Free tool · printable

Google Forms → Slack diagnostic checklist

Nine checks that catch most broken pipelines, in the order you should run them. Walk down the list, tick off each item, follow the fix for anything that's off. Saves your progress locally, print when done.

0 of 9 confirmed

1. The Google Form exists and accepts responses
Open the form. Click Send. Make sure response collection isn't paused — in Settings → Responses, the “Accepting responses” toggle should be on.
Fix: Flip the toggle back on. While you're there, confirm the “Make this a quiz” and “Limit to 1 response” settings haven't accidentally changed, they affect what submissions go through.
2. An Apps Script trigger is wired to On form submit
Open the form's Apps Script editor (three-dot menu → Apps Script). Click the clock icon (Triggers) in the left sidebar. There should be at least one row with Event source = From form and Event type = On form submit.
Fix: If no rows exist, run your installer function (the script generator calls it installFormBridge) once from the editor. If multiple rows point at the same function, delete the duplicates, every submission would otherwise fire twice. Our trigger checker walks you through the canonical configuration.
3. The Apps Script is authorised
First time the script runs, Google asks you to authorise it. If you never completed the authorisation dialog, every onFormSubmit invocation fails silently with an authorisation error.
Fix: In the Apps Script editor, pick your installer function from the dropdown and click Run. Follow the prompts: Advanced → Go to (unsafe) → Allow. The “unverified” warning is because it's your own script, you can read every line.
4. The Slack webhook URL is valid and active
Slack incoming webhooks can be revoked at any time from the integration's admin page. If yours was revoked, every POST returns 404 / no_service and the message never lands.
Fix: Paste your webhook URL into /tools/slack-webhook-tester. If you get no_service or no_team, the URL is dead, generate a new incoming webhook in Slack and update it in your script (or your RouteForms dashboard).
5. Routing rule field names match the form questions exactly
If your routing rule says “Budget” but the form question is Budget (USD), the rule won't match and the response falls through to the default channel.
Fix: Paste a real response into /tools/google-forms-field-extractor and copy the field names verbatim into your rules.
6. Apps Script Executions log shows recent runs
Click the line-graph icon (Executions) in the Apps Script left sidebar. After submitting a test response, a row should appear within ~30 seconds with status Completed (green check).
Fix: If no row appears, the trigger isn't firing, re-check Trigger config. If rows appear but say Failed, open one to read the stack trace. Common failures: webhook URL is wrong, fetch was blocked by quota, JSON body had a syntax error.
7. (RouteForms users) Delivery log shows the post landed
Inside RouteForms, every form has a per-form delivery log. After a submission, it should show a new row with the matched rule, the destination channel, and Slack's HTTP response. Status 200 / OK means Slack accepted it.
Fix: If the log shows status 429, you're being rate-limited, wait and retry. If 400 / invalid_payload, the Slack message body is malformed (usually a stray character in a routing rule). If 404 / no_service, the webhook is dead. Click Retry after fixing.
8. The Slack channel still exists and the webhook is bound to it
Webhooks are bound to a specific channel. If the channel was archived, renamed, or the webhook was reassigned, posts may go nowhere visible.
Fix: In Slack, go to Settings & administration → Manage apps → Incoming webhooks. Confirm the webhook's “Post to channel” setting points at the channel you expect. Reassign if not.
9. No duplicate triggers or scripts on the form
If two triggers point at the same handler, every submission fires twice. If the form is wired to two scripts (one bound to the form, one bound to the Sheet), each one posts — you get duplicate Slack messages.
Fix: In Triggers, delete duplicate rows for the same function. If you have both a form-bound and a Sheet-bound script that POST to Slack, pick one and remove the other.

When to use this

A flat audit, not a branching tree

The decision-tree troubleshooter is the right tool when you've got one specific symptom — “Slack stopped getting messages” or “the wrong content is arriving”. Pick a branch, answer two questions, get a diagnosis.

The checklist is the right tool when you want to do a full audit of the pipeline. Maybe nothing's broken right now but you want to confirm everything's healthy. Maybe a teammate inherited the setup and needs to verify it before going on-call. Maybe you want a printable artefact you can hand off as proof the integration is configured correctly.

Items are ordered cheapest-to-most-expensive. Item 1 is a 5-second check; item 9 is a deeper dive into trigger duplication. By walking top-to-bottom you find the easiest failure first.

Items at a glance

The nine checks

The Google Form exists and accepts responses.
An Apps Script trigger is wired to On form submit.
The Apps Script is authorised.
The Slack webhook URL is valid and active.
Routing rule field names match the form questions exactly.
Apps Script Executions log shows recent runs.
(RouteForms users) Delivery log shows the post landed.
The Slack channel still exists and the webhook is bound to it.
No duplicate triggers or scripts on the form.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

What does this checklist cover?▾

The nine checks that catch ~95% of broken Google-Forms-to-Slack pipelines, in the order you should run them: form is accepting responses, trigger is wired to On form submit, script is authorised, webhook URL is valid, routing rule field names match the form question titles, Apps Script Executions log shows recent runs, RouteForms delivery log shows the post landed (if you're a user), the Slack channel and webhook are still bound to each other, no duplicate triggers or scripts.

How is this different from the troubleshooter at /tools/form-to-slack-troubleshooter?▾

The troubleshooter is a decision tree, pick a symptom, answer two questions, get a diagnosis. The checklist is the flat, linear version, walk every item top to bottom and check it off. Use the troubleshooter when you've got one specific symptom (Slack stopped getting messages, the wrong content arrives, etc.). Use the checklist when you want to do a full audit of the pipeline, or want a printable artefact to walk through with a teammate.

Does my progress save?▾

Yes, checks save to your browser's localStorage. Refresh the page and your boxes are still ticked. Use the Reset button to clear if you're starting a fresh audit. Nothing is sent to a server.

Can I print it?▾

Yes. There's a Print button at the top of the checklist that triggers the browser's print dialog. The fix boxes print along with the items, and the action bar hides, so what you get on paper is the full checklist with answers, suitable for handing off.

Which item fails most often in our experience?▾

Item 5, routing rule field names don't match the form question titles exactly. Usually because a teammate renamed a question without anyone realising the routing rules referenced the old name. The check is a sanity-test against that failure mode, and the fix links to /tools/google-forms-field-extractor so you can copy the real names back into the rules.

What if every item passes but submissions still aren't reaching Slack?▾

Two things to check next. (1) The Slack webhook may be silently rate-limited, paste it into /tools/slack-webhook-tester; if you get 429, slow your form submissions or move to a different webhook. (2) Some Slack workspaces have an outbound message filter that drops bot posts from unauthorised webhooks, check with your Slack admin.

Can I use this if I'm not on RouteForms?▾

Yes. Items 1–6 and 8–9 apply to any Apps Script → Slack setup. Item 7 (RouteForms delivery log) is specific to RouteForms users, skip it if you're not one. The Apps Script Executions log (item 6) is the equivalent for script-only setups.

Why is the order important?▾

Each check is cheaper and faster than the next one. Form accepting responses is a 5-second check; trigger config is a 30-second check; reading the Executions log requires understanding what failure modes look like. By walking top-to-bottom, you find the cheapest possible failure first instead of debugging deep before you've ruled out the shallow stuff.

Skip half the checklist with RouteForms

RouteForms's delivery log surfaces items 4, 6, 7, and 8 in one place, and the script generator handles items 2 and 3 for you. Free for 30 responses a month.

Start free →See pricing