Secret Santa Drawer
Automatically organize your office Secret Santa. Fetches all Slack users, filters out bots and inactive members, randomly pairs givers and receivers, and sends private DMs with gift assignments.
Last updated
December 5, 2025
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Key Takeaways
- Automates Secret Santa from start to finish - Fetches Slack users, filters out bots, creates random pairings, and sends private DM assignments
- No spreadsheets needed - The entire process runs through Slack and AI, with no manual coordination
- Private by design - Each participant receives their assignment via a private Slack DM, so no one else sees it
- AI handles the logic - GPT-4.1 filters participants, generates fair random pairings, and sends personalized messages
What This Workflow Does
This Needle workflow automates your office Secret Santa gift exchange. You trigger it manually, and it pulls all users from your Slack workspace, uses AI to filter out bots and inactive accounts, creates randomized giver-receiver pairings where everyone gives and receives exactly one gift, and then sends private Slack DMs to each participant with their assignment.
Use cases:
- Running Secret Santa for your team without manual name-drawing or spreadsheets
- Organizing holiday gift exchanges for remote teams across time zones
- Automating any random pairing and notification workflow within Slack
How It Works
| Step | What Happens |
|---|---|
| 1. Manual trigger | You start the workflow when you are ready to run the draw |
| 2. Fetch Slack users | Retrieves all members from your Slack workspace via the Pipedream connector |
| 3. AI filtering | GPT-4.1 analyzes each user and removes bots (isBot: true) and deactivated accounts (active: false) |
| 4. AI pairing | GPT-4.1 creates randomized giver-receiver pairs ensuring everyone gives exactly one gift and receives exactly one gift, with no self-assignments |
| 5. AI messaging | GPT-4.1 sends a private Slack DM to each giver with their assigned recipient and the gift budget |
Workflow Nodes
| Node | Role |
|---|---|
| Manual Trigger | Starts the workflow on demand |
| Slack List Users | Fetches all members from your Slack workspace |
| AI Filter (GPT-4.1) | Removes bots, inactive users, and optionally guests from the participant list |
| AI Pairing (GPT-4.1) | Creates randomized giver-receiver pairs with no self-assignments |
| AI Messenger (GPT-4.1) | Sends private DMs to each giver with their assignment and budget info |
Setup Instructions
- Add the workflow template to Needle
- Connect your Slack workspace via the Pipedream connector
- Make sure the Slack bot has permission to list users and send direct messages
- Run the workflow manually when you are ready to draw names
Customization
| What You Can Change | How |
|---|---|
| Gift budget | Edit the AI prompt in the messaging step to change the budget amount (default: 10 EUR) |
| DM message text | Modify the messaging AI prompt to include a gift exchange date, wishlist links, or other details |
| Participant filtering | Update the filter AI prompt to exclude specific people by name or to include guest accounts |
| Pairing rules | Adjust the pairing AI prompt to add constraints like excluding certain pairings |
FAQ
Q: Can someone get assigned to themselves? A: No. The AI pairing step is explicitly instructed to ensure no one is assigned to themselves.
Q: Are the assignments truly private? A: Yes. Each giver receives their assignment via a private Slack DM. No other participant can see it.
Q: What model does this workflow use? A: All three AI steps use GPT-4.1 with temperature set to 0 for consistent, deterministic outputs.
Q: Can I run this for a specific Slack channel instead of the whole workspace? A: The workflow fetches all workspace users by default. You can adjust the filter AI prompt to only include members of a specific channel or department.
Q: What if I want to test it first? A: Run the workflow with your Slack workspace connected. You can review the filtering and pairing steps before the messaging step sends DMs. Consider testing with a small group first.
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