I’m looking for ways to automate data flow between my Roam Research workspace and other platforms I use daily. Here are some specific automations I want to create:
Twitter integration: When I favorite or bookmark a tweet, I want it automatically added to my Roam database
Publishing workflow: When I add a specific tag like #ready-to-share to any note block, I want the content automatically posted as an article on my WordPress or Medium blog
Slack connectivity: When I react to or star important Slack messages, they should appear automatically on my daily Roam page
I’m hoping to use an automation tool like Zapier to handle these connections since I don’t want to maintain custom code. Has anyone successfully built similar workflows? What’s the best approach to link Roam Research with these external services?
In my experience with automating Roam Research, I’ve faced similar challenges. Initially, I tried Zapier, but found its integration quite limiting. For Twitter, I opted for IFTTT to capture bookmarks; it effectively logs them in a Google Sheet which I then process for Roam. The publishing task is a bit tedious as Roam’s API is not very reliable. I utilize Roam’s export function to extract tagged notes via a scheduled script, although it can take a while. With Slack, the authentication issues were particularly frustrating. My solution was to email starred messages to a distinct address and link that to Zapier to collect them in Roam. While these integrations might not be seamless, they significantly reduce manual input.
roam’s automation is messy but it works. i use zapier for slack - set up a webhook trigger instead of direct auth, way more reliable. for twitter, i just use a browser extension that exports bookmarks to a text file, then import weekly into roam. not real-time but beats zapier’s twitter connection which breaks all the time.
I’ve been tackling similar Roam automation stuff for about six months. Here’s what I learned: don’t rely on direct Zapier connections to Roam - they’re flaky because of API issues. My workaround for Twitter: I have Zapier send favorited tweets to a dedicated email, then Roam imports from that email daily. Creates a safety buffer when connections crap out. For publishing, I export the graph and run a Python script that watches for my #ready-to-share tag. It formats everything and pushes to WordPress automatically. Slack was the biggest pain until I figured out custom slash commands. They webhook straight to Zapier and skip all the auth headaches. Once you get it set up, the whole thing runs smooth and beats copying stuff manually.