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The moment it happens

Summarise documentation changes in Slack

When someone changes the docs in GitHub, Slack gets a short plain-language summary of what changed and why it matters.

Runs
The moment it happens
Apps
GitHub, Slack
AI
Yes, uses the built-in AI allowance
Access
contents read; chat:write

Send this to your assistant

Create a ClickRuntime automation: when a push to main in acme/docs changes files under docs/, have AI summarise what changed in two or three sentences and post it to #product with a link.

Paste it into your assistant. It tells you what it will send or change before it runs live.

First time? Adding ClickRuntime to your assistant takes about two minutes.

Why use it

Why teams use this automation

A software company keeps its help centre and API docs in a GitHub repository. Support and sales rely on those docs, but they never see the commits, so they keep giving customers answers that changed last week.

A short summary of each documentation change, posted where support and sales already read, keeps everyone's knowledge current. Nobody needs to read diffs or watch the repository.

What you get out of it

  • Customer-facing teams stay current

    Support and sales learn about changes as they happen. Customers get the same answer from people as from the docs.

  • Plain language, not diffs

    The summary explains what changed in words anyone can follow. Non-engineers do not need to read code review tools.

  • Only documentation changes are posted

    Pushes that do not touch the docs folder are ignored. The channel hears about docs, not every code change.

  • A link to the details

    Each summary links to the commit, so anyone who wants the exact wording can see it in one click.

How it works

What happens, step by step

  1. When someone pushes to the main branch, GitHub notifies ClickRuntime straight away.

  2. ClickRuntime checks whether any changed files are in your documentation folders and ignores the push if not.

  3. It fetches the changed lines from those files.

  4. AI writes a short summary of what changed and who it affects.

  5. The summary is posted to your #product Slack channel with a link to the change.

Before it runs live

  • Connect GitHub
  • Connect Slack, then invite the app to the channel (type /invite @ClickRuntime there)
  • Paste your automation's link into the other app's webhook settings

What you get

RunsThe moment it happens
Summarise documentation changes in Slackjust nowSucceeded
Slack · #productDocs updated in acme/docs The refunds guide now explains that partial refunds are possible for annual plans, and the API limit for exports rose to 10,000 rows.

Build your own

Need it to work differently?

This template is a starting point. Copy the prompt and change it, or describe a different automation from scratch, with your own conditions, more apps or an AI step. Your assistant writes it, tests it and runs it on ClickRuntime.
  • Your own rules

    Conditions, thresholds, filters and exceptions, written the way you'd explain them to a colleague.

  • Any number of apps

    One automation can read from one app and update several others. Over 248 apps are ready, and anything with an API works too.

  • AI where it helps

    Summaries, classification, extraction and drafts use ClickRuntime's built-in AI, with no extra key.

  • On a schedule or on each event

    Runs as often as every 5 minutes, or the moment an app sends an event, and keeps track of what it already handled.

Changes you can ask for

  • Act only on the items that match your own rules, and skip the rest
  • Change what the AI looks for, or how it writes the result
  • Add another app, for example also send it to Google Sheets
  • Combine it with other GitHub and Slack steps into one automation

Under the hood

The code that runs this automation

This is the Python script that runs each time the automation starts. Your AI assistant writes it for you when you send the prompt, and you allow each step in your assistant. To change how the automation works, describe the change to your assistant and it updates the script for you. For every function it can use, see the script reference.
documentation_changes_summarised_in_slack.pyexample
from clickruntime import on_event, credentials, http, notify, verify, ai

def gh(method, path, **kw):
    resp = http.request(method, f"https://api.github.com{path}", headers={
        "Authorization": f"Bearer {credentials.connection('github', 'work')}", "Accept": "application/vnd.github+json"}, **kw)
    return resp.raise_for_status() or (resp.json() if resp.content else None)

DOCS = ("docs/", "help-center/")

@on_event
def handle(event):
    if not verify.github(event.body, event.header("X-Hub-Signature-256"), credentials.secret("GITHUB_WEBHOOK_SECRET")):
        return {"ignored": "bad signature"}
    push = event.json
    if push.get("ref") != "refs/heads/main":
        return {"ignored": "not main"}
    repo = push["repository"]["full_name"]
    cmp = gh("GET", f"/repos/{repo}/compare/{push['before']}...{push['after']}")
    files = [f for f in cmp["files"] if f["filename"].startswith(DOCS)]
    if not files:
        return {"ignored": "no docs changes"}
    diff = "\n".join(f"--- {f['filename']}\n{f.get('patch', '')}" for f in files)[:15000]
    summary = ai.generate(diff, system="Summarise these documentation changes for support and sales staff in 2-3 plain sentences.", max_output_tokens=200).text
    notify.slack(f"Docs updated in {repo} (<{push['compare']}|view changes>)\n{summary}", channel="#product")
    return {"files": len(files)}

FAQ

Common questions

Which folders count as documentation?
The ones you name, such as docs/ or help-center/. You can list several paths and file types like .md or .mdx.
Does it post for every small typo fix?
You can skip pushes where only a few characters changed, or where the commit message starts with a word like typo.
Can it post to more than one channel?
Yes. For example, API docs changes can go to #developers and help-centre changes to #support.
What permissions does it need?
contents read; chat:write. Nothing else in your accounts is used.
Does it need AI?
Yes. It uses ClickRuntime's built-in AI, so you don't need an OpenAI or Anthropic key. Every plan includes a monthly AI allowance.
How many runs does it use?
One run for each event the app sends.
Can I change how it works?
Yes. Describe the change to your AI assistant, for example a different schedule, channel or filter. It updates the automation, tests it and tells you what changed.

Set up “Summarise documentation changes in Slack” from your assistant

Copy the prompt above, or connect your assistant first. Free plan, no credit card.