Give course updates a place for learner discussion
When a course update deserves a conversation, turn it into a Canvas discussion topic learners can respond to.
Trigger
New Email Received
Trigger for new emails in an AgentMail inbox
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
Updates that invite questions or reflection are often sent by email without a shared place for learners to engage.
- Create a shared response space for important updates
- Invite questions where learners can see them
- Reduce manual prompt drafting
Setup
Build it in a few focused steps.
- 1Connect Agent mail and Canvas once in the Notis portal.
- 2Create a new automation in Automations, New Automation.
- 3Tell Notis what kind of course updates deserve a discussion and how to frame a useful learner prompt.
- 4Choose New Email Received as the trigger and select a run report destination.
- 5Test with one real course update email and review the topic.
Questions about this workflow
Will every announcement become a discussion?
No. Describe the types of updates that invite discussion and tell Notis to skip routine messages.
Can Notis include the important update details?
Specify which details to preserve and how to summarize them for learners in the discussion prompt.
When this happens · Trigger
Do this · Action
Supported Triggers and Actions
Notis builds workflows that link Agent mail to Canvas. A trigger fires from one place; an action lands in another.
Agent mail 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.
New Email Received
Trigger for new emails in an AgentMail inbox
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.
Agent mail and Canvas, or any other combination from 1,000+ integrations.
When this happens · Trigger
Do this · Action
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