Slack and Discord Notifications

Configure webhook integrations to automatically send standups, PR announcements, and weekly summaries to Slack and Discord channels.

DevDaily can send standup notes, PR announcements, and weekly summaries directly to Slack and Discord channels using webhooks.

Overview

Notifications enable:

• Automated standups: Send daily updates to your team channel
• PR announcements: Notify reviewers when PRs are created
• Weekly summaries: Share accomplishments with stakeholders
• Custom messages: Send any DevDaily output to chat

All notifications use webhooks - no OAuth or app installation required. Messages are sent via HTTPS POST requests.

Quick Setup

Run the interactive notification setup:

devdaily init --notifications

This will:

1. Ask which platform(s) you want to configure
2. Guide you through webhook URL creation
3. Test the connection with a sample message
4. Save configuration to secrets.json

Slack Setup

1. Create Incoming Webhook

   1. Go to https://api.slack.com/apps
   2. Click “Create New App” → “From scratch”
   3. Name it “DevDaily” and select your workspace
   4. Under “Features” → “Incoming Webhooks”, toggle “Activate Incoming Webhooks”
   5. Click “Add New Webhook to Workspace”
   6. Select the channel (e.g., #engineering-standups)
   7. Copy the webhook URL (starts with https://hooks.slack.com/services/...)
2. Store Webhook URL

   Add to ~/.config/devdaily/secrets.json:

   {
     "slack": {
       "webhookUrl": "https://hooks.slack.com/services/T00000000/B00000000/XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX"
     }
   }
   
3. Enable in Configuration

   Update .devdaily.json:

   {
     "notifications": {
       "slack": {
         "enabled": true,
         "channel": "#engineering-standups"
       }
     }
   }
   
4. Test Connection

   devdaily standup --test-webhook
   # Sends test message to Slack
   

Configuration Options

notifications.slack.enabled · boolean · default: "false"

Enable Slack notifications

notifications.slack.webhookUrl · string · required

Slack incoming webhook URL (stored in secrets.json)

notifications.slack.channel · string

Default channel name (optional, for documentation only - webhook determines actual channel)

Environment Variable

export SLACK_WEBHOOK_URL="https://hooks.slack.com/services/..."

Discord Setup

1. Create Webhook

   1. Open your Discord server
   2. Right-click the channel → “Edit Channel”
   3. Go to “Integrations” → “Webhooks”
   4. Click “New Webhook”
   5. Name it “DevDaily” and optionally set an avatar
   6. Copy the webhook URL (starts with https://discord.com/api/webhooks/...)
2. Store Webhook URL

   Add to ~/.config/devdaily/secrets.json:

   {
     "discord": {
       "webhookUrl": "https://discord.com/api/webhooks/123456789/abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz"
     }
   }
   
3. Enable in Configuration

   Update .devdaily.json:

   {
     "notifications": {
       "discord": {
         "enabled": true
       }
     }
   }
   
4. Test Connection

   devdaily standup --test-webhook
   # Sends test message to Discord
   

Configuration Options

notifications.discord.enabled · boolean · default: "false"

Enable Discord notifications

notifications.discord.webhookUrl · string · required

Discord webhook URL (stored in secrets.json)

Environment Variable

export DISCORD_WEBHOOK_URL="https://discord.com/api/webhooks/..."

Scheduled Standups

Configure automatic daily standup delivery:

.devdaily.json

{
  "notifications": {
    "slack": {
      "enabled": true
    },
    "standupSchedule": "0 9 * * 1-5",
    "standupTimezone": "America/New_York"
  },
  "standup": {
    "scheduleDays": ["monday", "tuesday", "wednesday", "thursday", "friday"],
    "scheduleTime": "09:00"
  }
}

notifications.standupSchedule · string (cron)

Cron expression for standup schedule (e.g., 0 9 * * 1-5 = 9am weekdays)

notifications.standupTimezone · string · default: "America/New_York"

Timezone for scheduled standups (e.g., America/Los_Angeles, Europe/London)

standup.scheduleDays · string[]

Days of week to send standups: monday, tuesday, wednesday, thursday, friday, saturday, sunday

Scheduled standups require setting up a cron job or CI workflow. See the Automation Guide below.

Sending Notifications

Manual Sending

Send any command output to configured channels:

# Send standup to all enabled channels
devdaily standup --send

# Send to Slack only
devdaily standup --slack

# Send to Discord only
devdaily standup --discord

# Send weekly summary
devdaily week --send

# Send PR announcement
devdaily pr --create --send

Automatic Sending

When notifications are enabled, you can configure commands to always send:

.devdaily.json

{
  "standup": {
    "autoSend": true  // Always send standups
  },
  "pr": {
    "announceOnCreate": true  // Announce new PRs
  }
}

Message Formats

Slack Format

Slack messages use Block Kit for rich formatting:

{
  "blocks": [
    {
      "type": "header",
      "text": {
        "type": "plain_text",
        "text": "☀️ Daily Standup",
        "emoji": true
      }
    },
    {
      "type": "section",
      "text": {
        "type": "mrkdwn",
        "text": "*Yesterday:*\n- Implemented OAuth\n- Fixed login bug"
      }
    },
    {
      "type": "section",
      "text": {
        "type": "mrkdwn",
        "text": "*Related Tickets:*\n• <https://jira.com/PROJ-123|PROJ-123>: Add OAuth"
      }
    }
  ]
}

Features:

• Header with emoji
• Markdown formatting (*bold*, _italic_, strikethrough)
• Clickable links for tickets
• Dividers between sections
• Contextual footer with timestamp

Discord Format

Discord messages use embeds:

{
  "embeds": [
    {
      "title": "☀️ Daily Standup",
      "description": "**Yesterday:**\n- Implemented OAuth\n- Fixed login bug",
      "color": 4905600,
      "fields": [
        {
          "name": "PROJ-123",
          "value": "[Add OAuth](https://jira.com/PROJ-123)",
          "inline": true
        }
      ],
      "footer": {
        "text": "Sent via DevDaily"
      },
      "timestamp": "2026-03-03T10:15:30.000Z"
    }
  ],
  "username": "DevDaily"
}

Features:

• Color-coded embeds (green for standup, blue for PR, purple for weekly)
• Markdown in description
• Fields for ticket metadata
• Timestamp and footer
• Custom username and avatar

Output Format Override

Send Slack-optimized output to any channel:

devdaily standup --format slack --slack

This converts markdown to Slack’s mrkdwn format:

• **bold** → *bold*
• *italic* → _italic_
• [link](url) → <url|link>
• Code blocks → Slack code blocks

Automation

GitHub Actions

Send standups via GitHub Actions:

.github/workflows/daily-standup.yml

name: Daily Standup

on:
  schedule:
    - cron: '0 9 * * 1-5'  # 9am weekdays (UTC)
  workflow_dispatch:  # Manual trigger

jobs:
  standup:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      
      - name: Setup Node.js
        uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: '18'
      
      - name: Install DevDaily
        run: npm install -g devdaily-ai
      
      - name: Send Standup
        env:
          SLACK_WEBHOOK_URL: ${{ secrets.SLACK_WEBHOOK_URL }}
        run: |
          devdaily standup --slack --no-copy

Add SLACK_WEBHOOK_URL and DISCORD_WEBHOOK_URL to your repository secrets under Settings → Secrets and variables → Actions.

Cron Job

Send standups via cron (Linux/macOS):

crontab -e

Add:

# Daily standup at 9am (Mon-Fri)
0 9 * * 1-5 cd /path/to/repo && devdaily standup --slack --no-copy

# Weekly summary on Friday at 5pm
0 17 * * 5 cd /path/to/repo && devdaily week --slack --no-copy

Export webhook URLs in your shell profile:

~/.bashrc

export SLACK_WEBHOOK_URL="https://hooks.slack.com/services/..."
export DISCORD_WEBHOOK_URL="https://discord.com/api/webhooks/..."

Notification Types

Standup Notification

devdaily standup --send

Includes:

• Yesterday’s completed work
• Today’s planned work
• Blockers (if any)
• Related ticket links
• Commit/file statistics

Appearance:

• Title: “☀️ Daily Standup”
• Color: Green
• Emoji: ☀️

PR Notification

devdaily pr --create --send

Includes:

• PR title and link
• Description summary
• Ticket references
• Diff statistics

Appearance:

• Title: ”🔀 New PR: [title]”
• Color: Blue
• Emoji: 🔀
• Direct link to PR

Weekly Summary Notification

devdaily week --send

Includes:

• Weekly accomplishments
• Commit and PR counts
• Ticket completions
• Stats footer

Appearance:

• Title: ”📊 Weekly Summary”
• Color: Purple
• Emoji: 📊
• Footer: ”📊 X commits · Y PRs this week”

Custom Messages

Send custom notifications programmatically:

import { sendNotification, formatStandupNotification } from 'devdaily-ai';

const message = formatStandupNotification(
  'Yesterday:\n- Implemented OAuth\n- Fixed login bug',
  [
    {
      id: 'PROJ-123',
      url: 'https://jira.com/browse/PROJ-123',
      title: 'Add OAuth'
    }
  ]
);

await sendNotification(message, { slack: true, discord: true });

Troubleshooting

Webhook Test Fails

1. Verify webhook URL:

   devdaily config --path
   cat ~/.config/devdaily/secrets.json | grep webhookUrl
   

2. Test with curl:

   # Slack
   curl -X POST -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
     -d '{"text":"Test from DevDaily"}' \
     https://hooks.slack.com/services/YOUR/WEBHOOK/URL
   
   # Discord
   curl -X POST -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
     -d '{"content":"Test from DevDaily"}' \
     https://discord.com/api/webhooks/YOUR/WEBHOOK/URL
   

3. Check webhook status:

   • Slack: Verify webhook is active in https://api.slack.com/apps
   • Discord: Check webhook hasn’t been deleted in channel settings

Messages Not Sending

Enabled but not sending

Check configuration:

devdaily config | grep -A5 notifications

Ensure:

• enabled: true for your platform
• webhookUrl is set in secrets.json

Rate limit errors

Both platforms have rate limits:

• Slack: 1 message per second
• Discord: 30 messages per minute

Avoid rapid-fire sends. Use --send sparingly.

Formatting issues

Test different formats:

devdaily standup --format plain --slack
devdaily standup --format markdown --slack

Network/Firewall Issues

Ensure outbound HTTPS is allowed to:

• Slack: hooks.slack.com
• Discord: discord.com

Test connectivity:

ping hooks.slack.com
ping discord.com

Security Best Practices

Webhook URLs are sensitive credentials. Anyone with a webhook URL can send messages to your channel.

1. Store in secrets.json, never in .devdaily.json:

   // ❌ Bad
   .devdaily.json: { "notifications": { "slack": { "webhookUrl": "..." } } }
   
   // ✅ Good
   secrets.json: { "slack": { "webhookUrl": "..." } }
   

2. Add secrets.json to .gitignore:

   echo ".devdaily.secrets.json" >> .gitignore
   echo "~/.config/devdaily/secrets.json" >> ~/.gitignore_global
   

3. Use environment variables in CI/CD:

   env:
     SLACK_WEBHOOK_URL: ${{ secrets.SLACK_WEBHOOK_URL }}
   

4. Rotate webhooks if exposed:

   • Slack: Delete old webhook, create new one
   • Discord: Delete webhook in channel settings, create new

5. Restrict channel permissions:

   • Make notification channels read-only for most users
   • Limit who can create/edit webhooks

Disabling Notifications

Temporarily disable without removing configuration:

.devdaily.json

{
  "notifications": {
    "slack": { "enabled": false },
    "discord": { "enabled": false }
  }
}

Or per-command:

devdaily standup --no-send

Related Configuration

Configuration Overview

Learn about all configuration options

Standup Command

Generate and send daily standups