Message Templates

Message templates control how events are formatted before delivery. Templates support three output formats: Discord embeds, Slack Block Kit messages, and Telegram HTML.

Template Formats

Templates support two config versions:

v1 — Flat (single platform)

A single TemplateConfig object that applies to all platforms. This is the simpler format and is still fully supported:

{
  "title": "{{.Meta.EventType}}",
  "description": "New event from {{.Body.repository.full_name}}",
  "color": 16750848,
  "fields": [
    {
      "name": "Action",
      "value": "{{.Body.action}}",
      "inline": true
    }
  ],
  "footer": "Dispatch",
  "thumbnail": "{{.Body.sender.avatar_url}}",
  "author": "{{.Body.sender.login}}",
  "timestamp": true
}

v2 — Multi-platform

A PlatformTemplateConfig envelope with per-platform variants. Dispatch selects the platform matching the destination type, falling back to default if no specific variant is configured:

{
  "version": 2,
  "platforms": {
    "discord": {
      "title": "{{.Meta.EventType}}",
      "description": "{{.Body.repository.full_name}}",
      "color": 5763719,
      "fields": [
        { "name": "Action", "value": "{{.Body.action}}", "inline": true }
      ],
      "timestamp": true
    },
    "slack": {
      "slack_blocks": [
        {
          "type": "section",
          "text": {
            "type": "mrkdwn",
            "text": "*{{.Meta.EventType}}* — {{.Body.repository.full_name}}"
          }
        }
      ]
    },
    "telegram": {
      "telegram_html": "<b>{{.Meta.EventType}}</b>\n{{.Body.repository.full_name}}\n\nAction: <code>{{.Body.action}}</code>"
    },
    "default": {
      "title": "{{.Meta.EventType}}",
      "description": "{{.Body.repository.full_name}}",
      "timestamp": true
    }
  }
}

Discord Embed Config

The Discord platform config (or v1 flat config) renders a Discord embed:

Fields

Field	Type	Description
`title`	string	Embed title (max 256 chars). Supports template syntax.
`description`	string	Main content (max 4096 chars, supports markdown). Supports template syntax.
`color`	integer	Decimal color code (e.g., `16711680` for red, `65280` for green)
`fields`	array	Up to 25 embed fields
`footer`	string	Footer text. Supports template syntax.
`thumbnail`	string	URL for thumbnail image. Supports template syntax.
`author`	string	Author name. Supports template syntax.
`timestamp`	boolean	Whether to include an ISO 8601 timestamp

Embed Fields

Each field in the fields array has:

Field	Type	Description
`name`	string	Field label (max 256 chars). Supports template syntax.
`value`	string	Field content (max 1024 chars). Supports template syntax.
`inline`	boolean	Whether to display inline (side-by-side with other inline fields)

Slack Block Kit Config

For Slack destinations, set a slack_blocks array in the platform config. This renders natively as a Slack Block Kit message. All string values inside the blocks support template expressions:

{
  "slack_blocks": [
    {
      "type": "header",
      "text": {
        "type": "plain_text",
        "text": "{{upper .Meta.EventType}}"
      }
    },
    {
      "type": "section",
      "fields": [
        {
          "type": "mrkdwn",
          "text": "*Repository*\n{{.Body.repository.full_name}}"
        },
        {
          "type": "mrkdwn",
          "text": "*Action*\n{{.Body.action}}"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "type": "divider"
    }
  ]
}

If slack_blocks is not set, the Discord embed fields are auto-converted to a Slack attachment format.

Telegram HTML Config

For Telegram destinations, set a telegram_html field in the platform config. This string supports template expressions and is sent as HTML. Supported HTML tags:

Tag	Effect
`<b>` / `<strong>`	Bold
`<i>` / `<em>`	Italic
`<u>` / `<ins>`	Underline
`<s>` / `<strike>` / `<del>`	Strikethrough
`<code>`	Inline code
`<pre>`	Code block
`<blockquote>`	Block quote
`<a href="url">`	Hyperlink
`<tg-spoiler>`	Hidden spoiler

{
  "telegram_html": "<b>{{upper .Meta.EventType}}</b> on <code>{{.Body.repository.full_name}}</code>\n\n{{.Body.pull_request.title}}\n\nOpened by: {{.Body.sender.login}}"
}

If telegram_html is not set, Dispatch auto-converts the Discord embed fields to Telegram HTML.

Template Variables

All template fields have access to two objects:

`.Body`

The full event payload as a nested map. Access any field using dot notation:

{{.Body.action}}
{{.Body.repository.full_name}}
{{.Body.pull_request.title}}
{{.Body.commits[0].message}}

`.Meta`

Event metadata:

Variable	Description
`{{.Meta.EventType}}`	The extracted event type (e.g., `push`, `pull_request`)
`{{.Meta.EventID}}`	The unique event ID (UUID)
`{{.Meta.EndpointID}}`	The endpoint that received the event
`{{.Meta.Timestamp}}`	ISO 8601 timestamp of when the event was received

Template Functions

The following functions are available in template expressions:

Function	Description	Example
`upper`	Convert to uppercase	`{{upper .Body.action}}`
`lower`	Convert to lowercase	`{{lower .Body.action}}`
`default`	Fallback value if empty	`{{default .Body.name "Unknown"}}`
`truncate`	Truncate to N characters	`{{truncate .Body.description 100}}`
`json`	Format value as JSON	`{{json .Body.commits}}`
`ansiGray`	Discord ANSI gray color	`{{ansiGray "text"}}`
`ansiRed`	Discord ANSI red color	`{{ansiRed "error"}}`
`ansiGreen`	Discord ANSI green color	`{{ansiGreen "success"}}`
`ansiYellow`	Discord ANSI yellow color	`{{ansiYellow "warning"}}`
`ansiBlue`	Discord ANSI blue color	`{{ansiBlue "info"}}`
`ansiPink`	Discord ANSI pink color	`{{ansiPink "text"}}`
`ansiCyan`	Discord ANSI cyan color	`{{ansiCyan "text"}}`
`ansiWhite`	Discord ANSI white color	`{{ansiWhite "text"}}`
`ansiBold`	Discord ANSI bold	`{{ansiBold "text"}}`
`ansiUnderline`	Discord ANSI underline	`{{ansiUnderline "text"}}`

note

ANSI color functions are only meaningful inside Discord code block descriptions (```ansi ```). They have no effect in Slack or Telegram output.

Auto-Formatting

When no template is assigned to an endpoint-destination link, Dispatch uses auto-detection based on the event payload to generate an appropriate embed.

GitHub Events

If the payload contains repository and sender fields, Dispatch generates a specialized embed based on the event type:

push — commit summary with author, branch, and commit messages
pull_request — PR title, description, status, and labels
issues — issue title, body, assignees, and labels
release — release name, tag, and description
workflow_run — workflow name, status, and conclusion
And more GitHub event types with tailored formatting

GitLab Events

If the payload contains a project object with a GitLab structure, Dispatch generates embeds for:

Push Hook — branch, commit count, and commit messages
Merge Request Hook — MR title, description, and status
Issue Hook — issue title and description

Bitbucket Events

For Bitbucket payloads (containing repository.scm = "git" and Bitbucket-style structure):

repo:push — branch and commit summary
pullrequest:created / fulfilled / rejected — PR title, status, and participants

Jira Events

For Jira payloads (webhookEvent field present):

jira:issue_created — issue key, summary, type, and priority
jira:issue_updated — field changes with old/new values
jira:issue_deleted — issue key and summary

Linear Events

For Linear payloads (type and organizationId fields present):

Issue lifecycle events — title, status, priority, and assignee
Comment events — comment text and issue context
Project updates — project name and status changes

Stripe Events

For Stripe payloads (object field with "api_version" present, or livemode field):

charge.succeeded / failed — amount, currency, and customer
payment_intent.succeeded / payment_failed — amount and status
subscription.created / updated / deleted — plan name and customer
invoice.paid / payment_failed — amount due and customer

Slack Events

If the payload contains team_id, api_app_id, and type: event_callback, Dispatch generates Slack-specific embeds for:

Messages, reactions, channel events, member events, pins, files, emoji changes, and more

Default

For unrecognized payloads, Dispatch creates a simple embed with the raw JSON payload formatted as a code block.

Routing Rules

Each endpoint-destination link can have routing rules that select different templates based on event fields:

[
  {
    "field": "body.action",
    "op": "eq",
    "value": "opened",
    "template_id": "uuid-for-opened-template"
  },
  {
    "field": "body.action",
    "op": "eq",
    "value": "closed",
    "template_id": "uuid-for-closed-template"
  }
]

Rules are evaluated top-to-bottom. The first matching rule's template is used. If no rule matches, the default link template (or auto-formatting) is used. A routing rule can also specify a transform_id to override the transform for that rule.

Supported Operators

Operator	Description
`eq`	Equals
`neq`	Not equals
`contains`	Contains substring
`not_contains`	Does not contain substring
`exists`	Field exists and is non-empty
`not_exists`	Field does not exist or is empty

Template Formats​

v1 — Flat (single platform)​

v2 — Multi-platform​

Discord Embed Config​

Fields​

Embed Fields​

Slack Block Kit Config​

Telegram HTML Config​

Template Variables​

.Body​

.Meta​

Template Functions​

Auto-Formatting​

GitHub Events​

GitLab Events​

Bitbucket Events​

Jira Events​

Linear Events​

Stripe Events​

Slack Events​

Default​

Routing Rules​

Supported Operators​