Articles on: Synchronization

Managing bots, service accounts, and automated PRs in Axolo

Many teams use bots and service accounts to open pull requests, update dependencies, deploy code, or comment on checks.


Axolo supports bot activity, but bots are handled differently from human users by default.


Default bot behavior


By default, Axolo will not:


  • open a Slack channel when a bot opens a new pull request,
  • send a Slack notification when a bot comments on a pull request,
  • send a Slack notification when a bot reviews a pull request.


This default keeps automated activity from creating too much Slack noise.


Enable bots in Axolo


If you want bots to behave like normal users, enable them in Axolo:


  1. Go to app.axolo.co.
  2. Open General settings.
  3. Go to Enable bots in Axolo.
  4. Activate the bot you want Axolo to handle.
  5. Test with a new bot-created pull request.


Axolo only lists bots that have opened at least one pull request since your Axolo installation. If a bot is missing from the list, create or wait for one PR from that bot, then check the setting again.


If bot PRs/MRs do not create channels


Check these points:


  1. Is the repository active in Axolo?
  2. Is the bot listed in Axolo's bot settings?
  3. Is the bot enabled in Axolo?
  4. Was the PR/MR opened after the bot was enabled?
  5. Does the PR/MR contain _noslackchannel in the body or label?
  6. Are human reviewers assigned if you expect people to be invited?


If the bot is enabled and channels are still missing, contact support and send one example PR/MR link.


Filter specific bot comments


Axolo can ignore specific bot comments when the bot includes _axolo_ignore anywhere in the comment text.


When Axolo detects _axolo_ignore, it will not send that comment to the corresponding Slack channel.


This is useful for bots that publish many technical or repetitive comments while keeping important bot comments visible.


Service accounts and Slack user mapping


A service account is often not a real Slack user. Because of that, Axolo may not be able to invite a matching author to the PR/MR channel.


Recommended setup:


  1. Enable the bot or service account in Axolo if you want it to create channels.
  2. Assign at least one human reviewer to bot-created PRs/MRs.
  3. Make sure reviewers are onboarded in Axolo.
  4. Use CODEOWNERS or GitLab approval rules so the right people are assigned.


Common bot examples


You may see automated activity from tools such as:


  • Renovate,
  • Dependabot,
  • GitHub Actions,
  • GitLab service accounts,
  • deployment bots,
  • Render, Vercel, or infrastructure bots,
  • review or QA bots.


If bot messages are too noisy


Use _axolo_ignore for specific comments that should not be sent to Slack.


If you need broader filtering, contact support with:


  • the bot name,
  • one example PR/MR link,
  • the type of messages you want to hide,
  • whether the rule should apply to all repositories/projects or only some.



If a bot-created PR/MR should create a channel but does not, read:


Axolo is not opening channels


If GitHub/GitLab comments are not synchronized, read:


GitHub or GitLab messages are not sent in Slack


If Slack messages are not sent back to GitHub/GitLab, read:


Slack messages are not sent to GitHub/GitLab


Updated on: 11/05/2026

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