The moment it happens

Get a Slack ping for new Help Scout conversations

The moment a conversation arrives in your chosen mailbox, its subject and customer show up in Slack.

Runs: The moment it happens
Apps: Help Scout
AI: Not needed
Access: read

Send this to your assistant

Create a ClickRuntime automation: when a new Help Scout conversation arrives in our Support mailbox, post the subject, the customer's name and a link to #inbox in Slack.

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

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

Why use it

Why teams use this automation

A customer writing to a small company expects an answer within hours, and in a shared Help Scout mailbox it is easy for everyone to assume someone else is watching. The inbox is open in a browser tab nobody looks at, a conversation arrives at 2 pm, and by 5 pm the customer has sent a second, less friendly message. Dedicated teams solve this with a monitor on the wall; small teams usually do not have one.

When a new conversation is created, Help Scout sends a webhook, the signature is verified so only genuine events are accepted, the mailbox is checked against your filter, and a message is posted in Slack with the subject, the customer and a link. It reacts as the conversation arrives, not on a timer.

It suits teams that handle support in Slack and want the first reply to be quick.

What you get out of it

First replies are faster
Seeing a new conversation as it arrives cuts the delay before a first answer, and first response time is one of the strongest drivers of customer satisfaction. Customers notice speed more than polish, and a quick acknowledgment sets the tone.
Shared ownership with less duplication
When the notice is in a channel, a teammate can reply with a quick I have got this, and the others stay out of it. That avoids both silence and double replies.
No need to keep a tab open
The inbox is no longer something you must remember to watch. The channel notifies you, which suits people who split time between support and other work. Support stays one task among many, not a constant background worry.
Mailbox filters reduce noise
Posts can be limited to the mailbox that matters, such as support, while sales or billing inboxes stay quiet. The channel stays useful instead of becoming a feed to mute.
Signed events keep it trustworthy
Because the webhook signature is verified, only real events from Help Scout create posts. A stray request cannot fill your channel with fake conversations. You can trust that a post in the channel reflects something that really happened.
Works the moment a conversation starts
Because Help Scout sends the event as it happens, the post appears within moments and not after a polling delay. That speed matters most for urgent customers who write in once and expect a prompt acknowledgment.

How it works

What happens, step by step

When a new conversation arrives in Help Scout, Help Scout tells ClickRuntime straight away.
The automation ignores conversations from mailboxes other than the one you chose.
It posts the customer's name, the subject and a link to the conversation in your #inbox Slack channel.

Before it runs live

Connect Help Scout
Paste your automation's link into the other app's webhook settings

What you get

RunsThe moment it happens

Get a Slack ping for new Help Scout conversationsjust nowSucceeded

Slack · #inboxNew conversation from Dana Lee: Invoice shows the wrong VAT number https://secure.helpscout.net/conversation/2841

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
Add an AI step, for example to summarize, sort or draft a reply
Add another app, for example also send it to Slack
Combine it with other Help Scout 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.

new_conversation_notification.pyexample

from clickruntime import on_event, notify

SUPPORT_MAILBOX_ID = 123456

@on_event
def handle(event):
    convo = event.json
    if convo.get("mailboxId") != SUPPORT_MAILBOX_ID:
        return {"skipped": "other mailbox"}
    c = convo.get("primaryCustomer") or {}
    name = f"{c.get('first', '')} {c.get('last', '')}".strip() or c.get("email", "Unknown")
    notify.slack(f"New conversation from {name}: {convo['subject']}\n"
                 f"https://secure.helpscout.net/conversation/{convo['id']}", channel="#inbox")
    return {"posted": convo["id"]}

FAQ

Common questions

Will it post every message or only new conversations?

Only new conversations. Replies on an existing thread do not trigger a post, so a long back-and-forth does not flood the channel. A separate alert could cover customer replies if you want one. Replies in an existing thread stay out of the channel.

What is shown in the Slack message?

The conversation subject, the customer's name or email, the mailbox and a link to open it in Help Scout. A short preview of the first message can be added if you want triage in Slack.

Which Help Scout plan do I need for webhooks?

Webhooks are available to account owners and administrators who can create them in the app's settings. If you cannot see the option, ask an admin to enable it or to share the details. Account permissions in Help Scout control who can set up webhooks.

What permissions does it need?

read. Nothing else in your accounts is used.

Does it need AI?

No. It runs without AI, so it doesn't use your plan's 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.

The moment it happens