Give major updates a dedicated course discussion
When an event needs more than a quick post, open a place for the course to discuss it.
Trigger
Webhook received
Notis starts this workflow when an external tool or custom backend sends an HTTP request.
Action
Create discussion topic
Creates a new discussion topic in a specified canvas course, allowing comprehensive configuration of its content, type, publication settings, engagement features, and associations.
Why this helps
A major update can be hard to find later when it is buried in an unrelated course thread.
- Give a significant update a clear, dedicated discussion space.
- Keep the event prompt together with the topic.
- Avoid manually setting up a discussion after the update.
Setup
Build it in a few focused steps.
- 1Connect Ably and Canvas once in the Notis portal.
- 2Create an automation in Automations, New Automation, and name it.
- 3Tell Notis to create a Canvas discussion topic using the supplied course details and event summary when the event merits a dedicated conversation.
- 4Pick the webhook trigger and choose where run reports should go.
- 5Test with one real event and confirm the topic appears in the intended course.
Questions about this workflow
Can the automation judge whether an event merits a discussion?
It can use a rule you state in the instruction and the event details supplied in the request.
Does this create a course if one is missing?
No. The course must already exist, and the request must supply details sufficient to identify it.
When this happens · Trigger
Do this · Action
Supported Triggers and Actions
Notis builds workflows that link Ably to Canvas. A trigger fires from one place; an action lands in another.
Ably triggers
Canvas actions
Recurring trigger
Notis starts this workflow on a schedule, such as daily, weekly, or during business hours.
Create account notification
Creates a global notification within a canvas account, ensuring `end at` is after `start at` and any specified `notification roles` are valid.
Webhook trigger
Notis starts this workflow when an external tool or custom backend sends an HTTP request.
Create appointment group
Creates a new appointment group in canvas for schedulable time slots within specified course or group contexts.
Create an assignment
Creates a new assignment within a specified course in canvas lms.
Create assignment override
Creates an assignment override to adjust due/unlock/lock dates for an assignment in a course, targeting specific students (requires `title`), a group, or a course section; at least one target (`student ids`, `group id`, or `course section id`) is required.
Create Calendar Event
Creates a calendar event with options for recurrence (finite `rrule` series only), section-specific timings, and blackout dates within a specified context.
Create communication channel
Creates a new communication channel (e.g., email, sms, push) for an existing canvas user to receive notifications.
Create content share
Shares a canvas content item to specified users, if the sender has necessary permissions and receiver ids are valid.
Create conversation
Use to send messages in canvas by creating a new conversation or adding to an existing one; an existing conversation with the same recipients (and matching scope/filter, if specified) may be reused unless `force new` is true.
Connect any two apps with Notis in the middle.
Ably and Canvas, or any other combination from 1,000+ integrations.
When this happens · Trigger
Do this · Action
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