How to Process Bug Reports from Slack to Trello with n8n

api.slack.com > Your Apps > Create New App > Event Subscriptions

Create Slack App and Enable Events

Go to api.slack.com and create a new app for your workspace. Navigate to Event Subscriptions and toggle it on. You'll need this to receive real-time message events from your channels. Add the message.channels event under Bot Token Events.

1. 1Click 'Create New App' and choose 'From scratch'
2. 2Name it 'Bug Tracker' and select your workspace
3. 3Go to 'Event Subscriptions' in the left sidebar
4. 4Toggle 'Enable Events' to On
5. 5Add 'message.channels' under 'Subscribe to bot events'

n8n Dashboard > + New Workflow > Add Node > Slack

Set Up n8n Slack Webhook Trigger

Create a new workflow in n8n and add a Slack trigger node. Choose 'Events API' as the trigger type. Copy the webhook URL that n8n generates - you'll paste this back into Slack's Event Subscriptions page as the Request URL.

1. 1Click the '+' button to add your first node
2. 2Search for 'Slack' and select 'Slack Trigger'
3. 3Choose 'Events API' from the dropdown
4. 4Copy the webhook URL shown at the bottom
5. 5Leave Authentication empty for now

api.slack.com > Your App > Event Subscriptions > Request URL

Connect Slack Events to n8n Webhook

Return to your Slack app settings and paste the n8n webhook URL into the Request URL field. Slack will send a verification challenge to confirm the connection is working. Click 'Save Changes' to activate the event subscription.

1. 1Paste your n8n webhook URL into the Request URL field
2. 2Wait for the green 'Verified' checkmark to appear
3. 3Click 'Save Changes' at the bottom
4. 4Go to 'Install App' in the left sidebar
5. 5Click 'Install to Workspace' and authorize

Workflow Canvas > + Add Node > Core > IF

Add Message Filtering Logic

Add an IF node after the Slack trigger to filter messages. Set it to only process messages containing bug-related keywords or specific emoji reactions. This prevents every channel message from creating Trello cards.

1. 1Click the '+' after your Slack node
2. 2Select 'Core' then 'IF'
3. 3Set condition to 'String' contains
4. 4Enter '{{ $json.event.text }}' in the first field
5. 5Enter 'bug|feature request|🐛' in the second field
6. 6Enable 'Regex' option

Workflow Canvas > + Add Node > Core > Code

Extract Bug Details with Code Node

Add a Code node to parse the Slack message and extract structured information. This node will identify bug priority, affected feature, and reporter details from the message text using regex patterns and string manipulation.

1. 1Connect the 'True' output of your IF node to a new Code node
2. 2Set the mode to 'Run Once for All Items'
3. 3Paste the bug parsing code into the editor
4. 4Test with sample data to verify extraction
5. 5Save the node configuration

Add this code to your first Code node to intelligently parse bug reports and extract structured data. Paste it in the JavaScript editor and it will handle priority detection, user mention parsing, and title extraction.

const message = $input.all()[0].json.event.text;
const user = $input.all()[0].json.event.user;
const channel = $input.all()[0].json.event.channel;

const message = $input.all()[0].json.event.text;
const user = $input.all()[0].json.event.user;
const channel = $input.all()[0].json.event.channel;
const timestamp = $input.all()[0].json.event.ts;

// Extract priority from keywords
let priority = 'medium';
if (message.toLowerCase().includes('critical') || message.toLowerCase().includes('urgent')) {
  priority = 'critical';
} else if (message.toLowerCase().includes('high priority') || message.includes('🔥')) {
  priority = 'high';
}

// Determine bug type
let bugType = 'bug';
if (message.toLowerCase().includes('feature request') || message.toLowerCase().includes('enhancement')) {
  bugType = 'feature-request';
}

// Extract title (first sentence or up to first line break)
let title = message.split('\n')[0];
if (title.length > 100) {
  title = title.substring(0, 97) + '...';
}

// Clean emoji and mentions from title
title = title.replace(/[🐛🔥]/g, '').replace(/<@\w+>/g, '').trim();

// Extract mentions
const mentions = message.match(/<@(\w+)>/g) || [];
const cleanMentions = mentions.map(m => m.replace(/<@|>/g, ''));

// User mapping (customize for your team)
const userMap = {
  'U1234567': 'sarah-johnson',
  'U2345678': 'mike-chen',
  'U3456789': 'john-smith'
};

return [{
  json: {
    title: title,
    description: `Reported by ${userMap[user] || 'Unknown'} from Slack\n\n${message}`,
    priority: priority,
    bugType: bugType,
    reporter: userMap[user] || user,
    mentions: cleanMentions,
    sourceChannel: channel,
    timestamp: timestamp,
    slackUrl: `https://yourworkspace.slack.com/archives/${channel}/p${timestamp.replace('.', '')}`
  }
}];

Workflow Canvas > + Add Node > Trello > Create Card

Set Up Trello Authentication

Add a Trello node and configure authentication. You'll need to generate an API key and token from Trello's developer portal. Go to trello.com/app-key to get your key, then generate a token with read/write permissions.

1. 1Add a Trello node connected to your Code node
2. 2Select 'Create a Card' as the operation
3. 3Click 'Create New' next to Credentials
4. 4Go to trello.com/app-key in a new tab
5. 5Copy your API key and generate a token
6. 6Paste both into the n8n credential form

Trello Node > Parameters

Map Bug Data to Trello Card Fields

Configure the Trello node to map your parsed bug information to card fields. Set the board ID, list ID, card name, description, and labels based on the extracted data from your Code node. Use the bug priority to determine label colors.

1. 1Select your target board from the Board dropdown
2. 2Choose the appropriate list (like 'Bug Reports' or 'Backlog')
3. 3Set Name to '{{ $json.title }}'
4. 4Set Description to include reporter and original message
5. 5Map labels based on priority level from Code node
6. 6Set Due Date if priority is 'Critical'

Workflow Canvas > + Add Node > Core > Code

Add Team Member Assignment Logic

Add another Code node to determine card assignments based on bug category or mention patterns. Parse @mentions from the original Slack message or use keyword matching to assign cards to specific team members automatically.

1. 1Insert a Code node between your existing Code and Trello nodes
2. 2Write logic to detect @mentions or categorize by keywords
3. 3Map Slack user IDs to Trello member IDs
4. 4Set default assignee for unmatched cases
5. 5Return the appropriate Trello member ID

Workflow Canvas > Add Trigger > Error Trigger

Configure Error Handling and Notifications

Add an Error Trigger node and a Slack notification back to the original channel when cards are successfully created. This confirms to reporters that their bug was captured and provides the Trello card link.

1. 1Add an Error Trigger node at the workflow level
2. 2Connect it to a Slack node for error notifications
3. 3Add a final Slack node after successful Trello creation
4. 4Configure success message with Trello card URL
5. 5Set the channel to match the original message channel

Workflow Canvas > Active Toggle > Test

Test and Deploy the Workflow

Activate your workflow and test it with real Slack messages. Send a test bug report in a monitored channel and verify the complete flow: message detection, parsing, Trello card creation, and confirmation notification.

1. 1Click the 'Active' toggle in the top right
2. 2Go to your Slack channel and post a test message
3. 3Include bug keywords and @mentions to test all logic
4. 4Check Trello for the created card
5. 5Verify the success notification appears in Slack