What role and permissions do I need for Slack PTO notifications to work?

Setting up Slack notifications for time off requests requires more than following the setup recipe. The account you use for the integration also needs the right role and the right permission, or notifications will silently fail to appear. This article covers the role and permission requirements, and how to troubleshoot notifications that aren't showing up after setup. For the initial setup steps, see Recipe for Assembled time off notifications in Slack.

What role does the Slack notification account need?

Team Lead is the minimum role that can approve time off requests, so the account you use for Slack notifications (for example, a bot account like "PTO Requests to Slack Bot") must have this role or higher.

Having the Team Lead role alone is not enough. The role's Time off requests permission also needs to be set correctly, which is covered below.

Why aren't my Slack PTO notifications appearing after setup?

This is usually a permissions issue, not a setup issue. By default, the Team Lead role's Time off requests permission is set to View all agents' time off requests, which is view-only. A view-only permission does not trigger the notification, even if the account has the Team Lead role.

How do I update the permission for the notification account?

1. Go to Manage team > Roles and permissions.
2. Select the role assigned to the notification account (for example, Team Lead).
3. Select Time off.
4. Under Time off requests, choose Can approve, deny, edit, and cancel all agents' time off requests.
5. Select Save.

Should I create a dedicated role for the notification account instead?

If you don't want to change permissions for your existing Team Leads, create a dedicated role instead, for example PTO Slack Notifier. Give this role only the Can approve, deny, edit, and cancel all agents' time off requests permission under Time off, and assign it only to the notification account. This keeps your existing Team Lead role untouched.

How do I check if the notification email address is already in use?

Each email address in Assembled must be unique. If you see an error saying the email is already associated with an existing person, check whether it's in use before assuming it's new.

1. Go to the People page.
2. Set the Status filter to Inactive.
3. Search for the email address.

Inactive users don't show up in a default search, so checking inactive status specifically can reveal a previously used address that was deactivated rather than deleted.

How do I confirm notifications are working?

After updating the permission, submit a test time off request and check your Slack channel or email within a few minutes. If it still doesn't appear, confirm the notification account's role has been saved with the updated Time off requests permission, and that Notify me when time off requests are submitted is checked in that account's notification settings.