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I Let AI Handle My Slack Messages So I Could Actually Code (Notion MCP)

Balkaran Singh on March 15, 2026

This is a submission for the Notion MCP Challenge What I Built Every developer knows the high cost of context switching. When you are i...
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Nikoloz Turazashvili (@axrisi)

Nice submission overall. If I had to point out the top 5 high-level things to fix first, they would be:

  1. Secure the Slack webhook
    Right now the endpoint appears to trust incoming requests too much. Slack signature verification should be added so random external requests cannot trigger bot actions.

  2. Handle duplicate Slack events
    Slack can resend the same event, which could lead to duplicate replies, duplicate logs, or even duplicate sprint tickets. Add deduplication using the event ID.

  3. Do not rely only on the model for routing
    The prompt says the assistant “must” use certain tools, but with tool_choice: "auto" that is still not guaranteed. Important actions like doc search vs bug ticket creation should be enforced in code, not only in prompting.

  4. Improve failure handling
    If tool arguments fail to parse, MCP breaks, or Slack posting fails, the bot may silently do nothing. It needs clearer fallback behavior and better separation between critical actions and optional logging.

  5. Tighten control over Notion writes
    Creating tickets and logs directly from Slack messages is powerful, but also risky. I would add stronger validation, permission checks, and limits so users cannot easily spam or create noisy data in Notion.

Interesting prototype, but these changes would make it much safer and more production-ready.

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Balkaran Singh

Thank you for taking the time to review the architecture and for the detailed, actionable feedback. Upgrading the webhook security, handling event deduplication, and enforcing the tool routing in the code are excellent points for scaling this from a prototype into a production environment. I am adding these five items directly to the roadmap for V2. I really appreciate the insights

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Juan David Gómez

Really cool project, I loved the CLI interface, I think both of us found Synapse is a great name for a project. My project is also called Synapse, it is a chat with a graph memory, nothing related to your topic, but I found it funny that both chose the same name, and it works for both contexts.

Great project, congrats

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Balkaran Singh

Haha, great minds think alike! It really is the perfect name for these kinds of AI projects. Thank you for the kind words on the CLI - I spent a lot of time trying to get that developer experience right.

I am definitely going to check out your version of Synapse. Building a chat with graph memory sounds like a fascinating architecture, and as a student, I'm always eager to see how senior engineers structure things under the hood. Really appreciate the support!

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Paul R

good implementation i must say.was wondering what would have happened if a certain question or more is not in the api documentation

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Balkaran Singh

Great question,for preventing the AI from hallucinating, i made a strict system in which if its unable to find the query, it gracefully admits it searched the notion documentation but couldnt find details on that topic.For future V2,would love to add further functionality:)

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Paul R • Edited

kinda agreed,rather than providing a wrong answer its kinda good it says that for a starter program.regardless,great work,best wishes for future

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Balkaran Singh

thanks a bunch :)

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PRATHAM GARG

Nice implementation of Notions MCP in everyday life,great work

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Balkaran Singh • Edited

thanks :)

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steve

VERY INFORMATIVE N PRACTICAL PROJECT,KEEP UP!

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Balkaran Singh

thanks a lot :)

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Balkaran Singh

Hey everyone! This is my submission for the Notion MCP challenge. What is your biggest distraction when you are trying to code?

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steve

AS A DEV, I PERSONALLY FEEL A NEED FOR SUCH A TOOL THAT CAN HANDLE WEIGHT OFF MY SHOULDERS

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Balkaran Singh

Someone handling your communication while you work does seem like lifting a weight off your shoulders,hope to improve it further,and thanks again :)

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Anjali Singla

I was recently looking towards something that can do such tasks,maybe further add an ability that puts up a notification if there is an emergency

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Balkaran Singh

That functionality can be misused by people to convey any sort of message,even if there's no emergency,breaking the whole purpose of the program,hope that makes it clear :)

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golden Star

Good experience.

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Balkaran Singh

Thanks :)