Escalate Issues via Slack Emoji
Your team discusses a blocking issue in Slack. One emoji reaction escalates it to 'In Progress' or flags it as urgent in Jira. No app-switching, no status updates to remember.
Trigger
Message Reaction Added
Triggered when a reaction is added to a message in Slack. Supports optional filtering by channel and emoji name.
Action
Transition Issue
Transitions a jira issue to a different workflow state, with support for transition name lookup and user assignment by email.
Why this helps
Neurodivergent founders struggle with status updates. A discussion in Slack reveals something is now blocking, but manually transitioning the Jira issue is friction. By the time anyone updates Jira, momentum is lost and other team members miss the urgency.
- Escalate work priorities without leaving Slack or losing momentum
- Give your team a lightweight way to signal urgency (emoji > form fields)
- Keep Jira status in sync with real-time discussions
- Build a habit where emoji reactions automatically trigger status updates
- Eliminate 'did someone update Jira?' confusion
Setup
Build it in a few focused steps.
- 1Connect Slack and Jira to Notis (portal setup, one-time)
- 2Create an automation with this prompt: 'When someone reacts with a fire emoji in Slack, transition the corresponding Jira issue to In Progress and set priority to Highest.'
- 3Select 'Message Reaction Added' as your trigger and choose the fire emoji
- 4Choose your Notis notification channel
- 5Test it: find an open Jira issue referenced in a Slack message, add a fire emoji reaction, and watch the issue transition in Jira
Questions about this workflow
How does Notis know which Jira issue to update?
Notis looks for Jira issue keys in the Slack message (e.g., PROJ-123). If found, it updates that issue. If not, you can include the issue key in your message before reacting.
Can different emojis trigger different transitions?
Absolutely. Set up multiple automations: fire = In Progress, exclamation = Urgent, checkmark = Done. Each emoji becomes a workflow trigger.
What if I accidentally react while scrolling?
Notis will attempt the transition. Most teams accept this as a minor annoyance; you can undo it in Jira. Alternatively, use less-common emojis to reduce accidents.
Does this work for already-closed issues?
Jira will block invalid transitions. If someone tries to escalate a closed issue, Notis will log the attempt but the transition will fail—no data loss, just a failed run.
When this happens · Trigger
Do this · Action
Supported Triggers and Actions
Notis builds workflows that link Slack to Jira. A trigger fires from one place; an action lands in another.
Slack triggers
Jira actions
New Channel Created Trigger
Triggered when a new channel is created in Slack.
Add Attachment
Uploads and attaches a file to a jira issue.
Channel Message Received
Triggered when a message is posted in a Slack channel (public, private, or multi-party IM). Does NOT match direct messages.
Add Comment
Adds a comment using atlassian document format (adf) for rich text to an existing jira issue.
Direct Message Received
Triggered when a new direct message (DM) is sent to a user in Slack. Catches all DMs across all DM channels.
Add Watcher to Issue
Adds a user to an issue's watcher list by account id.
Message Reaction Added
Triggered when a reaction is added to a message in Slack. Supports optional filtering by channel and emoji name.
Assign Issue
Assigns a jira issue to a user, default assignee, or unassigns; supports email/name lookup.
Message Reaction Removed
Triggered when a reaction is removed from a message in Slack. Supports optional filtering by channel and emoji name.
Bulk Create Issues
Creates multiple jira issues (up to 50 per call) with full feature support including markdown, assignee resolution, and priority handling.
Reaction Added Trigger
DEPRECATED: use `SLACK_MESSAGE_REACTION_ADDED` instead. Triggered when a reaction is added to a message in Slack.
Create Issue
Creates a new jira issue (e.g., bug, task, story) in a specified project.
Reaction Removed Trigger
DEPRECATED: use `SLACK_MESSAGE_REACTION_REMOVED` instead. Triggered when a reaction is removed from a message.
Link Issues
Links two jira issues using a specified link type with optional comment.
New Bot Message Received Trigger
DEPRECATED: use `SLACK_CHANNEL_MESSAGE_RECEIVED` with `is_bot_message=true` instead. Triggered when a new bot message is posted to a Slack channel.
Create Project
Creates a new jira project with required lead, template, and type configuration.
Connect any two apps with Notis in the middle.
Not just Slack and Jira. Any combination from 985+ integrations.
When this happens · Trigger
Do this · Action
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