Connect new discussion topics to prior research
Start a new course conversation with relevant findings already surfaced.
Trigger
New Canvas Discussion Topic
Polls a Canvas course for new discussion topics.
Action
Magic Search
Tool to perform a magic search across workspace data. use when you need to retrieve relevant highlights, notes, insights, channels, themes, or tags by query.
Why this helps
New topics can repeat questions that research has already explored, but checking that context takes time.
- Surface relevant past findings when a topic begins.
- Avoid duplicating manual searches.
- Keep source material available for review.
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.
- 3Tell Notis to search Dovetail for research related to each new discussion topic and return sourced results or say when none are useful.
- 4Pick the New Canvas Discussion Topic trigger and choose where run reports go.
- 5Test with one real discussion topic.
Questions about this workflow
Does the workflow create a Dovetail topic?
No. It searches existing Dovetail research. Use the topic creation action for creating a new Dovetail topic.
Can a title alone find useful context?
Sometimes, but the workflow should state when available topic details are too limited for a reliable search.
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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