AI Workflow for GitHub PR Notifications

Difficulty: Beginner · Setup time: 20 min · Steps: 4

Developers miss PR reviews because notifications get buried in email, and tickets stay open long after the code that closes them is merged. This workflow routes every GitHub PR event to the right Slack channel with a direct @mention of the requested reviewer, and automatically closes the linked Linear issue when the PR merges.

What to Expect

  • < 2 hr — average PR review time vs. 8+ hours without Slack notifications
  • 100% — of merged PRs automatically close their linked Linear issues

Tools Used in This Workflow

  • GitHub — PR events webhook
  • n8n — Event routing
  • Slack — Reviewer notifications
  • Linear — Auto-close linked issue

How It Works — Step by Step

  1. Step 1: GitHub PR events via webhook

    Tool: GitHub

    GitHub sends webhooks to n8n for PR events: opened, review_requested, approved, changes_requested, and merged. Each event type triggers a different branch of the workflow with the appropriate notification and action.

  2. Step 2: Route events in n8n

    Tool: n8n

    n8n's Switch node branches on the event type — PR opened goes to the team channel, review_requested DMs the specific reviewer, approved notifies the author, and merged triggers the Linear ticket closure branch.

  3. Step 3: Notify in Slack with reviewer mention

    Tool: Slack

    Review request messages in Slack @mention the specific reviewer by mapping their GitHub username to their Slack user ID. The message includes the PR title, a 2-line description, changed files count, and a direct link to the diff in GitHub.

  4. Step 4: Auto-close Linear issue on merge

    Tool: Linear

    When a PR is merged, n8n reads the PR description for a Linear issue number (e.g., 'Closes LIN-123'), calls the Linear API to move that issue to Done, and posts a comment on the Linear issue with the merged PR link for full traceability.

Pro Tips for This Workflow

  • Create a GitHub username → Slack user ID mapping table in Airtable or a simple n8n JSON object — this enables direct @mentions of the right person in every review request notification.
  • Add a PR size label ('XS', 'S', 'M', 'L', 'XL') based on lines changed and include it in the Slack message — reviewers use it to prioritize which PRs to tackle first.
  • Use n8n's 'Wait' node to detect PRs that have been open without a review for more than 24 hours and send a gentle reminder — prevents PRs from stalling undetected.

What You'll Need

  • GitHub account — PR events webhook
  • n8n account — Event routing
  • Slack account — Reviewer notifications
  • Linear account — Auto-close linked issue
  • Basic automation experience, or a vetted expert to build it for you

Related Video Tutorial

Automate GitHub PR Review Notifications to Slack with n8n

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I create the GitHub → Slack username mapping?

The simplest approach is a hardcoded JSON object in n8n: {"github_handle": "slack_user_id"}. Get Slack user IDs from Slack's workspace member list or the People & Groups API. For large teams, store the mapping in an Airtable table and look up the Slack ID dynamically during the workflow.

Does this workflow require GitHub Enterprise or does it work with free GitHub?

This workflow works with any GitHub plan including the free tier. The PR events webhook, which is the trigger for this workflow, is available for all repositories including public and private repos on free accounts. n8n self-hosted or cloud can receive these webhooks.

How does n8n read the Linear issue number from a PR description?

Add an n8n 'Extract String' step using a regex like /LIN-\d+/ or /Closes\s+([A-Z]+-\d+)/i applied to the PR body text. This captures the issue identifier which is then passed to the Linear API's updateIssue mutation to move it to Done.

Can I add this workflow for GitLab instead of GitHub?

Yes — GitLab has equivalent Merge Request webhooks for opened, approved, merged, and commented events. Replace the GitHub webhook trigger in n8n with a GitLab webhook trigger. The Slack and Linear steps are identical; only the webhook payload structure differs slightly (merge_request instead of pull_request).

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