How it works

Follow these 3 simple steps to start receiving RSS feed updates in your Slack channel

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New RSS Item
App connector: RSS • Time to complete: 2 minutes
Why this matters: This trigger monitors your chosen RSS feed for new posts and kicks off the workflow whenever fresh content appears.

You'll configure the RSS feed URL you want to monitor - this could be a blog, news site, or any website with an RSS feed. The system checks hourly for new posts and automatically starts the workflow when it finds content that wasn't there before. You can usually find a site's RSS feed by adding /feed or /rss to its URL, or by checking the blog page for the orange RSS icon. Once configured, this step runs completely automatically and passes the new post's title, description, and link to the next steps.

Clean Up Feed Text
App connector: Ask • Time to complete: 0 minutes (Auto-configured)
Why this matters: RSS feeds often contain messy HTML tags and ASCII codes that make posts unreadable in Slack, so this step cleans up the content before sending.

This step automatically processes the raw RSS description text and removes HTML formatting, special characters, and ASCII codes that would clutter your Slack message. MESA's AI analyzes the feed content and returns clean, readable text that's perfect for messaging platforms. No configuration is needed - the system handles all the text processing based on what it receives from the RSS feed and passes the cleaned content forward to create your final Slack message.

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Send Message
App connector: Slack • Time to complete: 2 minutes
Why this matters: This step delivers the cleaned RSS content to your specified Slack channel, completing the notification workflow.

You'll select which Slack channel should receive the RSS updates by choosing from your available channels (invite the MESA Slack app first by typing @MESA and clicking Invite). The message format combines the post title, cleaned description, and original link in a clean layout that's easy to read and click through. Private channels may not appear in the dropdown until you invite the MESA Slack app to them. Once configured, every new RSS item will automatically post to your chosen channel with consistent formatting.

Make it your own

Customize this workflow even further:

Set custom message formatting
Customize how RSS posts appear in Slack by modifying the message template to include timestamps, author information, or custom emoji reactions.
Filter content by keywords
Add a Filter step between the RSS trigger and Slack action to only send posts containing specific keywords relevant to your team's interests.
Route to multiple channels
Duplicate the Slack step to send different types of content to different channels, like tech news to #engineering and marketing posts to #marketing.
Store feed data in tables
Save RSS post details, publication dates, and engagement metrics in MESA Tables to track content performance and build your own RSS analytics.

Frequently asked questions

What happens if the RSS feed URL changes or goes offline?
The workflow will show an error in your MESA activity log when it can't reach the feed. You'll need to update the RSS feed URL in Step 1, or the workflow will remain inactive until the feed comes back online or you provide a new working URL.
Can I monitor multiple RSS feeds with this same workflow?
No, each workflow monitors one RSS feed. To track multiple feeds, duplicate this template and configure each copy with a different RSS URL. You can send all feeds to the same Slack channel or route them to different channels based on content type.
How quickly will new posts appear in Slack after they're published?
The RSS feed is checked every hour on the hour, so new posts will appear in Slack within 60 minutes of being published. The timing depends on when the original site updates their RSS feed and when MESA's next hourly check occurs.
What is a template?
Templates are pre-made workflows by our team of experts. Instead of building a workflow from scratch, these have all the steps needed to complete the task.
Can I personalize a template?
Yes! Every step can be customized to meet your exact requirements. Additionally, you can even add more steps and make it more sophisticated.
Are templates free?
Yes! Our entire library containing hundreds of templates are free to use and customize to your exact needs.

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