# Slack incident workflows

Better Stack can run the whole incident in Slack. It opens a channel for the incident, invites the people who fix it, and keeps Slack and the incident timeline in sync until it's resolved.

Pick one of three ways when you set up the [Slack integration](https://betterstack.com/docs/uptime/slack/):

| | Channel-based | Thread-based | Single channel |
|---|---|---|---|
| **A new incident** | Gets its own Slack channel, announced in your main channel | Posts one message in your main channel | Posts a message in your main channel |
| **Updates** | Go into the incident channel | Go into the message's thread | Each one is a new message |
| **Who's involved** | Everyone alerted, plus the people you always invite | The people you always tag | Whoever watches the channel |
| **Plan** | [Paid plan](https://betterstack.com/pricing) | Paid plan | Every plan |

## Channel-based: a dedicated channel for every incident

When an incident's escalation reaches Slack, Better Stack:

1. Creates a channel named after the date and the incident, like `#inc-26-10-21-checkout-api-status-500`.
2. Invites everyone it alerted, so the on-call responders are there from the first minute. Anyone alerted later in the escalation joins when they're alerted.
3. Invites the people you always want there: a team lead, whoever is on call in a schedule, or a Slack user group.
4. Posts the incident with **Acknowledge** and **Escalate** buttons. The channel topic shows the current status, and bookmarks link to the incident and its monitor.
5. Announces the incident in your main channel with a link to the incident channel. That message keeps its status and buttons up to date.

From then on, the channel is the incident's war room:

- Every message in the channel is added to the incident timeline as a comment, files included. Edits and deletions sync too.
- Comments added in Better Stack are posted to the channel. Mention a colleague in one and they're invited, unless the channel is private.
- Acknowledging, resolving and reopening post to the channel as they happen.
- Click **Start Zoom** on the incident message to open a call, once you've added the [Zoom integration](https://betterstack.com/docs/uptime/integrations/zoom/).

Once the incident is resolved, Better Stack asks whether to archive the channel. Click **Archive channel** to close it.

[info]
#### Need the channel private?
Check **Make the channel private** in the integration settings and add at least one person to invite. Don't see the option? Re-install the Slack integration.
[/info]

## Thread-based: one thread per incident

Better Stack posts a new incident to your main channel and tags the people you choose in its thread. Every escalation step, status change and comment goes into that thread, so the channel shows one message per incident.

Reply in the thread to add a comment to the incident timeline. The incident message keeps its status and buttons up to date.

## Single channel: a message for every update

Better Stack posts each update as a new message in your main channel: the new incident, who acknowledged it, and when it was resolved. Reply in a thread under any of them to add a comment to the incident.

## Switch to channel-based or thread-based

1. Go to [Integrations](https://incidents.betterstack.com/team/0/integrations ";_blank") and click your channel on the **Slack** card.
2. Under **How do we notify you?**, select **Channel-based**.
3. In **Who should we always invite into the Slack channel?**, add the people, on-call schedules or Slack user groups you always want there. On-call responders are invited automatically.
4. Click **Save changes**.

![Channel-based selected under How do we notify you?, with a team lead and an on-call schedule always invited](https://imagedelivery.net/xZXo0QFi-1_4Zimer-T0XQ/257807da-acfa-4ce6-82f8-6d046b7b1700/lg1x =1001x374)

For **Thread-based**, select it in step 2 and use **Who should we always tag in the thread?** in step 3.

## Do more without leaving Slack

- [Report an incident](https://betterstack.com/docs/uptime/creating-incidents-manually/#from-slack) with `/incident`. In channel-based mode, you get a button to join its channel right away.
- Tag **@Better Stack** in a thread to start an [AI SRE](https://betterstack.com/docs/ai-sre/welcome/) investigation of the incident.

## Need help?

Please let us know at hello@betterstack.com.  
We're happy to help! 🙏