AUTOMATION GUIDE

Catch every mention.
Reply sooner.

Set up an automation that turns F5Bot emails into clean Slack alerts for your team.

You choose the watchlist.Track your brand, product, competitors, or any phrase worth catching.
Watch it work ↓Build it ↓
KEYWORD → TEAM ALERT
Always watching for “your brand”
# brand-mentions
New brand mention

Someone mentioned “your brand”.

F5Bot Gmail n8n Slack
Impact<30 min to spot a mention
01The idea

Stop searching.
Let mentions find you.

F5Bot watches the words you choose. When it finds one, it emails you. n8n removes the email clutter and sends the useful part to Slack.

1Choose words→2Get the alert→3Open and reply
Best for: brand names, product names, competitor names, campaign phrases, and topics your team wants to catch early.
02Watch it work

From online mention
to your Slack channel.

Follow one mention through the whole relay. It starts when this section comes into view.

Step 1 of 4
F5Bot

Mention found

A watched keyword appears online.

Moving forwardbrrr.marketing
03The steps

Three n8n steps.
That’s the whole relay.

01

Gmail checks for F5Bot mail

Every 30 minutes, n8n looks for new email from F5Bot.

02

JavaScript cleans the email

A short script pulls out the keyword, original link, and matching comment.

03

Slack gets a useful alert

The three useful pieces arrive in the chosen Slack channel.

About speed: The ready-to-use workflow checks Gmail every 30 minutes. You can shorten that later if you need faster alerts.
04Build it

Build it, one card at a time.

Finish and test the card in front of you. Then use the arrow to move on.

NEW N8N WORKFLOW

When you see this label, start a blank workflow and use Import from URL. The following cards continue inside that imported workflow.

Step 1 of 8
01
MAKE THE WATCHLIST

Tell F5Bot what matters

Create a free F5Bot account and add the words you want it to watch.

  1. Go to f5bot.com ↗ and create an account.
  2. Add one clear keyword per alert. Start with your exact brand and product names.
  3. Send the alerts to the Gmail inbox that n8n will read.
  4. Wait for one real alert before continuing. You will use it to test the cleaner.
Good first watchlistYour brand · main product · founder name · one competitor · one campaign phrase
02
CONNECT GMAIL

Let n8n read F5Bot mail

Gmail is the first tool n8n touches, so connect it now.

  1. In Google Cloud, enable the Gmail API and finish the OAuth consent setup.
  2. Add n8n’s OAuth redirect URL to your Google credential.
  3. In n8n, create a Gmail OAuth2 credential and sign in.
Follow the Gmail OAuth guide →
Connected whenn8n’s Gmail credential test succeeds without showing your password anywhere.
03
MENTION RELAY

Import the workflow

NEW N8N WORKFLOW

In n8n, create a blank workflow. Open its menu, choose Import from URL, and paste this hosted URL.

HOSTED WORKFLOW URL/downloads/workflows/f5bot-to-slack.json
What should appearGmail Trigger → Code in JavaScript → Send a message
04
GMAIL TRIGGER

Watch only F5Bot emails

Open Gmail Trigger and choose the Gmail credential from card 02.

  1. Keep the sender filter as admin@f5bot.com.
  2. Keep Simplify off so the raw HTML reaches the next step.
  3. Keep “every 30 minutes” for your first test. Change it only after the full relay works.
Do not simplify the emailThe JavaScript step reads the HTML body. Without it, the useful fields will be blank.
05
EMAIL CLEANER

Test the JavaScript step

Run Gmail Trigger with the real F5Bot email from card 01, then open Code in JavaScript.

keyword what matchedlink original pagecomment useful textslackMessage ready-to-send alert
  1. Check that none of the four fields says N/A.
  2. Open the link and confirm it reaches the original mention.
  3. Read the Slack message preview and remove anything your team does not need.
If you see N/AF5Bot’s email layout may have changed. Inspect the raw HTML and update only the matching pattern that broke.
06
CONNECT SLACK

Give n8n somewhere to post

Slack first appears in the final step, so connect it now.

  1. Create a Slack app and add a bot user.
  2. Give it permission to post messages and read the channel it will use.
  3. Install the app to your workspace, connect it to n8n, and invite the bot to the chosen channel.
Follow the Slack bot guide →
Connected whenThe Slack node can list your channel and the bot appears as a channel member.
07
SLACK MESSAGE

Choose the alert channel

Open Send a message, select your Slack credential, then choose the channel.

  1. Keep the message field mapped to {{$json.slackMessage}}.
  2. Run only this node and check the formatting in Slack.
  3. If Slack says “channel not found”, invite the bot and select the channel again.
A useful alert hasThe matched word, the original link, and enough comment text to decide whether to reply.
08
FULL TEST

Run one mention end to end

F5Bot email→Gmail finds it→Code cleans it→Slack posts it
  1. Run the workflow manually with one real alert.
  2. Open the Slack link and compare the message with the original mention.
  3. When all four fields are correct, activate the workflow.
After activationRecheck it after F5Bot’s next email. A manual test proves the parts; the next live alert proves the schedule.
05Build with AI

Give the setup
to your coding agent.

It can fetch, check, customize, and import the workflow. You still handle private logins and choose when it goes live.

1
Open a fresh folder

Start a new Codex task inside it.

→
2
Paste the build brief

Codex prepares the safe importer.

→
3
Approve the n8n import

You remain in charge of OAuth and activation.

CODEX CAN HANDLE

Workflow fetching · placeholder changes · importer code · validation · test plan

YOU STILL HANDLE

Secrets · Gmail sign-in · Slack sign-in · activation · the final channel

BUILD BRIEF FOR CODEX
Build the “F5Bot mention to Slack alert” automation for me.

SOURCE OF TRUTH
- Guide: {{SITE_ORIGIN}}/automations/f5bot-to-slack
- Workflow: {{SITE_ORIGIN}}/downloads/workflows/f5bot-to-slack.json

HOW TO WORK
1. Read the guide and hosted workflow before changing anything.
2. Create a short AGENTS.md with the plan, build/test commands, and the rule that secrets must never enter source files or chat.
3. Ask me only for the non-secret choices you need: keywords to watch, polling interval, and Slack channel name.
4. Create .env.example with only N8N_BASE_URL and N8N_API_KEY. Tell me to put real values in .env myself. Never print or commit them.
5. Fetch the hosted workflow. Keep the Gmail sender filter as admin@f5bot.com, keep raw email output on, and replace only safe placeholders such as the Slack channel.
6. Create a small TypeScript importer that can send the workflow to my n8n instance when the environment variables are present. Keep the imported workflow inactive.
7. Validate the JSON, scan it for secrets and personal data, and show me the planned changes.
8. Ask for confirmation immediately before calling my n8n instance. Do not create credentials, connect OAuth, or activate the workflow automatically.
9. After import, walk me through connecting Gmail and Slack myself. Then help me test with one real F5Bot email before activation.

DONE MEANS
- One inactive workflow exists in n8n.
- Gmail reads only F5Bot alerts.
- The Code node returns keyword, link, comment, and slackMessage.
- Slack points to the channel I chose.
- One test alert arrives without exposing a secret.

Start by summarizing the plan and asking for my keywords, polling interval, and Slack channel name.
Codex getting started ↗
06Need help?
Prateek Mallapur
ASK A HUMAN

Stuck somewhere?

Tell me which card you are on, what you expected, and what happened instead. A screenshot of the n8n run helps too.

Message hi@prateekm.com ↗