App workflow tutorial

Send GitHub PR Review Reminders to Slack

An Actionist agent checks GitHub twice a day for open pull requests past your review SLA and posts a targeted Slack nudge to each reviewer, so nothing sits unreviewed for days.

42hrs/yr
~5min/run
10×weekly
Apps in this workflow
Agent operating room
Read, decide, write
Review gated

Triggered when On a twice-daily schedule, the agent checks GitHub for open pull requests awaiting review, within about a minute of the scheduled time.

1

Twice-daily scheduled check scans GitHub for open PRs awaiting review

trigger
2

Find PRs past the review SLA, identify each assigned reviewer, and note how long each PR has waited

read
3

Recall each reviewer's Slack handle and the team's review policy from memory

read

Confirm the nudge list before it posts to Slack

Confirmation
5

Post a friendly review reminder in Slack tagging the reviewer with the PR link, age, and a one-line summary

write
~5min/run
10×per week
42hrs/yr

Pull requests pile up. A reviewer gets assigned, the notification gets buried, and the PR sits unmerged for days while the author chases the reviewer across standups and Slack threads. Automating GitHub PR review reminders to Slack closes that gap: an Actionist agent checks your GitHub repositories on a schedule, finds every open PR past your team's review SLA, looks up the assigned reviewer's Slack handle from memory, and posts a polite nudge directly in Slack so the context lands exactly where the reviewer already works.

Because the agent operates GitHub and Slack directly, it fits the workflow your engineering team already runs. You do not need to build a webhook, maintain a bot, or touch any API. The agent reads the open PRs from GitHub, recalls reviewer context from its memory store, and prepares a targeted Slack message for each stalled review. A lightweight approval step lets you confirm the nudge list before anything posts, which you can switch off entirely since Slack reminders are internal and non-destructive.

automate GitHub PR review reminders to SlackGitHub to Slack pull request nudgeGitHub Slack integration for code reviewPR review SLA reminder botpull request follow-up GitHub Slack
Overview

What this automation does, end to end

On a twice-daily schedule, the agent checks GitHub for open pull requests awaiting review, within about a minute of the scheduled time.

MonTueWedThuFri
read
Step 2
Actionist
Find PRs past the review SLA, identify each assigned reviewer, and note how long each PR has waited
read
Step 3
Actionist
Recall each reviewer's Slack handle and the team's review policy from memory
Confirmation
Step 4
Human
Confirm the nudge list before it posts to Slack
Saved per run
5 min
Runs / week
~10×
PRs get reviewed faster and the author never has to chase a reviewer in public again.
The Workflow

See how this Automation works

  1. 1
    GitHub
    Trigger
    Step 1

    Twice-daily scheduled check scans GitHub for open PRs awaiting review

    Connect GitHub to Actionist once, and the agent runs automatically on your chosen schedule, typically twice a day at times your team sets, for example 9 AM and 3 PM. Each run starts within about a minute of the scheduled time. The agent scans your configured repositories for every open pull request currently waiting on at least one reviewer, so the check happens consistently without anyone having to remember to look.

  2. 2
    Actionist
    Read
    Step 2

    Find PRs past the review SLA, identify each assigned reviewer, and note how long each PR has waited

    The agent reads each open pull request's metadata: the assigned reviewers, the PR creation date, the last-activity timestamp, and the current review state. It cross-references these against your team's review SLA, for example 24 or 48 hours, and builds a shortlist of PRs that have been waiting too long. For each stalled PR it records who the reviewer is, the PR title and number, the repository, and how many hours have elapsed since assignment.

  3. 3
    Actionist
    Read
    Step 3

    Recall each reviewer's Slack handle and the team's review policy from memory

    Before drafting any message, the agent checks its memory store for the reviewer-to-Slack-handle mapping your team saved during setup: GitHub usernames matched to their Slack handles so the nudge tags the right person. It also retrieves the team's configured review policy, including the SLA threshold and any exemption rules such as draft PRs or PRs awaiting CI. This is what stops every run from starting cold and avoids pinging people for PRs they are legitimately not yet expected to review.

  4. Human
    ConfirmationOptional
    Step 4

    Confirm the nudge list before it posts to Slack

    Before any Slack message is sent, the agent presents the full list of planned nudges for your review: the PR title, repository, reviewer handle, and hours waited, one line per PR. You can remove a reviewer from today's run, adjust the message wording, or approve the whole batch at once. This step is optional because Slack review reminders are internal and non-destructive; no production system is modified and no external party is contacted. You can switch the agent to a full-auto approval mode and let it post without confirmation if your team prefers hands-off operation.

  5. 5
    Slack
    Write
    Step 5

    Post a friendly review reminder in Slack tagging the reviewer with the PR link, age, and a one-line summary

    Once the nudge list is approved, the agent posts a concise Slack message for each stalled PR. The message tags the assigned reviewer by their Slack handle, links directly to the GitHub pull request, states how long it has been waiting, and includes a one-line summary of what the PR does so the reviewer has enough context to act without opening GitHub first. The tone is collegial rather than accusatory, which keeps the channel healthy and the reviewer willing to engage.

Before & after

By hand vs. with the agent

Without Actionist

What you do manually today

With Actionist

What your agent runs for you

  • Engineering
    30 min / week
    Manually scan open PRs for stale reviews

    Someone opens the GitHub pull requests list, sorts by last updated, and identifies which reviewers have not responded, usually before or after standup.

    Engineering Agent
    0 min
    Agent scans GitHub automatically on schedule

    The agent runs twice a day and builds the stalled-PR list without anyone opening GitHub.

  • Engineering
    40 min / week
    Message reviewers one by one in Slack

    The PR author or team lead writes individual Slack messages to each reviewer, often interrupting their own focus to do it.

    Engineering Agent
    0 min
    Agent posts targeted nudges from the approved list

    The agent sends a single approved batch of nudges with the right handles, PR links, and context, all in one go.

  • Engineering leads
    20 min / week
    Track review SLA compliance by memory

    Leads rely on standup updates or GitHub notifications to know which PRs are overdue, with no consistent visibility.

    Engineering leads Agent
    0 min
    Agent surfaces overdue PRs every run

    Every twice-daily run produces a clear list of SLA breaches, so leads have consistent visibility without checking GitHub themselves.

+ 100s of other automations
Average monthly
4 hrs / person / month
Calculator

Calculate what your team saves

Team size
6 people
Hourly rate
$80 / hr
Hours saved / week
6
Hours saved / year
300
Annual ROI
$24,000

Based on typical team usage — the visible tasks plus a few other automations the agent runs: ~1 hrs / person / week of admin work automated.

Impact

What this saves your team

0
Hours saved per week
Per month
4 hrs
Per year
42 hrs
  • 42h

    Annual follow-up time removed

    Based on a twice-daily cadence across five working days and five minutes of manual chasing saved per run, totalling roughly 42 hours a year per engineering team.

  • PRs stop sitting unreviewed for days

    Reviewers are nudged the same day the SLA lapses, so the feedback loop closes in hours rather than waiting for the next standup or a public Slack ping.

  • Reviewer context arrives with the reminder

    Each nudge includes the PR title, how long it has waited, and a direct link, so the reviewer can open it and act without hunting through notification lists.

  • Optional approval before any message sends

    The agent pauses for a human to confirm the nudge list, so no reviewer is accidentally pinged for a PR they are exempt from or a message with incorrect wording.

2x
Daily checks
Morning and afternoon runs, within about a minute of schedule
1
Human checkpoint
Optional approval before Slack messages send
~5m
Saved per run
Manual scan and Slack chasing eliminated

See this automation run on your stack

Book a personalised demo and watch an Actionist agent do it with your apps, live.

Controls

How it works, and how you stay in control

  • trigger

    Starts on a twice-daily schedule

    The agent runs at the times your team configures, typically morning and afternoon, picking up open GitHub pull requests within about a minute of each scheduled run.

    Read the docs
  • memory

    Remembers reviewer handles and team policy

    Saved context maps GitHub usernames to Slack handles and stores your team's SLA rules, so the agent never starts cold and always nudges the right person.

    Read the docs
  • approval

    Confirms the nudge list before posting

    The agent presents every planned Slack nudge for review before sending. Because reminders are internal and non-destructive, you can switch this to full-auto mode if your team prefers.

    Read the docs
  • channel

    Posts via Slack

    Approved nudges are delivered as direct Slack messages tagging each reviewer by handle, with the PR link, wait time, and a one-line summary included.

    Read the docs
Actionist ecosystem

Who automates this with Actionist

Teams that automate this
Industries where it matters
App stack

How each app plays a role

GitHubTrigger

Where code lives — and your agent gets to work

View GitHub automations
SlackWrite

Your team's nerve center — now with an agent inside

View Slack automations
FAQ

Questions about this workflow

Does it work with GitHub?
Yes. You connect GitHub to Actionist once and the agent reads your open pull requests directly from there, within about a minute of each scheduled run. No webhook setup or custom GitHub App is required.
What gets posted in Slack?
Each Slack message tags the assigned reviewer by their Slack handle, links to the GitHub pull request, shows how long it has been waiting, and includes a one-line description of what the PR does so the reviewer can act without opening GitHub first.
Will it post a Slack reminder without my review?
Not by default. The agent presents the full nudge list for your approval before sending anything. Because these are internal messages and nothing destructive is happening, you can optionally switch the agent to full-auto mode so it sends without waiting for confirmation.
Does my team need a specific GitHub setup?
No special GitHub configuration is required beyond connecting your account. The agent reads standard pull request metadata including assignees, creation date, and review status, so it works with the repos and reviewer assignments you already have.
How fast does it run?
The agent runs on a schedule you configure, typically twice a day, and picks up open pull requests within about a minute of each scheduled run. It does not run in real time or respond to individual GitHub events.
Can it post the reminder recap to Slack or Telegram?
Yes, the agent posts to Slack. Slack and Telegram are the two supported channels. The nudges go to the Slack workspace your team has connected to Actionist.
Can I build a custom agent for other apps or a different workflow?
Yes. The apps and workflow shown here are examples. You can build a custom Actionist agent that connects to any app in the catalog, uses a different trigger, or adapts the review-reminder logic to match exactly how your team works.
Get started

Keep code reviews moving automatically

Book a free demo and see an Actionist agent find stalled GitHub pull requests and send Slack nudges to reviewers, with your approval before anything posts.