Turn Slack mentions and DMs into Microsoft To Do tasks
When someone @mentions you or DMs you in Slack, an agent decides if it's a real ask and files it as a Microsoft To Do task with a link back.
Slack
Microsoft To DoPersonal ProductivityNotifications & AlertsData SyncWhen someone @mentions me or sends me a direct message in Slack, run an agent that decides whether the message is a real action request for me and, if so, files it as a Microsoft To Do task with full context.
Trigger: a Slack webhook that fires on new @mentions of me and on new direct messages sent to me.
For each incoming Slack event, the agent should:
1. Call Slack Get Thread Replies to pull the parent message and any surrounding replies so it has context, not just the single mention.
2. Call Slack Get User Info on the sender so it knows who is asking and can put a real name on the task.
3. Call Slack Get Permalink to grab a deep link back to the original message.
4. Decide whether this message is a clear ask directed at me. Ignore FYIs, greetings, thanks, reactions, thread chatter, broadcasts, and anything clearly assigned to someone else. Skip messages from bots or apps, and skip @mentions posted inside noisy alert or announcement channels (deploy feeds, monitoring alerts, #announcements, etc.).
5. If, and only if, the message qualifies as a real ask, call Microsoft To Do Create Task and add a task to my default list. The task title should be a concise, human-worded version of the ask (not a copy-paste of the Slack message). The task body should contain a one-line summary of what needs to happen, the requester's name, and the Slack permalink on its own line so it's clickable from the To Do mobile app. If the message implies a deadline like 'by Friday', 'end of day tomorrow', or 'before our Monday sync', set the task's due date accordingly.
6. If the message does not qualify as a real ask, do nothing. Do not create a task.
Keep the filter conservative. Missing a borderline mention is fine; spamming my task list is not. The Slack permalink must always be present on qualifying tasks so I can tap back to the original conversation in one step.
Additional information
What does this prompt do?
- Every time you get @mentioned or DM'd in Slack, an agent reads the thread and decides whether the message is actually asking you to do something.
- Real asks land in Microsoft To Do with a concise title, a one-line summary, the requester's name, and a tap-through link back to the Slack message.
- FYIs, greetings, thread chatter, bot noise, and asks aimed at someone else are ignored so your task list stays clean.
- If the message mentions a deadline like 'by Friday' or 'end of day tomorrow', the task gets a due date so it shows up on the right day.
What do I need to use this?
- A Slack account connected to the workspace where you get mentioned and DM'd.
- A Microsoft To Do account with a default list where new tasks should land.
- A rough sense of which Slack channels are noisy alerts you'd rather skip.
How can I customize it?
- Which channels to skip entirely, such as incident feeds, deploy bots, and #announcements.
- How strict the 'is this a real ask?' filter is, and whether asks in busy team channels count.
- Which Microsoft To Do list receives the tasks and how the task title and body are worded.
Frequently asked questions
What counts as a 'real ask' versus noise?
Will every random @mention become a task?
Where does the Slack link in the task actually go?
Can it see my DMs and private channels?
What if the message mentions a deadline?
Related templates
Stop losing Slack asks in the scroll.
Connect Slack and Microsoft To Do once. Every mention and DM that's a real ask lands in your task list with a link back to the message.