrays are empty

Workflow Canvas > Add Step > Slack > Send Message to a Channel

Connect your Slack account

Click 'Add a step' and search for 'Slack'. Select the 'Send Message to a Channel' action. Click 'Connect Account' and authorize Pipedream to post to your Slack workspace. Pipedream will request the chat:write scope. You need to be a Slack workspace admin or have permission to install apps — if you see a 'requires admin approval' screen, your workspace has app install restrictions enabled.

1. 1Click 'Add a step'
2. 2Search 'Slack' and select the app
3. 3Choose the 'Send Message to a Channel' action
4. 4Click 'Connect Account'
5. 5Authorize Pipedream in the Slack OAuth screen

Workflow Canvas > Slack Step > Channel + Text Fields

Configure the Slack message and channel

In the Slack step, set the Channel field to the target Slack channel — use the format #project-deadlines or paste the channel ID if you want to be precise. In the Text field, reference the formatted output from your Node.js step. Use Pipedream's double-brace expression syntax to insert the message string: {{steps.format_tasks.$return_value.slackMessage}}. Enable the 'Markdown' toggle so Slack renders bold text and bullet points correctly.

1. 1In the Channel field, type or select your target channel (e.g. #project-deadlines)
2. 2In the Text field, click the expression toggle ({{}})
3. 3Reference your code step output: steps.format_tasks.$return_value.slackMessage
4. 4Toggle 'Parse Markdown' or 'mrkdwn' to enabled
5. 5Click 'Test' to send a real message to the channel

Workflow Canvas > Run Now button (top right)

Test the full workflow end to end

Click 'Run Now' at the top of the canvas to trigger a manual test run. Pipedream will execute every step in order using live data. Watch each step turn green as it completes. If a step fails, click on it to see the full error log and the exact API response that caused the failure. Check your Slack channel for the message — verify the formatting, task names, and due dates look correct before deploying.

1. 1Click 'Run Now' in the top right of the canvas
2. 2Watch each step light up green as it runs
3. 3Click any step to inspect its input and output data
4. 4Open Slack and verify the message posted to the correct channel
5. 5Confirm overdue tasks and today's tasks are separated correctly

Workflow Canvas > Active/Paused toggle (top left)

Deploy the workflow

Click the toggle at the top of the canvas to switch the workflow from 'Paused' to 'Active'. Once active, Pipedream will run the workflow on your configured cron schedule automatically. You don't need to keep a browser tab open. Go to the workflow's 'Runs' tab to monitor execution history — each run logs inputs, outputs, and errors per step.

1. 1Click the 'Paused' toggle at the top of the canvas
2. 2Confirm activation in the dialog that appears
3. 3Navigate to the 'Runs' tab to verify the next scheduled run time
4. 4Optionally enable email error alerts under Settings > Notifications