Bind a channel
This page is for project admins. It shows you how to bind a chat channel to a project. After that, requests filed in the channel land on the project’s board, the updates you choose post to the channel, and threads stay in step with their tickets.
A channel that isn’t bound takes no requests. Only linked members can create tickets from it, and they choose the project each time.
Before you start
Section titled “Before you start”- You need to be a project admin or an org admin.
- An org admin has connected the platform in Organization settings › Chat integrations (see Chat integrations).
- By Dawn has to be in the channel:
- Slack: public channels are listed. For a private channel, invite the app first (
/invite @SAW). - Discord: the server’s text and announcement channels the bot can see are listed.
- Microsoft Teams: the channels of each team the By Dawn app is installed in are listed.
- Slack: public channels are listed. For a private channel, invite the app first (
Bind it
Section titled “Bind it”-
Open Project settings › Chat channels and choose Bind a channel.
-
Pick the Workspace (a Slack workspace, Discord server or Teams tenant), then the Channel.
-
Fill in the rest:
- Default repo: the repo a worker started from this channel works in. Project default uses the project’s own.
- Requests from the channel: who can file requests here (see Intake modes).
- Request template: the details a request from this channel must give (see Request templates).
- Default team: the team that owns the tickets filed from the channel. With No default team, “Tickets filed from the channel go to the filer’s team, or the project’s default team.” It lists the teams that work in the project, so attach one under the project’s Teams first.
-
Choose Bind #channel.
A channel binds to one project. To have a channel hear about a second project, bind another channel in that project.
Intake modes
Section titled “Intake modes”| Mode | What it does |
|---|---|
| Off | Nobody files requests from the channel. Linked members can still create tickets and act. |
| @SAW and 🎫 | Mentioning @SAW, or reacting to a message with 🎫, files it as a request. This is where a new binding starts. |
| Every message | Every new top-level message becomes a request. Thread replies, edits and bot posts don’t. |
The 🎫 reaction and Every message work in Slack only for now. Discord can’t read channel messages yet, so a
Discord channel takes requests through /saw create and Create SAW ticket instead.
When a request is filed, By Dawn answers in its thread with a card showing the request’s status. The card follows the ticket as it moves. Only the person who asked can Close request from it.
Request templates
Section titled “Request templates”A template names the details a request must give. None files requests as written, with nothing asked for.
| Template | Asks for (required in bold) | Sets priority |
|---|---|---|
| Bug report | What happened, What should have happened, Steps to reproduce, Where | High |
| Feature request | The problem, What would solve it, Who asked, and why now | Medium |
| Task | What to do, Done when | Medium |
| Question | The question, What I have tried | Low |
The create form asks each field and won’t submit until the required ones are filled. A request filed straight from a message is filed at once. If the message doesn’t already answer a required field under that heading, By Dawn asks in the thread with Complete your request. The answers are added to the ticket as a comment from the person who asked.
Who files what
Section titled “Who files what”People in a bound channel don’t need a By Dawn account to ask for something:
- A linked member files as themselves, and can act on the ticket.
- Anyone else (an unlinked teammate, a guest, someone from another organisation in Slack Connect or a Teams shared channel) files a request. By Dawn records their chat name and id as where the request came from. They never become a By Dawn member, can’t act on the ticket, and are never sent a DM.
A channel shared with another organisation is marked shared in the list. People there can file requests, and the merge button never shows there. Who may do what has the full table.
A channel’s default customer
Section titled “A channel’s default customer”When your organization uses Customers, a channel can belong to one customer, such as a Slack Connect channel you share with Acme. Pick it under Default customer when you bind the channel, or later in the channel’s row. No default customer leaves requests without one.
- A request filed in the channel becomes a request from that customer, with the message as its quote and the person’s chat name as who asked.
- A linked member filing from the channel picks the Customer in the create form. It starts on the channel’s customer, and No customer files without one.
If the customer is deleted, the channel’s requests are filed without one until you pick another. By Dawn never looks up a chat user’s email address to find their company: the channel’s customer is the only match.
Subscriptions
Section titled “Subscriptions”A subscription posts chosen events to the channel. Under the channel’s Subscriptions, choose Subscribe, then pick at least one event:
| Group | Events |
|---|---|
| Tickets | Ticket created, Status changed, Ticket completed |
| Agent runs | Agent needs input, Agent stalled, PR opened, CI failed, Agent shipped |
| Cycles & releases | Cycle started, Cycle completed, Release shipped |
Narrow it with Labels, Status, Assignee (including Unassigned), Priority and Team (the teams that work in the project). Every filter you set must match, and within one filter any value matches. A subscription with no filters covers every ticket in the project. The ticket filters don’t apply to cycle and release events.
A channel can have several subscriptions. Each event posts once per channel, even if more than one subscription
matches it. In Discord you can also manage them from the channel with /saw subscribe.
Synced threads
Section titled “Synced threads”A thread synced with a ticket carries the conversation both ways:
- A reply in the thread becomes a comment on the ticket. A linked member’s reply is posted as them. Anyone else’s is posted with the channel’s authority, but only on a request that channel filed. Otherwise the reply stays in chat, and By Dawn tells the person privately, once per thread.
- A comment in By Dawn is posted into the thread, and the ticket’s completion is announced there.
A thread is synced when its ticket was created from it. In Slack you can also link an existing thread with Link to SAW ticket, from a message’s ⋯ menu. One thread can track several tickets, and a ticket can have several threads.
Synced threads work in Slack and Microsoft Teams. Discord threads don’t sync yet.
Ticket previews
Section titled “Ticket previews”When someone pastes a link to a By Dawn ticket, By Dawn shows a preview of it in Slack and Teams. A preview reads with the channel’s authority, not the poster’s, because everyone in the channel sees it. So a ticket only previews in a channel bound to its own project, and never when that project is restricted. Every other By Dawn link stays a plain link with Open in SAW.
Merge from chat
Section titled “Merge from chat”Merge from chat, at the bottom of Chat channels, lets a run card’s Approve and merge button merge this project’s pull requests. It’s off by default. Even when it’s on, a member also needs the Merge scope on their link, a role that may merge, and the project’s GitHub merge policy to allow it. See Merging from chat.
Unbind
Section titled “Unbind”Choose Unbind on the channel’s row. The channel stops filing requests into the project, and its subscriptions are deleted. Threads already linked to tickets keep syncing.
Where to go next
Section titled “Where to go next”- Chat command reference: what people in the channel can run.
- Slack and Discord.