Slack Integration Overview

Overview

When you pair Kantata OX with Slack, your team can see activity posts and up-to-the-minute information on Slack whenever projects or tasks are updated. This integration is customizable to meet your needs; just choose the Kantata updates you want to send to any public or private channel in Slack. Each Slack message is also sent with a hyperlink that sends you directly to the project or task in Kantata OX.

Slack Scenarios

Once the Slack integration is activated, you can create scenarios that will sync data from Kantata OX to Slack. There are 2 pre-built scenarios available for this integration:

• Mavenlink Project/Task Updates to Slack Chat Message—This scenario creates a chat message in Slack when a project or task is updated in Kantata OX.
• Mavenlink Public Post to Slack Chat Message—This scenario creates a chat message in Slack when a public post is created in Kantata OX.

Getting Started

Please perform the following steps in the listed order to fully activate the Slack integration. 

1. Create a custom field in Kantata OX.
2. Activate the Slack integration in M-Bridge.
3. Create a Slack service.
4. Create a Kantata service.
5. Add the Slack custom field value to all projects the integration will sync updates for.

How to Activate the Slack Integration

Part 1: Create a Custom Field in Kantata OX

1. Log in to Kantata OX.
2. In the left navigation, hover over Settings in the left navigation and select Custom Fields.
3. On the Custom Field Sets page, click Add Custom Field Set. New fields appear. 
   
4. Ensure Project is selected on the left-hand side and then enter the Set name. 
   
5. Click Add. Your set appears under the Project Sets section below.
6. Select your new project custom field set. The Project Custom Field details page opens. 
7. Click the Add Custom Field button.
   
8. Select the Text field type, and enter a Field name. 
   
9. Click Add. Your project custom field set is created.
10. Proceed to Part 2 of the activation process. 

Part 2: Activate Slack in M-Bridge

1. Log in to M-Bridge.
2. On the homepage, locate the Slack card and click Enable.
   Note: If you do not see the Slack card on the homepage, please contact Kantata Support.
3. Proceed to Part 3 of the activation process. 

Part 3: Create a Slack Service

1. Log in to M-Bridge.
2. In the top-right corner of the homepage, click Account and then select Services from the drop-down menu that appears. The Services page opens. 
   
3. Click the Add Service drop-down menu and select Slack.
4. Ensure the Global for Account checkbox is selected. 
   
5. Click the Create button. The Slack service confirmation page appears. 
   
6. Click Confirm. You're redirected to the integration authorization page on the Slack website.
   
7. From the drop-down menu on the top-right of the page, select the Slack team that contains the channels you’re integrating with your Kantata projects.
   
8. In the Search for a channel drop-down at the bottom of the page, select the channel where you want Kantata OX to post general integration information. Messages will not be posted to this channel at this point.
9. Click Allow to authorize Kantata OX to send information to your Slack channels. You're automatically redirected to the Services page in M-Bridge where the new service appears under the Account Services list.
   
10. Proceed to Part 4 of the activation process. 

Part 4: Create a Kantata Service

1. Log in to M-Bridge.
2. In the top-right corner of the homepage, click Account and then select Services from the drop-down menu that appears. The Services page opens. 
   
3. Click the Add Service drop-down menu and select Mavenlink. 
   
   Note: Kantata OX was previously called "Mavenlink". There are still references to Mavenlink—such as in the Add Service drop-down above—in M-Bridge. You will see less of these references once our team begins the process of updating them. For more information, please reach out to Customer Success.
4. Ensure the Global for Account checkbox is selected. 
   
5. Click the Create button. The Mavenlink service confirmation page appears. 
   
6. Click Confirm. You're redirected to the Kantata OX login page.
   
7. Log in to your Kantata OX account. You're automatically redirected to the Services page in M-Bridge where the new service appears under the Account Services list.
   
8. Proceed to Part 5 of the activation process.

Part 5: Add Custom Field Value to Projects

Once you’ve created the custom fields for the Slack integration, you need to add custom field values to each project that you want the integration to sync updates for. These updates will be forwarded to the Slack channel you specify within the custom field.

1. Log in to Kantata OX.
2. In the left navigation, click Projects and then select the desired project on the Projects page.
3. To the right of the project name in the project workspace, click the Actions (“ ”) icon and then select Custom Fields from the drop-down menu that appears. The Project side panel opens.
4. In the Custom Fields subtab, locate the Slack integration custom field set and enter either the Slack channel ID or channel name.
   
   Note: The 9-digit Slack channel ID can be found in the channel URL on the Slack desktop site.

How to Create a Slack Scenario

There are two types of scenarios for sending information from your Kantata OX projects and tasks to Slack channels—public activity posts and updates. The following types of updates can be sent:

• From a Project—Title, Description, Currency, Start Date, Due Date
• From a Task—Title, Description, Percentage Complete, Status, Start Date, Due Date, Time Estimate, Budget Estimate, Task Type, Priority, Assignees, Tags, Archived, Billable, Fixed Fee.

1. Log in to M-Bridge.
2. On the homepage, locate the Slack card and click Settings.
   
3. On the Scenarios page, click Add Scenario.
   
4. Click the Select a Scenario Type drop-down menu.
   • To send project activity posts to a Slack channel, select Mavenlink Public Post to Slack Chat Message.
   • To send select project and task updates to a Slack channel, select Mavenlink Project/Task Updates to Slack Chat Message.
5. Add a Name.
6. In the Schedule drop-down menu, select how often you want the scenario to run. All Kantata activity applicable to your scenario is sent to the selected Slack channels each time Slack runs.
7. In the Mavenlink Custom Field for Slack Channel ID drop-down menu, select the custom field you created earlier.
8. For project/task updates, select the attributes that you want to track through Slack.
9. Click Save Scenario.
   Note: It generally takes a few minutes for changes to appear in channels each time Slack runs.

Troubleshooting Your Integration

• If your project updates are showing up in the Slack channel but your task updates and posts are not, make sure that the Kantata user who created the Slack services has been added to the Kantata project.
• If your messages from a Kantata project aren't showing up in a Slack channel, make sure that the following requirements are met:
  • The Slack ID or Channel name is correct in the Kantata project custom field.
  • You are a member of any private Slack channels you are trying to post to.