Build an AI Assistant to Answer IT Questions in Slack

Automate your IT support by deploying an AI-powered Slack bot that instantly answers employee questions by searching your internal Confluence knowledge base.

Workflow Overview

What is this?: This workflow creates an intelligent Slack bot that acts as an AI assistant for your IT department. It automatically receives employee questions via Direct Messages, understands the query using an AI model like GPT-4o, and searches your connected Confluence knowledge base to provide instant, accurate answers.
What problem does it solve?: Is your IT helpdesk constantly bogged down by repetitive employee questions? This workflow eliminates the need for manual responses to common issues, freeing up your technical team to focus on critical tasks while preventing employee downtime waiting for support.
What will you get?: You will get an automated IT support system that operates 24/7 within Slack. It significantly reduces the manual workload on your IT staff, allowing them to concentrate on more complex issues. Employees receive instant answers to their queries, which boosts overall company productivity.

Apps Included

How to Use

Prerequisites

An active n8n instance that can receive webhooks.

A Slack workspace with permissions to create and install a new app.

An OpenAI API key for powering the AI agent.

A Confluence space populated with your knowledge base articles.

The companion 'Confluence Knowledge Base Tool' workflow installed in your n8n instance.

Setup Steps

Create and Configure Slack App

Start by creating a new Slack App using the provided manifest JSON. You must replace the placeholder URLs in the manifest with your n8n instance's OAuth callback URL and the unique webhook URL from the 'Receive DMs' trigger node.

Add n8n Credentials

Add your Slack API credentials and your OpenAI API key to your n8n instance. Then, select these newly created credentials in the respective Slack nodes and the 'OpenAI Chat Model' node within the workflow.

Link Knowledge Base Tool

Deploy the separate Confluence search tool workflow. Copy its unique Workflow ID and paste it into the 'Call Confluence Workflow Tool' node in this main workflow. This connects the AI agent to its knowledge source.

Customize AI Persona

Open the 'AI Agent' node and edit the 'System Message' field. Here you can customize the bot's name, personality, and specific instructions to perfectly match your company's tone and internal policies.

Activate and Test

Save and activate the workflow. Go to your Slack workspace and send a direct message to your new bot to test the entire process, from receiving the question to getting an AI-generated, knowledge-backed answer.

Pro Tips

To use a different AI model, simply replace the 'OpenAI Chat Model' node with another supported LLM, such as a Google Gemini or Anthropic Claude node, and connect it to the 'AI Agent'.

Expand the bot's capabilities by adding more custom tools. For example, create a tool that uses the Jira API to automatically create a new support ticket if the bot cannot find a relevant answer.

For high-volume usage, consider replacing the default 'Window Buffer Memory' node with a persistent vector store integration like Qdrant or Pinecone for more robust, scalable long-term memory.

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Information

Published date8/11/2025
Last updated8/11/2025