Automated Slack bot for IT Service Desk ticket category reminders
A Slack bot that monitors your IT Service Desk channel and automatically reminds users to select a category for their tickets when they forget to do so.
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| 🔍 Automatic Monitoring | Continuously monitors your Slack channel for new tickets |
| ⏰ Smart Timing | Only reminds users after a configurable time threshold |
| 🤖 HelpDesk Integration | Detects when HelpDesk bot has already processed a ticket |
| 🔄 Duplicate Prevention | Tracks reminded messages to avoid spamming users |
| 🐳 Docker Ready | Fully containerized with multi-architecture support (Intel & Apple Silicon) |
| 🔒 Secure | Runs as non-root user, credentials via environment variables |
# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/CaputoDavide93/ITSD-Reminder.git
cd ITSD-Reminder
# Configure environment
cp config/.env.example config/.env
nano config/.env # Add your Slack credentials
# Run with Docker
docker compose up -d| Requirement | Version |
|---|---|
| 🐳 Docker | 20.10+ |
| 📦 Docker Compose | 2.0+ |
| Requirement | Version |
|---|---|
| 🐍 Python | 3.9+ |
| 📦 pip | Latest |
📋 Step-by-Step Guide
- Go to api.slack.com/apps
- Click "Create New App" → "From scratch"
- Enter an App Name (e.g., "ITSD Reminder Bot")
- Select your workspace and click "Create App"
- Navigate to "OAuth & Permissions"
- Add these Bot Token Scopes:
| Scope | Purpose |
|---|---|
channels:history |
Read messages from public channels |
channels:read |
View basic channel info |
chat:write |
Send reminder messages |
users:read |
Get user information for mentions |
- Click "Install to Workspace"
- Review permissions and click "Allow"
- Copy the Bot User OAuth Token (starts with
xoxb-)
- Open your IT Service Desk channel in Slack
- Type
/invite @YourBotName
| Variable | Required | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
SLACK_BOT_TOKEN |
✅ | - | Your Slack Bot OAuth Token |
CHANNEL_ID |
✅ | - | The Slack channel ID to monitor |
HELPDESK_BOT_ID |
✅ | - | The HelpDesk bot's ID |
AGE_THRESHOLD_SECONDS |
❌ | 10800 |
Time to wait before sending reminder (3 hours) |
CHECK_INTERVAL_HOURS |
❌ | 2 |
How often to check for new messages |
# config/.env
SLACK_BOT_TOKEN=xoxb-your-token-here
CHANNEL_ID=C0XXXXXXXXX
HELPDESK_BOT_ID=B0XXXXXXXXX
AGE_THRESHOLD_SECONDS=10800
CHECK_INTERVAL_HOURS=2
⚠️ Security Note: Never commit your.envfile to version control!
This image supports both Intel/AMD64 and Apple Silicon (ARM64).
# Build and start
docker compose up -d
# View logs
docker compose logs -f
# Stop the service
docker compose down
# Rebuild after code changes
docker compose up -d --build# Create virtual environment
python3 -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate # Windows: venv\Scripts\activate
# Install dependencies
pip install -r requirements.txt
# Set environment variables
export SLACK_BOT_TOKEN="xoxb-your-token"
export CHANNEL_ID="C0XXXXXXXXX"
export HELPDESK_BOT_ID="B0XXXXXXXXX"
# Run the bot
python src/main.py┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ ITSD Reminder Bot │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ │
│ 1. 🔍 Fetches today's messages from the channel │
│ ↓ │
│ 2. ⏰ Filters messages older than threshold │
│ ↓ │
│ 3. 🔎 Checks each thread for HelpDesk bot replies │
│ ↓ │
│ 4. 📨 Sends reminder to threads without category │
│ ↓ │
│ 5. 💾 Logs reminded messages to prevent duplicates │
│ ↓ │
│ 6. 😴 Sleeps for configured interval, then repeats │
│ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
ITSD-Reminder/
├── 📁 src/ # Source code
│ ├── __init__.py
│ └── main.py # Main bot logic
├── 📁 config/ # Configuration
│ ├── .env.example # Template (safe to commit)
│ └── .env # Your secrets (gitignored)
├── 📁 data/ # Runtime data (gitignored)
│ └── reminded_messages.json
├── 🐳 Dockerfile # Multi-arch Docker image
├── 🐳 docker-compose.yml # Docker orchestration
├── 📋 requirements.txt # Python dependencies
├── 📜 LICENSE # MIT License
├── 🤝 CONTRIBUTING.md # Contribution guidelines
├── 🔐 SECURITY.md # Security policy
└── 📖 README.md # This file
❌ Bot not responding
- Check if the bot is running:
docker compose ps - Verify logs for errors:
docker compose logs -f - Ensure environment variables are set correctly
❌ "channel_not_found" error
- Verify the
CHANNEL_IDis correct - Ensure the bot is invited to the channel:
/invite @YourBotName
❌ Messages not being detected
- Check
AGE_THRESHOLD_SECONDS- messages must be older than this value - Verify the bot has
channels:historypermission
Contributions are welcome! Please read our Contributing Guide for details.
- 🍴 Fork the repository
- 🌿 Create a feature branch (
git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature) - 💾 Commit your changes (
git commit -m 'Add amazing feature') - 📤 Push to the branch (
git push origin feature/amazing-feature) - 🔃 Open a Pull Request
This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.
Davide Caputo
Made with ❤️ for IT Service Desk teams