Manual Testing Guide - Slack Notification Module

This guide provides curl-based tests so you can verify your implementation without setting up a full GitHub repository and Actions workflow.

Prerequisites

1. MCP server running: uv run server.py
2. Webhook server running: python webhook_server.py
3. Slack webhook URL set: export SLACK_WEBHOOK_URL="https://hooks.slack.com/services/..."

Test 1: Direct Slack Tool Test

Test your send_slack_notification tool directly via Claude Code:

# Start your MCP server and connect with Claude Code, then ask:
# "Send a test message to Slack: 'Hello from MCP Course Module 3!'"

Expected result: Message appears in your Slack channel.

Test 2: Simulate GitHub Webhook Events

2a. Simulate CI Failure Event

Send a fake GitHub Actions failure event to your webhook server:

curl -X POST http://localhost:8080/webhook/github \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "X-GitHub-Event: workflow_run" \
  -d '{
    "action": "completed",
    "workflow_run": {
      "id": 123456789,
      "name": "CI",
      "status": "completed",
      "conclusion": "failure",
      "run_number": 42,
      "created_at": "2024-01-15T10:30:00Z",
      "updated_at": "2024-01-15T10:35:00Z",
      "html_url": "https://github.com/user/repo/actions/runs/123456789",
      "head_branch": "feature/slack-integration",
      "head_sha": "abc123f456789",
      "repository": {
        "name": "mcp-course",
        "full_name": "user/mcp-course",
        "html_url": "https://github.com/user/mcp-course"
      },
      "pull_requests": [{
        "number": 42,
        "url": "https://api.github.com/repos/user/mcp-course/pulls/42",
        "html_url": "https://github.com/user/mcp-course/pull/42"
      }]
    }
  }'

2b. Simulate CI Success Event

curl -X POST http://localhost:8080/webhook/github \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "X-GitHub-Event: workflow_run" \
  -d '{
    "action": "completed",
    "workflow_run": {
      "id": 123456790,
      "name": "Deploy",
      "status": "completed",
      "conclusion": "success",
      "run_number": 43,
      "created_at": "2024-01-15T11:30:00Z",
      "updated_at": "2024-01-15T11:35:00Z",
      "html_url": "https://github.com/user/repo/actions/runs/123456790",
      "head_branch": "main",
      "head_sha": "def456g789012",
      "repository": {
        "name": "mcp-course",
        "full_name": "user/mcp-course",
        "html_url": "https://github.com/user/mcp-course"
      },
      "pull_requests": [{
        "number": 43,
        "url": "https://api.github.com/repos/user/mcp-course/pulls/43",
        "html_url": "https://github.com/user/mcp-course/pull/43"
      }]
    }
  }'

Test 3: End-to-End Workflow Tests

After sending the webhook events above, test the complete workflow via Claude Code:

3a. Test Failure Alert Workflow

Ask Claude Code:

"Check recent CI events, find any failures, format them as a Slack alert, and send to the team"

Expected workflow:

1. Claude calls get_recent_actions_events() → finds failure event
2. Claude calls format_ci_failure_alert() → generates formatted message
3. Claude calls send_slack_notification() → sends to Slack

Expected Slack message:

❌ *CI Failed* - mcp-course

> CI workflow failed on feature/slack-integration

*Details:*
• Workflow: `CI`
• Branch: `feature/slack-integration`
• Commit: `abc123f`

*Next Steps:*
• <https://github.com/user/mcp-course/pull/42|View Pull Request>
• <https://github.com/user/repo/actions/runs/123456789|Check Action Logs>

3b. Test Success Summary Workflow

Ask Claude Code:

"Check recent CI events, find any successful deployments, format them as a celebration message, and send to the team"

Expected workflow:

1. Claude calls get_recent_actions_events() → finds success event
2. Claude calls format_ci_success_summary() → generates formatted message
3. Claude calls send_slack_notification() → sends to Slack

Expected Slack message:

✅ *Deployment Successful* - mcp-course

> Deploy workflow completed successfully on main

*Changes:*
• Module 3 Slack integration added
• Team notification system implemented

*Links:*
• <https://github.com/user/mcp-course/pull/43|View Changes>
• <https://github.com/user/mcp-course|Visit Repository>

Test 4: Error Handling Tests

4a. Test Missing Webhook URL

# Temporarily unset the environment variable
unset SLACK_WEBHOOK_URL

# Ask Claude Code to send a message
# Expected: Error message about missing environment variable

4b. Test Invalid Webhook URL

# Set invalid webhook URL
export SLACK_WEBHOOK_URL="https://invalid-webhook-url.com/test"

# Ask Claude Code to send a message  
# Expected: Error message about connection failure

4c. Restore Valid Webhook URL

export SLACK_WEBHOOK_URL="https://hooks.slack.com/services/YOUR/ACTUAL/URL"

Test 5: Prompt-Only Tests

Test the formatting prompts without sending to Slack:

5a. Test Failure Alert Prompt

Ask Claude Code:

"Use the format_ci_failure_alert prompt to create a failure message for the recent CI failure, but don't send it to Slack yet"

5b. Test Success Summary Prompt

Ask Claude Code:

"Use the format_ci_success_summary prompt to create a success message for the recent deployment, but don't send it to Slack yet"

Test 6: Integration with Previous Modules

Test that all previous module functionality still works:

6a. Module 1 Integration

Ask Claude Code:

"Analyze current file changes, suggest a PR template, then create a Slack message about the PR status"

6b. Module 2 Integration

Ask Claude Code:

"Check workflow status, analyze the CI results, and create a comprehensive team update for Slack"

Verification Checklist

After running these tests, verify:

• [ ] Direct Slack tool works (Test 1)
• [ ] Webhook server receives and stores events (Test 2)
• [ ] Failure alert workflow works end-to-end (Test 3a)
• [ ] Success summary workflow works end-to-end (Test 3b)
• [ ] Error handling works properly (Test 4)
• [ ] Prompts work independently (Test 5)
• [ ] Integration with previous modules works (Test 6)
• [ ] Slack messages display with proper formatting
• [ ] All tools and prompts are accessible to Claude Code

Troubleshooting

Webhook Server Issues

# Check if webhook server is running
curl http://localhost:8080/health

# Check stored events
cat github_events.json

MCP Server Issues

# Check if MCP server is responding
# Should see server startup messages when running uv run server.py

Slack Issues

# Test webhook URL directly
curl -X POST -H 'Content-type: application/json' \
  --data '{"text":"Direct webhook test"}' \
  $SLACK_WEBHOOK_URL

This testing approach lets you validate your implementation without needing to set up a real GitHub repository with Actions workflows!