How to automate sending SquaredUp dashboards to Slack with the Notification API

SquaredUp's existing notifications fire when monitors change state. With Notification API, you control the trigger. Send dashboards on a schedule, before meetings, or on-demand through chat commands.

In this step-by-step guide, you’ll learn how to automate sending SquaredUp dashboards to Slack. I’ll use Power Automate as the example, but the same approach works with other automation tools such as Zapier, Make, n8n, or even a custom script, as long as it can send an HTTP request.

Example: The Monday dev team snapshot

Imagine scheduling a weekly report straight to your dev team’s Slack channel, giving them a snapshot of sprint progress and key metrics. It’s a simple way to keep everyone informed and ready to start the week on the right track.

Step 1: Gather your prerequisites

Before you get started, make sure you have:

• A SquaredUp account (with the dashboard you want to share)
• An automation tool of your choice (Power Automate, Zapier, Make, custom scripts, etc.)
• Access to the Slack workspace where you'll be sending dashboard updates
• An API key from SquaredUp (find it under Settings > Advanced > API)
• The Dashboard ID from SquaredUp

To grab the Dashboard ID, just go to your dashboard in SquaredUp, it’ll be right in the URL at the top of your browser (dash-XXXXXXXXXXXX)

Step 2: Create a Slack Webhook URL

Slack uses Incoming Webhooks to accept messages from external apps. Here’s how to create one:

1. Go to Slack API: Your Apps and log in.
2. Click “Create New App” -> “From scratch”.
3. Give it a name (e.g, Squaredup Dashboard Bot) and select your workspace.
4. In the app page, go to Incoming Webhooks -> turn on Activate Incoming Webhooks.
5. Scroll down and click “Add New Webhook to Workspace”.
6. Choose the Slack channel where the dashboard should appear (e.g., #dev-team).
7. Click Allow.

Slack will generate a URL like:

https://hooks.slack.com/services/TXXXX/BXXXX/XXXXXXXXXX

Keep this URL handy, you’ll use it in your automation tool.

Step 3: Create an automation flow

This example uses Power Automate, but the process is similar in any tool:

1. Set up your trigger (e.g. scheduled every Monday at 9:00 AM)
2. Add an HTTP action (or equivalent)

Step 4: Configure the HTTP POST to SquaredUp

Here’s the HTTP request you need to send to the SquaredUp Notification API:

Request:

• Method: POST
• URI: https://api.squaredup.com/api/alerting/alert
• Headers:

Content-Type: application/json

apiKey: YOUR_SQUAREDUP_API_KEY

Body: paste the JSON below (replace placeholders):

{ "dashboardId": "dash-REPLACE_WITH_YOURS", "channelTypeId": "channeltype-00000000000000000002", "config": { "url": "https://hooks.slack.com/services/TXXXX/BXXXX/XXXXXXXXXX" }, "message": "Your Coding Pulse This Week :zap:" }

Notes:

• channelTypeId = channeltype-00000000000000000002 corresponds to Slack Webhook.
• Replace the Slack URL and dashboardId with your own.

Step 5: Test and go live

1. Send a test run of the flow
2. Check your Slack channel -you should see your SquaredUp dashboard snapshot
3. Save and let it trigger automatically each week

Make it better

• Tweak the Slack message with key metrics or team-specific notes
• Send multiple dashboards by adding more HTTP steps with different dashboard IDs

🎉 And that’s it! Now your dev team gets a fresh snapshot of your SquaredUp dashboard every Monday, right in Slack.