Turn Canvas discussion themes into useful insights
Keep the strongest ideas and recurring questions visible beyond the original discussion thread.
Trigger
New Canvas Discussion Message
Polls Canvas discussion topics for new messages.
Action
Create Insight
Tool to create a new insight in dovetail. use after synthesizing findings when ready to store them. example: "create insight 'q1 user trends' with body '...' for project 'proj 123'."
Why this helps
Important themes are hard to retain when discussion messages arrive across multiple threads.
- Preserve useful themes in a concise format.
- Keep insight claims grounded in returned messages.
- Make questions worth following up easier to find.
Setup
Build it in a few focused steps.
- 1Connect Canvas and Dovetail once in Notis.
- 2Create an automation in the portal or by describing it to Notis.
- 3Ask Notis to create a Dovetail insight for a meaningful theme in each new message, with message evidence and no unsupported trend claims.
- 4Pick the New Canvas Discussion Message trigger and choose where run reports go.
- 5Test with one real discussion message.
Questions about this workflow
Can it determine whether a theme is recurring?
Only when enough messages or historical context are available. A single message can support an observation, not a recurrence claim.
Does it create one insight for every message?
The instruction should create insights only when a message or available context supports a useful finding.
When this happens · Trigger
Do this · Action
Supported Triggers and Actions
Notis builds workflows that link Canvas to Dovetail. A trigger fires from one place; an action lands in another.
Canvas triggers
Dovetail actions
Recurring trigger
Notis starts this workflow on a schedule, such as daily, weekly, or during business hours.
Create Channel
Tool to create a new channel in dovetail. use after confirming channel details.
Webhook trigger
Notis starts this workflow when an external tool or custom backend sends an HTTP request.
Create Contact
Tool to create a new contact in dovetail. use when you need to register a contact before logging interactions.
Canvas Assignment Graded
Polls Canvas for newly graded submissions for a specific assignment.
Create Data Point
Tool to create a data point within a channel. use after capturing new content to record and classify it in dovetail.
New Canvas Assignment Submission
Polls Canvas for new submissions to a specific assignment.
Create Insight
Tool to create a new insight in dovetail. use after synthesizing findings when ready to store them. example: "create insight 'q1 user trends' with body '...' for project 'proj 123'."
New Canvas Discussion Message
Polls Canvas discussion topics for new messages.
Create Topic
Tool to create a new topic in a channel. use after confirming channel id, title, and optional description.
New Canvas Discussion Topic
Polls a Canvas course for new discussion topics.
Delete Channel
Tool to delete an existing channel. use when you need to remove a channel and move it to the project's trash (restorable for 30 days). confirm the channel id before calling.
New Course Created for User
Polls Canvas for newly created courses for a specific user.
Delete Topic
Tool to delete an existing topic. use when you have confirmed the topic id and want to move it to trash (restorable for 30 days). example: "delete topic with id 123e4567-e89b-12d3-a456-426614174000."
New Canvas File Upload
Polls a Canvas course for new file uploads.
Get Note
Tool to retrieve details of a specific note. use when you have confirmed the note id and need full note metadata from dovetail.
Connect any two apps with Notis in the middle.
Canvas and Dovetail, or any other combination from 1,000+ integrations.
When this happens · Trigger
Do this · Action
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