Github Fork Notification to Slack & Email

Use the Github integration by MagicBell to setup a workflow when fork triggers in Github.

Connect Github to MagicBell to receive events and trigger workflows. This guide uses the MagicBell CLI.

Add the Github integration

Save your Github webhook signing secret in MagicBell. See GitHub webhooks.

magicbell integration save_github \
  --data '{"webhook_signing_secret":"your_secret_here"}'

Copy the ID from the response and use it to build your webhook URL:

https://api.magicbell.com/v2/integrations/github/webhooks/incoming/{id}

Setup the webhook

Setup a webhook in Github with the URL from the last step.
Select the fork event.
If you already have a webhook configured, make sure it includes this event.

Add a workflow

Create a workflow that triggers automatically when Github sends this event.

Workflow key

Use this key to trigger the workflow when Github sends a fork:

integration.github.fork

Example workflow

Track when your repository is forked. Notify maintainers about growing community interest.

{
  "key": "integration.github.fork",
  "steps": [
    {
      "command": "broadcast",
      "input": {
        "action_url": "{{payload.forkee.html_url}}",
        "content": "{{payload.sender.login}} forked {{payload.repository.full_name}}. Total forks: {{payload.repository.forks_count}}.",
        "overrides": {
          "providers": {
            "slack": {}
          }
        },
        "recipients": [
          {
            "external_id": "maintainers"
          }
        ],
        "title": "Repository forked"
      }
    }
  ]
}

Save with the CLI

Use the MagicBell CLI to save this workflow to your project. You can also use the Workflows API endpoint instead.

magicbell workflow save \
  --data '{"key":"integration.github.fork","steps":[{"command":"broadcast","input":{"action_url":"{{payload.forkee.html_url}}","content":"{{payload.sender.login}} forked {{payload.repository.full_name}}. Total forks: {{payload.repository.forks_count}}.","overrides":{"providers":{"slack":{}}},"recipients":[{"external_id":"maintainers"}],"title":"Repository forked"}}]}'

Event payload

Sample payload for the fork event. Use liquid templates to access fields in your workflow.

{
  "forkee": {
    "created_at": "2025-01-15T20:00:00Z",
    "default_branch": "main",
    "description": "A sample project",
    "fork": true,
    "full_name": "contributor/project",
    "html_url": "https://github.com/contributor/project",
    "id": 999888777,
    "name": "project",
    "node_id": "R_kgDOABC123",
    "owner": {
      "avatar_url": "https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/678901",
      "html_url": "https://github.com/contributor",
      "id": 678901,
      "login": "contributor",
      "node_id": "MDQ6VXNlcjY3ODkwMQ==",
      "type": "User"
    },
    "private": false,
    "public": true,
    "pushed_at": "2025-01-15T09:00:00Z",
    "updated_at": "2025-01-15T20:00:00Z"
  },
  "organization": {
    "avatar_url": "https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/111111",
    "description": "Building great software",
    "id": 111111,
    "login": "acme"
  },
  "repository": {
    "default_branch": "main",
    "description": "A sample project",
    "fork": false,
    "forks_count": 251,
    "full_name": "acme/project",
    "html_url": "https://github.com/acme/project",
    "id": 987654321,
    "name": "project",
    "node_id": "MDEwOlJlcG9zaXRvcnk5ODc2NTQzMjE=",
    "owner": {
      "avatar_url": "https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/111111",
      "html_url": "https://github.com/acme",
      "id": 111111,
      "login": "acme",
      "type": "Organization"
    },
    "private": false,
    "stargazers_count": 1500,
    "visibility": "public"
  },
  "sender": {
    "avatar_url": "https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/678901",
    "html_url": "https://github.com/contributor",
    "id": 678901,
    "login": "contributor",
    "node_id": "MDQ6VXNlcjY3ODkwMQ==",
    "type": "User"
  }
}

View all Github workflows →