Step 2: Connect Slack and Download the Image

Use the Slack file URL from the trigger to download the business card image file.

1. Add the Retrieve Image File node and connect it to Slack Message Trigger.
2. Credential Required: Connect your slackApi credentials.
3. Set URL to ={{ $json.files[0].url_private_download }}.
4. Set Authentication to predefinedCredentialType and Credential Type to slackApi.
5. Under Options → Response, set Response Format to file.

Step 3: Set Up the AI Extraction

Configure the AI to extract structured contact data from the image, then split the results into individual records.

1. Add the OpenAI Chat Model node and select the model gpt-4o.
2. Credential Required: Connect your openAiApi credentials.
3. Add the Define Structured Output node and set JSON Schema Example to [{ "full names": "Toshiki Hirao", "job titles": "CEO", "company names": "dTosh", "phone numbers": "012-3456-938", "email": "[YOUR_EMAIL]" }].
4. Add the Extract Contact Details node and set Text to Please identify and extract all professional contact information from the image containing several business cards. You have to include details that are full names, job titles, company names, phone numbers, and email addresses..
5. In Extract Contact Details, keep Prompt Type as define and enable Has Output Parser.
6. Connect OpenAI Chat Model to Extract Contact Details as the language model.
7. Connect Define Structured Output to Extract Contact Details as the output parser. For this AI sub-node, credentials are added to OpenAI Chat Model, not Define Structured Output.
8. Add the Split Output Records node after Extract Contact Details and set Field to Split Out to output with Include as allOtherFields.

Step 4: Configure Google Sheets and Slack Outputs

Append each extracted contact into Google Sheets and then post a confirmation to Slack.

1. Add the Append Sheet Row node and connect it to Split Output Records.
2. Credential Required: Connect your googleSheetsOAuth2Api credentials.
3. Set Operation to append.
4. Select your Document (value: [YOUR_ID]) and Sheet (value: gid=0).
5. Map columns: Name to ={{ $json.output['full names'] }}, Email to ={{ $json.output.email }}, Phone to ={{ $json.output['phone numbers'] }}, Company to ={{ $json.output['company names'] }}, and Job Title to ={{ $json.output['job titles'] }}.
6. Add the Post Slack Confirmation node and connect it to Append Sheet Row.
7. Credential Required: Connect your slackApi credentials.
8. Set Text to =--- Name: {{ $json.Name }} Title: {{ $json['Job Title']}} Company: {{ $json.Company }} Phone: {{ $json.Phone }} Email: {{ $json.Email }} and select your target Channel (value: [YOUR_ID]).

Step 5: Test and Activate Your Workflow

Validate the end-to-end flow from Slack message to Google Sheets and confirmation post.

1. Click Execute Workflow in n8n and post a message with a business card image in the configured Slack channel.
2. Verify that Retrieve Image File downloads the file and Extract Contact Details outputs structured data.
3. Confirm new rows are appended in the Google Sheet by Append Sheet Row.
4. Check Slack for the formatted confirmation from Post Slack Confirmation.
5. When everything looks correct, toggle the workflow Active to enable continuous processing.