AI Slack CertBot: Automated Certificate Management with Venafi & VirusTotal

Unlock Automated & Secure Certificate Issuance with this AI Agent

This n8n workflow acts as an intelligent AI Agent, transforming how you manage TLS/SSL certificate requests. It integrates Slack, Venafi TLS Protect Cloud, VirusTotal, and OpenAI to create a seamless, automated, and secure certificate lifecycle management process. Users can request certificates via a Slack modal. The agent then automatically performs a security check on the requested domain using VirusTotal. If the domain is clean, a certificate is issued via Venafi. If potential risks are detected, OpenAI analyzes the VirusTotal report, generates a concise summary, and routes the request along with the AI insights to a designated Slack channel for manual SecOps review and approval.

Key Features & Benefits

• Slack-Native Operations: Enables users to request and manage certificate lifecycles entirely within Slack using interactive modals and commands, making it accessible and user-friendly.
• Automated Domain Vetting: Leverages VirusTotal to perform real-time reputation and security checks on domains before any certificate issuance, enhancing your security posture.
• AI-Powered Risk Analysis & Summarization: Utilizes OpenAI (e.g., gpt-4o-mini) to interpret VirusTotal scan results for domains flagged with potential issues. It provides clear, concise risk summaries and actionable recommendations, empowering faster and more informed decisions for manual approvals.
• Intelligent Approval Routing: Automatically issues certificates via Venafi for domains deemed low-risk by VirusTotal. For higher-risk domains, it routes the request with the AI-generated security report to a SecOps team in Slack for manual scrutiny and approval.
• Dynamic Workflow Execution: Handles different Slack interaction types (modal submissions, button clicks) to guide the CSR process, from initial request to final notification.
• Contextual Slack Notifications: Keeps requesters and approval teams informed with timely and detailed Slack messages regarding CSR status, AI analysis, and certificate issuance confirmations.
• Modular and Extensible: Incorporates sub-workflows (e.g., for translating Slack user/team IDs to names/emails), promoting reusability and easier maintenance. Easily adaptable to your specific Venafi policies and Slack channel structure.
• Streamlined SecOps: Significantly reduces manual effort and time spent on routine CSR tasks, freeing up security teams to focus on more critical issues.

• An n8n instance (Cloud or self-hosted).
• Slack App with a Bot Token and permissions for slash commands, interactivity (modals, buttons), and reading user/team information. The Slack App's interactivity request URL and slash command URL should point to the n8n webhook.
• Venafi TLS Protect Cloud account with API credentials, a configured Application ID, and a Certificate Issuing Template ID.
• VirusTotal API Key.
• OpenAI API Key with access to a suitable model (e.g., gpt-4o-mini).
• (Optional but recommended) Pre-configured n8n sub-workflows for 'Slack ID to Email' and 'Slack Team ID to Name' translation, or readiness to implement this logic.

1. Download the n8n workflow JSON file.
2. Import the workflow into your n8n instance.
3. Webhook Configuration: Copy the URL from the 'Webhook' node. In your Slack App configuration, set this URL for 'Interactivity & Shortcuts' and for any Slash Command you define to trigger the bot.
4. Slack Credentials: Ensure you have n8n credentials for the Slack API. Select these in the 'Venafi Request Certificate' (HTTP Request node posting to Slack), 'Send Auto Generated Confirmation', and 'Send Message Request for Manual Approval' (Slack nodes).
5. VirusTotal API Key: In the 'VirusTotal HTTP Request' node, replace the placeholder X-Apikey value with your actual VirusTotal API Key, or configure and select a VirusTotal credential.
6. OpenAI Configuration: In the 'OpenAI' node, select your OpenAI API credentials and choose your preferred model (e.g., gpt-4o-mini). Review and customize the system and user prompts as needed.
7. Venafi TLS Protect Cloud Configuration (for both 'Venafi TLS Protect Cloud' and 'Venafi TLS Protect Cloud1' nodes):
   • Select your Venafi TLS Protect Cloud API credentials.
   • Enter your applicationId and certificateIssuingTemplateId.
   • Verify that the expressions for commonName and organizationalUnits correctly extract data from the incoming Slack payload or message content.
8. Sub-Workflow Integration: In the 'Execute Workflow' nodes ('Translate Slack User ID to Email' and 'Execute Workflow' for Team ID), link to your existing sub-workflows or implement the required data fetching logic.
9. Slack Notification Channels: In the 'Send Auto Generated Confirmation' and 'Send Message Request for Manual Approval' Slack nodes, update the Channel ID to your desired Slack channels for notifications and manual approvals.
10. Customize Logic: Review the 'IF' node ('Auto Issue Certificate Based on 0 Malicious Reports') conditions to align with your organization's risk tolerance. Adjust expressions in Set nodes if your Slack payload structure differs.
11. Test Thoroughly: Trigger the workflow from Slack (e.g., using the configured slash command or an interactive message button) to test all paths: automatic issuance and manual approval with AI summary.
12. Activate the workflow.