Research Assistant via Slack
Ask any research question in Slack; the agent searches Perplexity, drafts a Google Doc with findings, and shares the link.
What it does
Ask any research question in your Slack channel, and you'll instantly receive a summary of findings from Perplexity inside a new Google Doc. The agent handles gathering information and formatting the results so you can share the link with your team immediately.
Step by step
- Configure a Slack bot with the chat:write and channels:read scopes to enable message listening and posting.
- Set up a webhook endpoint that validates incoming Slack events using the signing secret for security.
- Implement the API call logic to send the user's query to Perplexity and parse the JSON response structure.
Where the LLM does the work
- Generate a refined search prompt from the raw user input to ensure high-quality results from the research API.
- Draft the initial content for the Google Doc by summarizing the key findings in a structured format suitable for reading.
- Compose a polite and concise Slack message that includes the document link and a brief summary of the outcome.
Watch out for
Perplexity API responses can vary in length so you must implement truncation logic to prevent token limit errors when creating documents.
Slack event verification will fail if your webhook URL does not correctly handle the challenge response during setup.
Google Docs permissions default to private so you need to explicitly set the sharing settings to anyone with the link before posting it in Slack.
Tools that fit
The agent brief
Everything your agent needs, including the gotchas. Copy it and go.
You are helping me build the following AI agent workflow. ## Goal Research Assistant via Slack: Ask any research question in Slack; the agent searches Perplexity, drafts a Google Doc with findings, and shares the link. ## Specification - What it does: Ask any research question in your Slack channel, and you'll instantly receive a summary of findings from Perplexity inside a new Google Doc. The agent handles gathering information and formatting the results so you can share the link with your team immediately. - Trigger: Run manually (Manual · on demand) - Autonomy: Fully hands-off - Expected setup effort: under an hour - Tools/services involved: - Slack: User interaction and notifications - Perplexity: Web research - Google Docs: Document creation and storage ## Known pitfalls, handle each one explicitly in your implementation 1. Perplexity API responses can vary in length so you must implement truncation logic to prevent token limit errors when creating documents. 2. Slack event verification will fail if your webhook URL does not correctly handle the challenge response during setup. 3. Google Docs permissions default to private so you need to explicitly set the sharing settings to anyone with the link before posting it in Slack. ## Reference implementation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nO3frWOMpok (workflow template) Fetch and inspect this before building. If it matches my stack, adapt it; if not, rebuild the pattern with my tools. ## Process requirements 1. Before building: ask me which of the listed tools I actually use and what my platform is (n8n / Make / code / other). Do not assume. 2. Adapt the pattern to my answers; do not force the reference stack. 3. Address every pitfall above; tell me how you handled each. 4. Provide a test plan I can run before letting this touch real data. 5. Ask before any step that sends messages, modifies data, or spends money. Source: https://usecasesforagents.com/use-case/research-assistant-via-slack/ via usecasesforagents.com
Frequently asked questions
Can I use a different Messaging than Slack?
Yes. Slack is only the example messaging in this recipe. The same flow works with ClickSend API, Discord, Google Chat and LINE Messaging API. Swap the messaging connection and keep the rest of the setup as written.
Want this running in your business?
This is what I do. I design and build AI agents like this one, and keep them running. If you want it set up for your team instead of doing it yourself, get in touch.
Who it's for
Built for anyone who wants this off their own plate, no team or company required.