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The moment it happens

Send system alerts to Slack and the on-call phone

When something breaks, the team sees it in Slack and the person on call gets a WhatsApp message, without repeats.

Runs
The moment it happens
Apps
Slack, WhatsApp Business
AI
Not needed
Access
chat:write; whatsapp_business_messaging

Send this to your assistant

Create a ClickRuntime automation: when my monitoring posts an alert to my trigger link, post it to #alerts in Slack and send the on-call person my WhatsApp alert template, skipping repeats within 30 minutes.

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

Small teams don't have a dedicated operations room. Alerts go to a Slack channel that's busy during the day and silent at night, which is exactly when a failed job or a cost spike does the most damage.

Posting to Slack keeps the whole team informed, and a WhatsApp message to whoever is on call makes sure someone actually wakes up for it.

What you get out of it

  • Someone always hears it

    The on-call person's phone buzzes even when Slack is quiet.

  • The team has the context

    Everyone can see the alert in Slack and follow along.

  • No alert floods

    Repeats of the same alert within 30 minutes are skipped.

  • Works with any tool

    Anything that can send a webhook can raise an alert.

How it works

What happens, step by step

  1. Your monitoring tool sends an alert to ClickRuntime.

  2. If the same alert was sent in the last 30 minutes, it's skipped.

  3. The alert is posted to your alerts channel in Slack.

  4. The on-call person gets a WhatsApp alert with the title.

Before it runs live

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

What you get

RunsThe moment it happens
Send system alerts to Slack and the on-call phonejust nowSucceeded
Slack · #alerts:rotating_light: [critical] Northwind order sync failed 3 times in a row

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 Google Sheets
  • Combine it with other Slack and WhatsApp Business 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.
system_and_error_alerts_to_slack_and_whatsapp.pyexample
import time
from clickruntime import on_event, credentials, http, notify, state

ON_CALL = "447700900123"
WA = "https://graph.facebook.com/v20.0/your-phone-number-id/messages"

def wa_template(to, name, params):
    body = {"messaging_product": "whatsapp", "to": to, "type": "template", "template": {"name": name, "language": {"code": "en"},
            "components": [{"type": "body", "parameters": [{"type": "text", "text": str(p)} for p in params]}]}}
    return http.post(WA, headers={"Authorization": f"Bearer {credentials.secret('WHATSAPP_TOKEN')}"}, json=body).json()

@on_event
def handle(event):
    a = event.json or {}
    title = str(a.get("title") or a.get("message") or "Alert")[:150]
    severity = a.get("severity", "high")
    if time.time() - (state.get(f"last:{title}") or 0) < 1800:
        return {"skipped": "repeat"}
    notify.slack(f":rotating_light: [{severity}] {title}\n{a.get('details', '')}"[:3000], channel="#alerts")
    if severity in ("high", "critical"):
        wa_template(ON_CALL, "critical_alert", [title])
    state.set(f"last:{title}", time.time())
    return {"alerted": title}

FAQ

Common questions

How do I set who's on call?
Set the on-call phone number in the automation's settings. Change it when the rota changes, or keep a list by day.
Why a template for WhatsApp?
WhatsApp only allows approved templates when the person hasn't messaged your business number in the last 24 hours, which is usual for alerts.
Can low-priority alerts go to Slack only?
Yes. Alerts below a severity you choose can skip WhatsApp.
What permissions does it need?
chat:write; whatsapp_business_messaging. 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.

Set up “Send system alerts to Slack and the on-call phone” from your assistant

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