# Send an Ephemeral Message

Sends a message visible only to one specific user viewing a Slack channel, leaving no record for anyone else present there.


> **Availability:** See the [Incident Workflow Actions Overview table](/workflow-actions) for the plans this workflow is available on.

## 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](/ai-automation/automation/incident-workflows#create-an-incident-workflow).
2. When the instructions prompt you to [add actions](/ai-automation/automation/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](/ai-automation/automation/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](/ai-automation/automation/incident-workflows#field-references) article for more information.

| Name | Description |
| :--- | :--- |
| Workspace | 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. |
| Channel | Select **Dedicated Incident Channel** or **A specific channel** to determine where the message is sent. If 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. If 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. If you use a [field reference](/ai-automation/automation/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. |
| User | 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](/integrations/slack-integration-guide/slack-user-guide#link-user-accounts) . |
| Message | Enter the message body. This field supports Slack [mrkdwn](https://api.slack.com/reference/surfaces/formatting) formatting and emojis. |

## 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.                          |