Send Scheduled Reports to Slack

Deliver scheduled task results by email and/or Slack DM, post them to a Slack channel, and see where each run was delivered.

Scheduled tasks can deliver their results by email, as Slack DMs, and to a Slack channel, in any combination.

Long reports post a short summary to the channel, with the full report in the thread.

Choose How Results Are Delivered

Open a team task, select Schedule, and fill in:

  1. Who should receive the results? The teammates who get the report. If you pick nobody, only you receive it.
  2. How should the results be delivered?
    • Email
    • Slack DM: people who haven't connected their Slack account get an email instead.
  3. Also post to a Slack channel: pick a channel Better Analyst has been added to.

Choose at least one way to deliver the results. Slack delivery is available for team tasks when Slack is connected.

If Email is off and a report can't reach anyone in Slack (for example, the channel was archived), Better Analyst emails the task owner so the report isn't lost.

What a Slack Report Looks Like

  • Short reports are posted in full.
  • Long reports post a headline and a few key points, with the full report as the first reply in the thread.
  • Charts and files are added to the thread.
  • The task owner can reply in the thread, mentioning @Better Analyst, to ask a follow-up.

Test a Report

Select Test in the schedule dialog. Better Analyst runs the task now and sends the results only to you, the way you chose: by email, and as a preview in your Slack DM if Slack delivery is on.

When a Run Fails

  • The channel gets a short notice that the report couldn't run.
  • The task owner gets a DM (or an email if their Slack account isn't connected) with a link to the task.
  • If email is on, email recipients get a failure notice too.

The owner also gets a DM if a report couldn't be posted, for example when Better Analyst was removed from the channel or a data source isn't enabled for Slack.

See Where Each Run Went

The task's Recent runs list shows where each run was delivered.

Channel reports can only use data sources your admin enabled for Slack. Slack DMs follow the same rules as DM questions, checked for each recipient.

Post Dashboard Updates to a Thread

A team dashboard with a refresh schedule can also post to Slack. In the dashboard's Schedule settings, choose a channel under Post updates to Slack.

  • The first scheduled refresh posts the dashboard's name to the channel, which starts the dashboard's thread.
  • Each scheduled refresh after that replies in the same thread with the refresh time and an Open dashboard link, so the channel gets one thread per dashboard.
  • Manual refreshes don't post. If no new data arrived, the reply says so.
  • Choosing a different channel starts a new thread there. To start a fresh thread in the same channel, choose Don't post to Slack, save, then choose the channel again.
  • If someone deletes the thread's first message, Slack keeps the thread under a “This message was deleted” placeholder and updates keep posting there.

The update is a link, not the data, so anyone opening it needs access to the team's workspace in Better Analyst. Mentioning @Better Analyst in the thread works like any other thread: it answers from the data sources your admin enabled for Slack, not from the dashboard.