2/16/2021 FileMaker Slack Integration | DB Services

DB Services › Blog › FileMaker Slack Integration

By Andy Bowerman  Posted on  February 16th, 2021  in  FileMaker, Free Downloads

FileMaker Slack Integration

Since 2013, Slack’s intuitive IRC-style messaging has helped reshape team communications - to date,
with over 12+ million daily active users globally, Slack is where more work happens every day, for
organizations of all sizes. With a simple and robust API, Slack is quickly integrated into custom
applications of all types, and your FileMaker app is no exception! Slack uses its own apps to accomplish
your workspace's various needs, and all of these – Zoom meetings, delivery noti cations, Google
Calendar event management, and much more – can be controlled through your FileMaker app. Our
guide will have your app sending messages to your Slack workspace from FileMaker in no time! 

Set Up a Workspace in Slack

We've included a sample FileMaker le at the end of the article to get you going, but before we get
ahead of ourselves, let's get a Slack workspace ready to display the messages we send from FileMaker.
The workspace is the primary element of an organization’s Slack structure. If you don’t already have a
workspace, setting one up is fast and free – Slack’s guides recommend that even administrators of

https://dbservices.com/blog/filemaker-slack-integration 1/7
2/16/2021 FileMaker Slack Integration | DB Services
existing Slack workspace should use a new workspace as a sandbox to practice new features like this.
For this article, we set up a workspace for the very illustrious (and very real) stegosaurus engineering
rm, Stego Tech. Your workspace comes with some sample channels to divide your team's
communication, and more can be added whenever the need arises.

Creating a Slack App

Slack's API allows apps to expand the platform’s functionality past simple peer-to-peer messaging by
integrating with popular services like BitBucket and Zoom. Slack apps can get pretty complex, but their
various APIs make integrating a dream. In order for messages sent from FileMaker to show up in your
Slack workspace, check out Slack's excellent guide on creating a new Slack app. For Stego Tech's
workspace, I made StegoBot, a lizard automaton that will use webhook URLs to relay Stego Tech's
FileMaker messages to Slack.

https://dbservices.com/blog/filemaker-slack-integration 2/7
2/16/2021 FileMaker Slack Integration | DB Services

As noted earlier, channels let you split up your organization's various communications into more
speci c avenues. For each channel you want FileMaker to message, create a webhook using the Slack
App Manager's Webhooks section. We made webhooks that allow StegoBot to send messages to
various public, private, and custom channels in Stego Tech's workspace, like the #thagomizer channel.

Send Messages
The included FileMaker sample le lets you quickly test your app’s messaging capability. Just paste in
your Slack webhooks, select a channel, and send messages with a click! You can modify our script to

https://dbservices.com/blog/filemaker-slack-integration 3/7
2/16/2021 FileMaker Slack Integration | DB Services
suit all of your FileMaker needs – like automatically warning the #random channel to evacuate if your
warp core's containment eld reaches critical levels – or whatever else your stegosaurus engineering
rm runs into. Make your API call using FileMaker's 'Insert from URL' script step. This will use cURL
and JSON to send a message to one of the Slack webhooks you set up earlier. Here's the general
format:

JSON

{"channel":"#random","text":"!! WARNING !!\rWarp core breach\rContainment field at

12%","username":"StegoBot"}

cURL 

-X POST  --header "Content-Type: application/JSON"  --data @$json

After you re off your call, Slack's API will return a message describing the result – i.e. whether or not
your call was successful. Failing calls have extensive documentation on Slack to help you get back on
your feet. Successful calls are apparent not only by their message appearing in your workspace, but are
rewarded with a coveted and esteemed API message:

ok

Congratulations!

https://dbservices.com/blog/filemaker-slack-integration 4/7
2/16/2021 FileMaker Slack Integration | DB Services

Conclusion
Augmenting FileMaker with Slack makes it easy to keep your team up to speed on the most critical
events in your business as they happen, but that's just the start. With Slack's powerful API, your
FileMaker app can take advantage of whatever your organization uses Slack for most. If you'd like help
integrating Slack into your FileMaker work ows, contact DB Services!

“
Did you know we are an authorized reseller for FileMaker Licensing?
Contact us to discuss upgrading your FileMaker software.

”
Download the FileMaker Slack Integration File
https://dbservices.com/blog/filemaker-slack-integration 5/7
2/16/2021 FileMaker Slack Integration | DB Services
Please complete the form below to download your FREE FileMaker le.

First Name *

Last Name *

Company

Phone *

Email *

FileMaker Experience *

New to FileMaker Platform

Existing User of FileMaker

Existing Developer of FileMaker

Terms of Use *

I agree

OPT-IN: I agree that I am downloading a completely free FileMaker application le with no strings
attached. This le is unlocked, and I may use it for my business or organization as I see t. Because I am
downloading a free le, I agree that I should receive occasional marketing. I understand that I can OPT-
OUT of these emails at anytime.

https://dbservices.com/blog/filemaker-slack-integration 6/7
2/16/2021 FileMaker Slack Integration | DB Services

Andy Bowerman
Andy is a certi ed FileMaker and web developer who strives for precision and takes
pride in his ability to nd practical solutions to complex problems. A veteran of the
United States Marine Corps, he is mission-oriented and naturally driven to deliver
successful results to clients.

https://dbservices.com/blog/filemaker-slack-integration 7/7