---
updatedAt: 2026-03-19T13:04:56.000Z
agentTools:
  siteIndex: https://support.pagerduty.com/llms.txt
  projectIndex: https://support.pagerduty.com/actions/llms.txt
---

# Send an Ephemeral Message

Slack

> 📘 Availability
>
> This workflow action is available on our Enterprise plan for Incident Management. Contact our [Sales Team](https://www.pagerduty.com/contact-us/#contact-sales) to upgrade to an account with this action.

# Description

Send a temporary message, visible only to a specific user.

# Instructions

1. If you have not done so, follow the instructions to [Create an Incident Workflow](/main/docs/incident-workflows#create-an-incident-workflow).
2. When the instructions prompt you to [add actions](/main/docs/incident-workflows#add-actions), select **this action**.
3. Enter the following **Inputs** and click **Save**.
4. Continue following instructions to **Publish** the Workflow.
5. When the action runs, you will see the **Outputs** listed below.

# Inputs

> 📘 Field References
>
> Fields with the **{+}** icon accept [Field References](https://support.pagerduty.com/main/docs/incident-workflows#field-references), which can be useful for referencing incident data or outputs created in prior workflow steps. To add Field References, click **{+}**, or enter `{{`, and select relevant fields. Refer to the [Field References](https://support.pagerduty.com/main/docs/incident-workflows#field-references) article for more information.

[block:parameters]
{
  "data": {
    "h-0": "Name",
    "h-1": "Description",
    "0-0": "Workspace",
    "0-1": "Select the Slack Workspace with your desired channel from the list in the dropdown, or click **Connect Another Slack Workspace** to add a new one.",
    "1-0": "Channel",
    "1-1": "Select **Dedicated Incident Channel** or **A specific channel** to determine where the message is sent.  \n  \nIf you select **Dedicated Incident Channel**, the action will run on the channel associated with the incident. If there is no dedicated slack channel for the incident, the action will fail.  \n  \nIf you select **A specific channel**, choose your desired channel from the **Select the Channel** dropdown. **Note**: If you have not already done so, you or an administration may need to link your Slack account before your workspace's channels will appear in the dropdown.  \n  \nIf you use a [field reference](https://support.pagerduty.com/main/docs/incident-workflows#field-references), the value of the field must be the Slack channel ID (e.g., C1234TEST). You can find this by viewing a channel's details in Slack or from the URL path when viewing the Slack channel in your web browser.",
    "2-0": "User",
    "2-1": "Only the selected user can see the message. The user must be a member of the selected channel and active in Slack to receive the message. You will only be able to select users who have [linked their PagerDuty and Slack accounts](https://support.pagerduty.com/main/docs/slack-user-guide#link-user-accounts) .",
    "3-0": "Message",
    "3-1": "Enter the message body. This field supports Slack [mrkdwn](https://api.slack.com/reference/surfaces/formatting)  formatting and emojis. "
  },
  "cols": 2,
  "rows": 4,
  "align": [
    "left",
    "left"
  ]
}
[/block]

# Outputs

| Name           | Description                                                                        |
| :------------- | :--------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Result         | Value that shows if the action was successful or not. Either "Success" or "Failed" |
| Result Summary | Brief description of what the action did or if it failed.                          |
| Error          | Brief description that is populated if the action failed.                          |