> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.useparagon.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Building a Slack Integration

> In this tutorial, we'll build a basic Slack integration that sends notifications from your app to your customers' Slack accounts.

This guide demonstrates how to **sync data from your app to your customer's Slack accounts**. For demonstration purposes, we’ll build a workflow that sends a notification to our user's Slack using event data from our app. You can use the concepts covered in this tutorial in other applications as well.

### Prerequisites

1. [Connect your Slack application to Paragon.](/resources/integrations/slack#setup-guide)

2. Add your Slack app credentials to [activate your integration](/resources/integrations/slack#add-your-slack-app-to-paragon).

## 1. Build your workflow

#### Step 1.1: Create a new Slack workflow

It's important that you give your workflows a descriptive name to provide the best experience for your user.

#### Step 1.2: Create an App Event

Since we want to pass event data from our application to our customer's Slack account, we'll use the [App Event](/workflows/triggers#app-events) trigger. Select the trigger step from the Workflow Editor, then click "App Event".

<Frame>
  <img src="https://mintcdn.com/paragon/DkcdqxlytLXlO_-w/assets/Choosing%20a%20Trigger%20in%20Paragon%20Connect.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=DkcdqxlytLXlO_-w&q=85&s=ac852e9a3a681b45c08336b730db16fc" alt="" width="1159" height="467" data-path="assets/Choosing a Trigger in Paragon Connect.png" />
</Frame>

Select **Choose an App Event > Create new App Event**, then add the following parameters:

* **Event Name** - the name of your App Event. (e.g. Lead Created)
* **Event Schema** - example JSON Object that will be sent from your app. JSON objects are written in key/value pairs. Keys must be `strings`, and values must be a valid JSON data type (`string`, `number`, `object`, `array`, `boolean` or `null`)

You can use the sample App Event Schema below to jumpstart your progress:

```js Task Created theme={null}
{
    "creator": "Ethan Lee",
    "summary": "Connect the Paragon SDK to my application",
    "priority": "P1",
    "status": "Not Started"
}
```

#### Step 1.3: Add a Slack step

Add a Slack step to your workflow and use the dropdown menu to select `Send message in channel` as the action. When composing your message, you can input the fields from your App Event by typing two left curly braces `{{` to bring up the dynamic variable menu.

<Frame>
  <img src="https://mintcdn.com/paragon/HSp5hB8tE4Z6e44m/assets/Sending%20notifications%20to%20Slack%20from%20Paragon%20Connect.gif?s=e9026c068f3f9a2628fb82a6a35da067" alt="" width="974" height="774" data-path="assets/Sending notifications to Slack from Paragon Connect.gif" />
</Frame>

**Step 1.4: Create a User Setting**

Since we want our user to select which channel in Slack we should send new notifications to, we will add a [User Setting](/connect-portal/workflow-user-settings)to our workflow.

To add Workflow User Setting to Slack, follow these steps:

1. Click **Customize Connect Portal** in the Overview page to open the Connect Portal Editor.

2. Click the **Configuration** tab in the right sidebar.

3. Click on the workflow you'd like to add User Settings to.

4. Under **User Settings** in the right sidebar, click **+ Add Settings.**

5. Enter a name for the field and choose the **Channel** field type from the dropdown menu.

6. Click the **Save** button to add it to your Connect Portal.

<Frame>
  <img src="https://mintcdn.com/paragon/EuLlf5VxgsSnEq57/assets/Customizing%20your%20Slack%20integration%20in%20Paragon%20Connect.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=EuLlf5VxgsSnEq57&q=85&s=59661790e9d37994f342d8e9daac06e1" alt="" width="3258" height="1742" data-path="assets/Customizing your Slack integration in Paragon Connect.png" />
</Frame>

#### Step 1.5: Choose a channel to send notifications

Navigate back to your workflow once you have added the User Setting. Click into the Slack step and input the fields from your App Event by typing two left curly braces `{{` to bring up the dynamic variable menu.

#### Step 1.6: Deploy your workflow

Now that your workflow is all set up, deploy your workflow by clicking the "Deploy" button in the top-right of your screen.

<Frame>
  <img src="https://mintcdn.com/paragon/EuLlf5VxgsSnEq57/assets/Deploying%20a%20workflow%20in%20Paragon%20(1).png?fit=max&auto=format&n=EuLlf5VxgsSnEq57&q=85&s=0068e700a1a7c00415be8e47e41c7efc" alt="" width="966" height="570" data-path="assets/Deploying a workflow in Paragon (1).png" />
</Frame>

## 2. Generate a Paragon Signing Key

To generate a Signing Key, go to **Settings > Signing Keys** in your Paragon dashboard. You should store this key in an environment secrets file.

<Frame>
  <img src="https://mintcdn.com/paragon/cqJFSKyZXJDp3p3z/assets/Screen%20Shot%202021-01-28%20at%203.00.48%20PM.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=cqJFSKyZXJDp3p3z&q=85&s=d0be9ea17f34f6104090b87d9a218dc5" alt="" width="2078" height="952" data-path="assets/Screen Shot 2021-01-28 at 3.00.48 PM.png" />
</Frame>

For security reasons, we don’t store your Private Key and cannot show it to you again, so we recommend you download the key and store it someplace secure.

## 3. Install the Paragon SDK

The Paragon SDK gives you access to the Paragon global, which you can access as `paragon`.

You can install the Paragon SDK with npm:

```bash theme={null}
npm install @useparagon/connect
```

The SDK can be imported in your client-side JavaScript files as a module:

```js theme={null}
import { paragon } from '@useparagon/connect';
```

<Info>
  **Don't want to install the SDK just yet?**

  Use Paragon's [Hosted Demo Environment](/demo) to start testing your integrations without embedding the SDK in your application. [Learn more](/demo).
</Info>

## 4. Authenticate your user

Next, you'll need a library in your target language to sign JWTs with RS256. You can find one in your language at [https://jwt.io/](https://jwt.io/).

If your application is a fully client-rendered single-page app, you may have to create and use an additional API endpoint to retrieve a signed JWT (or reuse an existing endpoint that handles authentication or user info).

#### Step 4.1: Sign a Paragon User Token

The Paragon User Token is a signed JWT that minimally must include the `sub`, `iat`, and `exp` claims:

```js JavaScript theme={null}
{
	// Uniquely identifying key for a user
	"sub": "the-user-id",

	// Issue timestamp, should be the current time
	"iat": 1608600116

	// Expiry timestamp for token, such as 1 hour from time of signature (iat)
	"exp": 1608603716
}
```

<Info>
  **Just for testing: Generating one-off JWTs**

  Use the [Paragon JWT Generator](https://jwt.useparagon.com/) to generate test JWTs for your development purposes. In production, static tokens should never be used.
</Info>

#### Step 4.2: Call paragon.authenticate()

You'll call `paragon.authenticate` in your view with a JWT signed by your backend using the library chosen in [Step 4.1](/tutorials/building-a-slack-integration#4.-authenticate-your-user). **This JWT is the Paragon user token.**

[`paragon.authenticate`](/apis/api-reference#authenticate) should be called at the beginning of your application's lifecycle in all cases. This is to make sure that the `userToken` is always as fresh as possible, with respect to your user's existing session on your own site. You may reference [Installing the Connect SDK](/getting-started/installing-the-connect-sdk#setup) for a detailed explanation on how to use [`paragon.authenticate`](/apis/api-reference#authenticate).

```js theme={null}
paragon.authenticate(
	// You can find your project ID in the Overview tab of any Integration
	"38b1f170-0c43-4eae-9a04-ab85325d99f7",

	// See Setup for how to encode your user token
	"eyJhbGciOiJSUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.ey..."
);
```

## 5. Connect to your integration

Now that you've authenticated your user, you can call `paragon.connect` to bring up the Paragon Connect Portal.

```js JavaScript theme={null}
paragon.connect("slack");
```

<Frame>
  <img src="https://mintcdn.com/paragon/7RZyQGncIlY8Xl4A/assets/Integration%20Portal%20for%20Slack%20in%20Paragon%20Connect.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=7RZyQGncIlY8Xl4A&q=85&s=a47b24c7b52b8f06bb4600be00649da1" alt="" width="1832" height="1176" data-path="assets/Integration Portal for Slack in Paragon Connect.png" />
</Frame>

<Note>
  **Note:** Toggle your workflow from the **Configuration** tab to enable your workflow after connecting to your Slack account.
</Note>

## 6. Send an App Event

Lastly, we'll send an App Event whenever a lead is created in your app. App Events can be sent from your application using the Paragon SDK or REST API. In both cases, you must pass two parameters:

* **name** - the event name defined in your App Event
* **payload** - the event payload that should match the event schema defined in your App Event

See the code examples below for how to send App Events using the Paragon SDK or API.

<CodeGroup>
  ```js JavaScript SDK theme={null}
  var eventName = "Task Created";
  var eventPayload = {
      "creator": "Ethan Lee",
      "summary": "Connect the Paragon SDK to my application",
      "priority": "P1",
      "status": "Not Started",
  };

  // Trigger the "Task Created" App Event
  paragon.event(eventName, eventPayload)
  ```

  ```bash REST API theme={null}
  // Trigger the "Task Created" App Event
  POST https://api.useparagon.com/projects/<Paragon Project ID>/sdk/events/trigger

  Authorization: Bearer <Paragon User Token>
  Content-Type: application/json

  { 
      "name": "Task Created", 
      "payload": {
          "creator": "Ethan Lee",
          "summary": "Connect the Paragon SDK to my application",
          "priority": "P1",
          "status": "Not Started"
      }
  }
  ```
</CodeGroup>

When sending live events from your application, Paragon will not validate that your event payload matches the defined event schema.

Great work! We just built a Slack integration that sends new notifications from your app to our customers' Slack accounts.