Use case

Random Slack check-ins without Donut

Point an Untimely webhook action at a Slack incoming webhook URL. Untimely picks a random time inside your window and POSTs the message — a standup nudge, a gratitude prompt, a 'share one thing you learned' — so the ritual never becomes the ignorable 09:30 bot post.

Why random check-ins get answered

Fixed-time bot posts train people to skim past them. A prompt that lands at 11:47 one day and 15:03 the next gets read, because it does not match a pattern anyone has learned to ignore.

Setup in two steps

Create a Slack incoming webhook for your channel (Slack: Apps → Incoming Webhooks), then create an Untimely event whose webhook action POSTs {"text": "..."} to that URL. The whole config lives in one curl.

Where Donut still wins

Donut pairs people, tracks intros, and manages programs inside Slack. Untimely does none of that — it schedules and delivers a message. If pair-matching is the job, use Donut; if a humane recurring prompt is the job, this is lighter and free for up to 3 events.

Try it

Create it with one API call (create an API key in dashboard settings first):

curl -sS "https://untimely.app/api/events" \
  -H "authorization: Bearer $UNTIMELY_API_KEY" \
  -H "content-type: application/json" \
  -H "idempotency-key: slack-random-checkin-001" \
  -d '{
    "name": "Random team check-in",
    "interval": 7,
    "frequency": 2,
    "betweenTimeStart": "15:00",
    "betweenTimeEnd": "21:00",
    "daysOfWeek": [1, 2, 3, 4, 5],
    "actionType": "WEBHOOK",
    "webhook": {
      "method": "POST",
      "url": "https://hooks.slack.com/services/T000/B000/XXXX",
      "headers": [{"key": "content-type", "value": "application/json"}],
      "body": "{\"text\": \"Check-in time: what is one thing that surprised you this week?\"}"
    }
  }'

FAQ

Questions about this use case

Is there a native Slack integration?

Yes. Untimely supports Slack actions as well as Email and Webhook actions; Slack incoming webhooks remain a simple option when you want one URL and one JSON body.

Can the message rotate?

Point the webhook at a small endpoint of your own that picks from a prompt list before posting; Untimely supplies the unpredictable timing.

Does this replace Donut?

Only the scheduled-prompt part. Donut's pairing and program features are its own product.

Create event