# Deadline monitor with Slack MCP connector (`rare_sunset/deadline-slack-monitor`) Actor

Unofficial Slack integration; not affiliated with Slack. Detect meaningful deadline and status changes on public pages and notify Slack through an Apify MCP connector.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/rare\_sunset/deadline-slack-monitor.md
- **Developed by:** [Abdulrahman Baidaq](https://apify.com/rare_sunset) (community)
- **Categories:** Automation, Integrations, MCP servers
- **Stats:** 1 total users, 0 monthly users, 0.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

Pay per usage

This Actor is paid per platform usage. The Actor is free to use, and you only pay for the Apify platform usage, which gets cheaper the higher subscription plan you have.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-usage

## What's an Apify Actor?

Actors are web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.
Actors are written with capital "A".

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.
The best way to integrate Actors is as follows.

- **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use).
- **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`.
- **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`.
- **Python projects** — the official [Python client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): `pip install apify-client`.
- **Any other language** — the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md).

For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below.

For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt).

# README

## Content-launch radar with Slack MCP connector

This Actor is a personal content-launch radar. It watches the real submission window, article publication page, and project-status page in a writer's publishing workflow, then sends a Slack message only when a normalized deadline or status changes. It stores the last meaningful snapshot in a named key-value store, so a changed navigation bar or CSS class does not create an alert.

### What it demonstrates

- an Apify input field that accepts a Slack MCP connector;
- a restricted `slack_send_message` tool allowlist;
- deterministic page-state extraction without an LLM;
- target purposes for `submission`, `publication`, and `status` pages;
- stateful transition classification (`first_seen`, `deadline_moved`, `closing_soon`, `closed`, and `unchanged`);
- a named key-value store so state survives separate scheduled runs;
- a dry-run mode for safe testing.

The Actor is intentionally small. It is not a general crawler, does not bypass access controls, and does not scrape authenticated pages. Before using a URL, check its `robots.txt`, terms, rate limits, and applicable law. Keep the page list small and run it on a reasonable schedule.

### Local tests

```powershell
python -m unittest discover -s tests -v
```

The unit tests cover extraction, cosmetic-change suppression, and transition deduplication. A live connector run must still be verified in an authenticated Apify account.

### Apify input

```json
{
  "pages": [
    {
      "label": "Apify Content Program submission window",
      "url": "https://apify.notion.site/apify-content-program",
      "purpose": "submission"
    },
    {
      "label": "Connector article project status",
      "url": "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Abood991B/apify-content-program-actors/main/status/article-1.html",
      "purpose": "status"
    }
  ],
  "slack_connector": "<selected connector ID>",
  "slack_channel": "#content-radar",
  "state_store": "<selected named key-value store ID>",
  "lookahead_days": 7,
  "dry_run": false
}
```

Authorize Slack in Apify Console first. The Actor receives a connector identifier and uses the Apify MCP connector proxy; it never receives the third-party OAuth token.

The state store is deliberately a separate input. Apify's default key-value store belongs to one run; selecting a named store is what makes the comparison survive the next scheduled run.

Add a publication target only after the article has a real URL. `examples/dry-run-input.json` is a template for local engineering checks; `examples/live-baseline-input.json` records the real baseline used for the article.

# Actor input Schema

## `pages` (type: `array`):

One to three public pages. Keep the list small and respect each site's robots.txt and terms.

## `slack_connector` (type: `string`):

A Slack MCP connector authorized in Apify Console. The Actor receives only the connector ID.

## `slack_channel` (type: `string`):

Channel name or ID accepted by the authorized Slack connector.

## `state_store` (type: `string`):

A named key-value store that keeps snapshots between scheduled Actor runs.

## `lookahead_days` (type: `integer`):

Notify when a known deadline first enters this many days from today.

## `dry_run` (type: `boolean`):

Fetch and classify pages without sending Slack messages.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "slack_channel": "#alerts",
  "lookahead_days": 7,
  "dry_run": false
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

No description

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("rare_sunset/deadline-slack-monitor").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("rare_sunset/deadline-slack-monitor").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{}' |
apify call rare_sunset/deadline-slack-monitor --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,rare_sunset/deadline-slack-monitor"
        }
    }
}

```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/J3UyFqZ6cGhIQYUVz/builds/mDolOTrnrc4wZzfo2/openapi.json