Discourse Reader

The Discourse Reader node enables you to fetch and analyze topics from your Discourse forum, making it ideal for community monitoring, content analysis, and automated responses.

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Node Inputs

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Required Fields

• Number of Topics: Specify how many topics to fetch from your forum

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Optional Fields

• Use Dates?: Enable date-based filtering
  • Date Range: Choose from predefined ranges (last 7 days, last month, etc.)
  • Use Exact Dates?: Toggle for custom date range
    • Start Date (UTC): Beginning of date range
    • End Date (UTC): End of date range

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Node Outputs

• Topic Titles: List of topic titles from the forum
• Topic URLs: List of links to each topic
• Topic Replies: List of replies for each topic

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Node Setup

• Add your Discourse API key username and forum URL on the credentials page

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Example Workflows

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1. Community Sentiment Analysis

Discourse Reader → Categorizer → Slack Message Sender
Setup:
- Fetch last 7 days of topics
- Use the AI Categorizer node to analyze sentiment
- Send weekly sentiment analysis summary to Slack
Benefits: Track community mood and trending issues

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2. Auto-Response System

Discourse Reader → Extract Data → AI Filter → Airtable Writer
Setup:
- Monitor new topics continuously (setup a time based trigger)
- Extract key information (category, urgency)
- Filter for support requests
- Log in Airtable for team tracking
Benefits: Quick response to community needs

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3. Content Curation

Discourse Reader → Summarizer → Extract Data → CSV Writer
Setup:
- Fetch top discussions
- Generate concise summaries
- Extract key points and insights
- Export to structured format
Benefits: Create digestible content roundups

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4. Knowledge Base Enhancement

Discourse Reader → AI List Sorter → Notion Page Writer
Setup:
- Gather frequently discussed topics
- Sort by relevance and engagement
- Create organized knowledge base
Benefits: Turn community discussions into documentation

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Best Practices

1. Date Filtering

   • Use date ranges for focused monitoring
   • Consider timezone differences when setting exact dates
   • Use the Datetime node to pass the date dynamically if exact dates is enabled

2. Topic Management

   • Start with smaller topic numbers for testing

3. Integration Tips

   • Combine with AI nodes for automated analysis
   • Use notification nodes for important updates

The Discourse Reader node streamlines community management by providing automated access to forum discussions and enabling sophisticated analysis workflows.