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5 min read

3 ways to automate PagerDuty

By Will Harris · April 22, 2025

Customer confidence is hard to win and easy to lose. And when it comes to software, being slow to respond to issues can erode that relationship altogether.

PagerDuty is one of the leading tools for helping IT teams resolve issues fast. But as your digital operations grow, it can be difficult to keep up. Identifying what processes aren't scaling well—and the tools and workflows you can put in place to remedy that—is essential to creating a smooth system that grows with your team.

That's where automation comes in. By pairing PagerDuty with Zapier, you can automate key parts of your workflow and get back to working on what matters. Here's how.

Zapier is the most connected AI orchestration platform—integrating with thousands of apps from partners like Google, Salesforce, and Microsoft. Use interfaces, data tables, and logic to build secure, automated, AI-powered systems for your business-critical workflows across your organization's technology stack. Learn more.

Table of contents

  • Trigger new incidents automatically

  • Alert your team when an incident is assigned to them

  • Duplicate PagerDuty incidents on other platforms

To get started with a Zap template—what we call our pre-made workflows—just click on the button. It only takes a few minutes to set up. You can read more about setting up Zaps here.

Trigger new incidents automatically

Manually creating new incidents in PagerDuty is a time-consuming process—but it doesn't have to be. If you're collecting incident reports and transferring them to PagerDuty by hand (well, technically, by keyboard), you can use Zapier to connect your other tools to PagerDuty and eliminate the manual workload.

From email and chat tools

Many companies have an email inbox or Slack channel that serves as a dedicated place to report incidents. Monitoring that channel, though, is time-consuming, and it's all too easy to miss a report. If you could automate this process, you could be assured that every incident report from email and chat makes it into PagerDuty automatically.

With the Zaps below, you can trigger new incidents in PagerDuty every time there's a new email, channel post, mention, or even Slack reaction. 

Trigger PagerDuty incidents for new messages in Slack

Trigger PagerDuty incidents for new messages in Slack
  • Slack logo
  • PagerDuty logo
Slack + PagerDuty

Create PagerDuty trigger events from new Slack private channel messages

Create PagerDuty trigger events from new Slack private channel messages
  • Slack logo
  • PagerDuty logo
Slack + PagerDuty

Create PagerDuty trigger events from new Slack mentions

Create PagerDuty trigger events from new Slack mentions
  • Slack logo
  • PagerDuty logo
Slack + PagerDuty

Trigger PagerDuty incidents from new Discord messages

Trigger PagerDuty incidents from new Discord messages
  • Discord logo
  • PagerDuty logo
Discord + PagerDuty

Trigger new PagerDuty incidents when a reaction is added to a message in Slack

Trigger new PagerDuty incidents when a reaction is added to a message in Slack
  • Slack logo
  • PagerDuty logo
Slack + PagerDuty

Trigger incidents in PagerDuty from new inbound emails

Trigger incidents in PagerDuty from new inbound emails
  • Email by Zapier logo
  • PagerDuty logo
Email by Zapier + PagerDuty

From an RSS feed

If you're getting updates on your digital operations via RSS, you can use this Zap to trigger a new incident in PagerDuty automatically.

Once this Zap is on, it will trigger for every new item in your RSS feed, reliably adding all its information as a new incident without manual data entry (and the human error that comes with it).

Trigger PagerDuty incidents for new RSS posts

Trigger PagerDuty incidents for new RSS posts
  • RSS by Zapier logo
  • PagerDuty logo
RSS by Zapier + PagerDuty

From your website monitoring tools

You can't afford to waste a second when your website or web app goes down. By syncing your website monitoring tool with PagerDuty, you can trigger a new incident automatically as soon as one is created in your website monitoring platform. Instead of letting incidents cascade through disconnected communication channels, you can automate your incident routing process to send critical alerts (with full context) to the right people, right away. Can cut out the manual admin work and get your team moving faster to minimize downtime.

Trigger new incidents in PagerDuty for new Freshping alerts

Trigger new incidents in PagerDuty for new Freshping alerts
  • Freshping logo
  • PagerDuty logo
Freshping + PagerDuty

Trigger new PagerDuty events from new incidents in Better Stack

Trigger new PagerDuty events from new incidents in Better Stack
  • Better Stack logo
  • PagerDuty logo
Better Stack + PagerDuty

Trigger new incidents in PagerDuty for new down alerts in Updown.io

Trigger new incidents in PagerDuty for new down alerts in Updown.io
  • Updown.io logo
  • PagerDuty logo
Updown.io + PagerDuty

Add resolve events in PagerDuty for new up alerts from Updown.io

Add resolve events in PagerDuty for new up alerts from Updown.io
  • Updown.io logo
  • PagerDuty logo
Updown.io + PagerDuty

On a schedule

Not every incident in PagerDuty has to be an emergency. Sometimes, it's about staying ahead of the chaos—like running daily checks, verifying backups, or making sure overnight jobs ran smoothly. Automation lets you trigger incidents on a set schedule, so your team can stay proactive instead of playing catch-up.

Maybe you'd like to create a regular prompt to review security logs or check system health before the morning rush. Or, if your globally distributed team rotates on-call engineers, a daily scheduled incident can help keep everyone on the same page regardless of time zone or handoff schedules. It's also great for operational rhythms, like sprint wrap-ups or prepping for an upcoming release. 

Trigger daily incidents on PagerDuty

Trigger daily incidents on PagerDuty
  • Schedule by Zapier logo
  • PagerDuty logo
Schedule by Zapier + PagerDuty

Trigger custom actions in PagerDuty every week using Schedule by Zapier

Trigger custom actions in PagerDuty every week using Schedule by Zapier
  • Schedule by Zapier logo
  • PagerDuty logo
Schedule by Zapier + PagerDuty

From customers

When customers report a problem, they're not thinking about your internal processes—they just want a quick resolution. But if those requests come in through live chat, a support form, or a ticketing system, there's often a delay before they reach the team that can actually fix the issue.

Automation closes that time gap. For example, you can use these Zaps to create an incident when a critical ticket comes in through Freshdesk, a bug is reported through a Google Form, or a conversation in Intercom is tagged as urgent. No more relying on another team to escalate the issue manually—your response process can kick off instantly.  

Add PagerDuty trigger events for new conversations in Intercom

Add PagerDuty trigger events for new conversations in Intercom
  • Intercom logo
  • PagerDuty logo
Intercom + PagerDuty

Add PagerDuty trigger events for new Google Forms responses

Add PagerDuty trigger events for new Google Forms responses
  • Google Forms logo
  • PagerDuty logo
Google Forms + PagerDuty

Add PagerDuty trigger events for new Freshdesk tickets

Add PagerDuty trigger events for new Freshdesk tickets
  • Freshdesk logo
  • PagerDuty logo
Freshdesk + PagerDuty

Pro tip: Add a filter step to set up specific parameters for the types of activity that trigger the Zap. You don't want every Intercom conversation or Freshdesk ticket to be sent to PagerDuty, after all—just the ones your team can do something about.

A Zap connecting Freshdesk and PagerDuty using a Filter by Zapier step

From anywhere else

If you're gathering customer issues using a tool that doesn't have a Zapier integration, webhooks are a great way to capture them. Just set up your custom webhook and use this Zap template to capture that information and add it to PagerDuty automatically.

Trigger PagerDuty incidents for new webhook payloads

Trigger PagerDuty incidents for new webhook payloads
  • Webhooks by Zapier logo
  • PagerDuty logo
Webhooks by Zapier + PagerDuty

Learn more about webhooks and how to use them with Zapier.

Alert your team when an incident is assigned to them

Asking your team to keep an eye on their PagerDuty notifications—along with Slack, email, and other platforms you're using for work—is a tall order. When notifications are coming at you from everywhere, it's helpful to channel them all into one place.

With the Zaps below, you can immediately inform your team when a new incident is triggered in PagerDuty on the platform of their choice. Whether that's email, chat, or even text, you can ensure that no notification goes unaccounted for.

Send Slack messages for new incidents on PagerDuty

Send Slack messages for new incidents on PagerDuty
  • PagerDuty logo
  • Slack logo
PagerDuty + Slack

Send emails for new incidents on PagerDuty

Send emails for new incidents on PagerDuty
  • PagerDuty logo
  • Email by Zapier logo
PagerDuty + Email by Zapier

Send emails through Gmail for new PagerDuty incidents

Send emails through Gmail for new PagerDuty incidents
  • PagerDuty logo
  • Gmail logo
PagerDuty + Gmail

Send new channel messages in Discord for new incidents in PagerDuty

Send new channel messages in Discord for new incidents in PagerDuty
  • PagerDuty logo
  • Discord logo
PagerDuty + Discord

Of course, you don't want to spam your team's Slack or Discord channel. Getting notifications for every PagerDuty incident could be just as bad for productivity as not being notified at all. You can avoid spamming your channels by adding a filter step to only watch for certain kinds of activity, or add a digest step to send a summary of the day's incidents in one concise message.

A Zap workflow connecting PagerDuty and Slack through a Digest by Zapier step.

Duplicate PagerDuty incidents on other platforms

Not everyone in your company may have PagerDuty access. For security's sake, it's often best limit access to tools with potential sensitive information in them to those who need it. You might also limit the number of team members with access to a particular tool to save money for your company.

Unfortunately, being prudent can come with some logistical issues. If you need to loop in another team on a particular incident, for example, it's difficult to do when all of the records are only in PagerDuty.

With the Zaps below, you can automatically duplicate newly triggered incidents in PagerDuty to other platforms—lending you the ability to work with other teams without giving access to potentially sensitive apps.

Add new rows on Google Sheets for new incidents on PagerDuty

Add new rows on Google Sheets for new incidents on PagerDuty
  • PagerDuty logo
  • Google Sheets logo
PagerDuty + Google Sheets

Add Asana tasks for new PagerDuty incidents

Add Asana tasks for new PagerDuty incidents
  • PagerDuty logo
  • Asana logo
PagerDuty + Asana

Create Notion database items for new or updated PagerDuty incidents

Create Notion database items for new or updated PagerDuty incidents
  • PagerDuty logo
  • Notion logo
PagerDuty + Notion

Create JIRA issues for new or updated PagerDuty incidents

Create JIRA issues for new or updated PagerDuty incidents
  • PagerDuty logo
  • Jira Software Server logo
PagerDuty + Jira Software Server

Pro tip: Data coming from PagerDuty doesn't always arrive in the most readable—or useful—format. A formatter step can clean up, reshape, or even extract just the pieces of data you actually need before passing it along to the next tool. 

For example, you might convert a PageDuty timestamp from ISO format to something a little more human-readable. You can also use the text formatter to extract the first few lines of an incident report (leaving out the raw metadata and internal logs) before it shows up in Notion or Asana.

A Zap workflow connecting PagerDuty and Slack through two formatter steps.

Enable your digital ops

Your IT and DevOps teams have a lot on their plate—managing PagerDuty shouldn't add to it. When you create automated systems for your incident management processes, you streamline your team's work and prevent unnecessary bottlenecks from creating bigger problems down the road. For example, here's how an IT team might use automation to manage everything from incident reporting to notifications and internal data syncing:

A Zapier Canvas diagram of an IT automated workflow using PagerDuty.

Automation won't fix every incident that pops up, but it will help power the processes that enable your team to work faster and continue earning your customers' trust.

Related reading:

  • How to automate your IT management workflows

  • Popular ways to automate server monitoring

  • Workflows to help you get the most out of your database

  • How to automate Freshservice

  • Popular ways to automate DataDog

This article was originally published in December 2022 by Will Harris. It was most recently updated in April 2025 by Nicole Replogle.

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A Zap with the trigger 'When I get a new lead from Facebook,' and the action 'Notify my team in Slack'