Pagerly + PagerDuty: How to Bring OnCall Schedules and Incident Workflows into Slack

Incident management has always been about one thing: making sure the right person gets the correct information at the right time.

PagerDuty has been the industry’s go-to incident response platform for years, powering on-call schedules, escalation policies, and incident notifications. But most of the actual teamwork during an incident happens somewhere else — usually in Slack conversations inside your Slack workspace.

That’s where Pagerly steps in. Pagerly integrates directly with your PagerDuty account, pulling on-call data, PagerDuty incidents, and escalation policy IDs into Slack. The result? Your incident management process runs where your team already works, with real-time alerts, dedicated Slack channels, and seamless incident workflows.

This blog is a step-by-step guide to how Pagerly integrates with PagerDuty — why it matters, what it enables, and how your engineering team, support teams, and security teams can use it to improve response times and streamline communication.

Why Pagerly + PagerDuty is a Game-Changer

PagerDuty provides:

• On-call rotation with a schedule ID and on-call shift changes.
• Escalation policies with an escalation policy ID to ensure alerts don’t fall through the cracks.
• PagerDuty analytics to track response times and optimize the incident management process.
• PagerDuty services to group incidents by application, infrastructure, or business function.
• A robust PagerDuty API key system for automation.

Slack provides:

• Real-time communication and instant messaging.
• Slack groups and Slack user groups for tagging the right people.
• Slack API and workflow builder for automations.
• A dedicated Slack channel (or even devoted incident channels) for collaboration.

Pagerly provides the glue. It’s the easiest way to bring PagerDuty alerts, incident updates, and on-call information into Slack. Instead of context-switching between the PagerDuty web app and Slack, Pagerly keeps everything in one place.

How Pagerly Integrates with PagerDuty

Pagerly connects to your PagerDuty account using a secure PagerDuty API key. Once connected, Pagerly can:

1. Sync on-call schedules — pulling the current on-call user from your PagerDuty schedule ID and posting it in Slack.
2. Track incidents — whenever a new incident occurs in PagerDuty, Pagerly creates a specific Slack channel with the incident details.
3. Manage escalation — Pagerly respects your escalation policies, escalating to the next team member if needed.
4. Send incident notifications — Pagerly posts incident updates in real time, keeping your engineering team aligned.
5. Enable Slack actions — acknowledge, resolve, or escalate directly inside Slack without touching the PagerDuty web app.

Core Features of Pagerly’s PagerDuty Integration

1. On-Call Schedules in Slack

No more guessing who’s on call. Pagerly brings on-call information directly into Slack:

• The Slack channel topic is automatically updated with the current on-call user.
• Daily notifications announce who’s on call today on a recurring basis.
• On-call shift changes are posted as they happen.
• Your engineering team always knows who the right person is for escalation.

This replaces clunky spreadsheets, Google Sheets, or custom lambda functions.

2. Dedicated Slack Channels for Incidents

When a new incident is triggered in PagerDuty:

• Pagerly creates a dedicated Slack channel.
• The channel is pre-populated with:
  • Incident details (severity, impact, PagerDuty service)
  • Links back to the PagerDuty web app
  • The assigned on-call user
• Slack user groups are tagged instantly.

These dedicated incident channels keep each critical issue contained and prevent noise in general discussion channels.

3. Real-Time Alerts and Incident Updates

Pagerly ensures every PagerDuty alert is delivered as a Slack notification:

• Incident notifications arrive in Slack the moment they’re created.
• Incident updates (acknowledged, resolved, escalated) flow into the specific Slack channel in real time.
• Teams use common Slack actions (acknowledge, resolve, reassign) without switching apps.

Result: response times improve because the entire incident management process happens inside Slack.

4. Escalation Policies in Slack

Pagerly respects your PagerDuty escalation policy ID:

• Alerts escalate automatically if the right person doesn’t respond.
• Each escalation step is visible as a Slack message.
• Team members across engineering teams, support teams, or security teams get pulled in when needed.

This ensures no critical incident slips through.

5. Analytics and Reporting

Pagerly enhances PagerDuty analytics with Slack-focused insights:

• How quickly were incident notifications acknowledged?
• How long did each critical issue last?
• Which team members handled the most PagerDuty incidents?
• Which escalation policies triggered most often?

This data can be exported into Google Sheets or viewed in Slack, helping optimize the incident management process.

Step-by-Step Guide: Setting Up Pagerly with PagerDuty

Step 1: Connect Pagerly to PagerDuty

• Generate a PagerDuty API key from your PagerDuty account.
• Add it to Pagerly’s setup screen.
• Pagerly now has secure app’s access to fetch on-call data and incident details.

Step 2: Connect Pagerly to Slack

• Install Pagerly in your Slack workspace from the Slack app directory.
• Authorize Pagerly to post Slack messages, create dedicated incident channels, and update Slack channel topics.

Step 3: Map Teams and Schedules

• Link your PagerDuty schedules with the relevant Slack groups.
• For example: @oncall-backend Slack group → PagerDuty backend schedule ID.

Step 4: Test a New Incident

• Trigger a new incident in PagerDuty (either real or test).
• Pagerly creates a dedicated Slack channel with all incident details.
• The current on-call user is tagged.

Step 5: Automate Daily Notifications

• Enable Pagerly’s daily notifications feature.
• Every morning, Pagerly posts who’s on call today — an excellent way to keep your team aligned.

Use Cases for Pagerly + PagerDuty

Engineering Teams

• See on-call schedules in Slack.
• Handle incident workflows without leaving Slack.
• Use real-time alerts for faster response times.

Support Teams

• Get incident notifications in dedicated Slack channels.
• Use common Slack actions to escalate issues.
• Collaborate in real time during critical incidents.

Security Teams

• Ensure compliance with applicable law by logging incident updates.
• Manage incident details in Slack with restricted app’s access.
• Audit who acknowledged what with PagerDuty analytics.

Best Practices for Pagerly + PagerDuty

• Use dedicated incident channels for every new incident.
• Keep incident details structured and consistent with Pagerly templates.
• Rotate your PagerDuty API key regularly.
• Train new users with Pagerly’s step-by-step guide.
• Review PagerDuty analytics and Pagerly reports on a recurring basis.

FAQ

Q: Do I need a PagerDuty account to use Pagerly?
Yes, Pagerly integrates directly with your PagerDuty account, so you’ll need one to connect schedules, services, and incidents.

Q: How does Pagerly know who is the current on-call user?
Pagerly pulls on-call data from your PagerDuty schedule ID in real time.

Q: Can Pagerly update Slack user groups automatically?
Yes, Pagerly syncs Slack groups with team members from PagerDuty schedules.

Q: Is Pagerly secure?
Absolutely. Pagerly uses scoped PagerDuty API keys and respects applicable law for data security and compliance.

Final Thoughts

PagerDuty is the backbone of modern incident response platforms, but Slack is where your team communication actually happens.

With Pagerly, you don’t need to bounce between the PagerDuty web app and Slack. Instead, your incident workflows, on-call schedules, and incident updates live where your team already works.

Pagerly makes it possible to:

• Deliver real-time alerts in Slack.
• Manage incident notifications and incident updates inside dedicated Slack channels.
• Automatically sync on-call rotation and on-call shift changes.
• Shorten response times for every critical incident.

For companies that rely on PagerDuty, Pagerly is a great way — and the easiest way — to bring the power of PagerDuty into Slack.

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