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Discourse Make integrationAutomate Discourse with Make.

What if your forum could tell the rest of your stack what happens in it? The Discourse Make integration gives you 26 modules: 15 triggers, 8 actions and 3 searches. This page is for community and ops teams, and it walks you from the API key to a first working scenario.

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What you can automate

What can the Discourse Make integration do for you?

The Discourse Make integration links your forum to Make, a no-code tool where you build a scenario: an automation made of modules, each module being one brick such as a trigger, an action or a search. Discourse events start the scenario, and Discourse modules read, write or remove posts, topics and private messages.

A support forum that feeds your help desk. Watch Solved Events tells Make the moment a member marks a reply as the accepted answer. Get a Topic then fetches that topic, and the next module files it wherever your team keeps its answers.

A moderation queue nobody forgets. Watch Reviewable Events fires when a new item waits for review and again when its status changes, so moderators get the alert in the chat app they already use and can go straight to the item.

Announcements written once. A product release logged in another app becomes a new topic through Create a Post, Topic or Private Message, and Update a Topic fixes the title later if plans move.

Know the edges before you start. Actions cover posts, topics and private messages only; categories, groups, tags, badges and users are visible through triggers, and anything else goes through Make an API Call with the same connection. The same forum can also be wired to n8n: the Discourse n8n integration covers that route, and n8n vs Make sets the two tools side by side. New to the editor? Make training starts from zero.

Connect

How do you connect Discourse to Make?

  1. 01

    Create an API key in Discourse

    In your Discourse Admin panel, open Advanced, then API keys and New API Key. Give it a description, pick a user level and a scope, click Save, and copy the key shown in the window that opens.

  2. 02

    Open a connection in Make

    Add any Discourse module to your scenario and click Create a connection. A connection is your Discourse account linked to Make once, then reused by every Discourse module. The Connection name field is optional, but a clear name helps when you run several forums.

  3. 03

    Paste the credentials

    Enter the credentials you copied from Discourse, or follow the instructions Make shows on screen, and save. Make now lists what it can read in your forum, so the module fields fill with choices instead of blank boxes.

First scenario

Your first scenario: welcome every new Discourse topic with a reply

GoalWhen a new topic is created in Discourse, Make posts a reply in it that points the author to your forum guidelines.

  1. 01

    Create the scenario

    On the Scenarios page, create a new scenario and click the + to add the first module. Search for Discourse and pick Watch Topics.

  2. 02

    Link your forum

    Click Create a connection and paste the API key from Discourse. Once saved, the module can read your forum and offers its options in the fields.

  3. 03

    Add the reply

    Click the + on the right of Watch Topics and add Create a Post, Topic or Private Message. Choose a post, map the topic from the Discourse bundle (the item passed between modules) and write your welcome text.

  4. 04

    Test with Run once

    Open a test topic in your forum, then click Run once. Make runs the scenario one time and shows the bundles each module received; check that the reply landed in the right topic.

  5. 05

    Schedule and switch on

    Watch Topics is a scheduled trigger: Make checks the forum on the clock of the first module, every 15 minutes by default. Keep it or change it, then switch the scenario on.

Triggers

What can start a Discourse scenario?

15 modules start a scenario when something happens in Discourse. A scheduled trigger is checked by Make on the scenario's schedule; an instant one is called by Discourse as soon as it happens.

Discourse1Watch Badge Grant Events

Watch Badge Grant Events

Instant trigger

In Make“Triggers when a user receives a badge.”

Recognition in your forum can travel further: this trigger starts your scenario each time Discourse grants a badge to a member, and hands Make the grant as a bundle you can pass along.

How it fires
instant: Discourse calls Make through a webhook as soon as the badge is granted.
When to use it
you run a customer community and want each badge winner added to a list for your next newsletter, or thanked in your team chat.
Watch out
as on every instant module, click Create a webhook before Create a connection, or the trigger stays silent.
Discourse2Watch Category Events

Watch Category Events

Instant trigger

In Make“Triggers when a category is created, updated or destroyed.”

Changes to the structure of your forum get recorded outside it: the scenario runs whenever a category is created, updated or destroyed, which gives admins a written trail of how the forum was reorganized.

How it fires
instant: Discourse calls Make through a webhook as soon as the category changes.
When to use it
several admins share the forum and you want every category change logged in a shared sheet or posted to the moderators' channel.
Watch out
creations, edits and deletions all arrive through the same trigger, so the next module has to make sense for all three kinds of event.
Discourse3Watch Group Events

Watch Group Events

Instant trigger

In Make“Triggers when a group is created, updated or destroyed.”

Keep your other tools aligned with the groups in your forum: this trigger reacts when a group is created, updated or destroyed, so a matching list or channel elsewhere can follow.

How it fires
instant: Discourse calls Make through a webhook as soon as the group changes.
When to use it
each Discourse group mirrors a customer tier or a product team, and you want a new group to open the same entry in your CRM or project tool.
Watch out
a destroyed group arrives too, and by then it no longer exists in Discourse, so plan a cleanup step rather than a lookup.
Discourse4Watch Group User Events

Watch Group User Events

Instant trigger

In Make“Triggers when a user is added or removed in a group.”

Membership changes become actions: the scenario starts when someone joins or leaves a group, which lets you grant or pull access in the tools that go with that group.

How it fires
instant: Discourse calls Make through a webhook as soon as the membership changes.
When to use it
joining the beta testers group should add the member to your beta mailing list, and leaving it should take them off again.
Watch out
additions and removals share this one trigger, so do not treat every bundle as a new member; check what kind of event came in before acting.
Discourse5Watch Like Events

Watch Like Events

Instant trigger

In Make“Triggers when a user likes a post.”

Likes turn into a signal you can measure: each time a member likes a post, the scenario runs and receives the like as a bundle, ready to be counted or logged elsewhere.

How it fires
instant: Discourse calls Make through a webhook as soon as the like happens.
When to use it
your content team wants to spot which help articles shared in the forum earn the most appreciation, tallied in a spreadsheet.
Watch out
on a busy forum likes pile up fast, and every run spends operations, the executions Make counts on your plan, so start with a small test community.
Discourse6Watch Notification Events

Watch Notification Events

Instant trigger

In Make“Triggers when a user receives a notification in their feed.”

Forum notifications reach people where they already look: this trigger fires when a user receives a notification in their Discourse feed, and Make can relay it by email, chat or text.

How it fires
instant: Discourse calls Make through a webhook as soon as the notification lands.
When to use it
a support lead rarely opens the forum but must know right away when someone mentions them or replies to their thread.
Watch out
each bundle concerns one user's feed, not the whole forum, so decide early whose notifications the scenario is meant to forward.
Discourse7Watch Post Events

Watch Post Events

Instant trigger

In Make“Triggers when a post is added, edited, deleted or recovered.”

Every change to a post can reach your scenario: added, edited, deleted or recovered, the event arrives in Make, which suits archiving or moderation flows that must see the full life of a post.

How it fires
instant: Discourse calls Make through a webhook as soon as the post changes.
When to use it
compliance asks you to keep a copy of every version of the posts in a regulated category.
Watch out
if the same scenario edits posts with Update a Post, those edits are post events too and can start it again, a loop; send your edits from a different flow.
Discourse8Watch Posts

Watch Posts

Scheduled trigger

In Make“Triggers when a new post is created.”

New posts land in your scenario without a webhook to configure: Make fetches the posts created since its last check and passes each one on as its own bundle.

How it fires
scheduled: Make checks Discourse on the scenario's schedule, every 15 minutes by default, with the clock badge on the module.
When to use it
you want a digest of fresh replies sent to a channel, and a short delay is fine.
Watch out
it only picks up new posts; edits and deletions go unnoticed here, so switch to Watch Post Events when those matter.
Discourse9Watch Private Messages

Watch Private Messages

Scheduled trigger

In Make“Triggers when a new private message arrives.”

Private messages can feed a queue: on each check, Make collects the new ones and starts the scenario for every message.

How it fires
scheduled: Make checks Discourse on the scenario's schedule, every 15 minutes by default.
When to use it
members write to a staff account for billing questions, and each message should open a ticket in your help desk.
Watch out
these messages are private in Discourse, so think about who can read the tool you send them to before you switch the scenario on.
Discourse10Watch Reviewable Events

Watch Reviewable Events

Instant trigger

In Make“Triggers when a new item is ready for review and when its status is updated.”

Your moderators hear about flagged content without refreshing the review queue: the trigger fires when a new item is ready for review and again whenever its status is updated.

How it fires
instant: Discourse calls Make through a webhook as soon as the item appears or changes.
When to use it
a small volunteer team moderates the forum and lives in a chat app, where a message per flagged item gets faster attention.
Watch out
the status updates come through as well, so the same item can produce several runs; word your alert so a closed item does not read like a new one.
Discourse11Watch Solved Events

Watch Solved Events

Instant trigger

In Make“Triggers when a user marks a post as the accepted or unaccepted answer.”

Accepted answers become reusable knowledge: this trigger starts the scenario when a user marks a post as the accepted answer, or takes that mark away.

How it fires
instant: Discourse calls Make through a webhook as soon as the answer is marked or unmarked.
When to use it
your support team wants every solved thread copied into its knowledge base so the same question gets answered faster next time.
Watch out
an unaccepted answer also arrives, so check the event before you publish anything, or a withdrawn answer ends up in your knowledge base.
Discourse12Watch Tag Events

Watch Tag Events

Instant trigger

In Make“Triggers when a tag is created, updated or destroyed.”

Tags drive search and navigation in a forum, and this trigger keeps an eye on them: the scenario runs when a tag is created, updated or destroyed.

How it fires
instant: Discourse calls Make through a webhook as soon as the tag changes.
When to use it
your product tags must match the list kept by the product team, and any new tag should reach them for a quick check.
Watch out
the three kinds of change come through one trigger, so a destroyed tag reaches the scenario the same way a new one does; read the event before you act.
Discourse13Watch Topic Events

Watch Topic Events

Instant trigger

In Make“Triggers when a topic is revised, changed or deleted.”

Follow the life of each topic after it is posted: the scenario starts when a topic is revised, changed or deleted, which a simple new-topic watcher would miss.

How it fires
instant: Discourse calls Make through a webhook as soon as the topic changes.
When to use it
announcements are mirrored on your website or in a newsletter tool, and a correction in Discourse should travel there as well.
Watch out
a scenario that also runs Update a Topic or Delete a Topic will wake this trigger with its own changes, so keep those actions in a separate scenario.
Discourse14Watch Topics

Watch Topics

Scheduled trigger

In Make“Triggers when a new topic is created.”

This is the simplest way into Discourse automation: Make looks for topics created since its last check and sends each new one down the scenario, with no webhook to set up.

How it fires
scheduled: Make checks Discourse on the scenario's schedule, every 15 minutes by default; 15 minutes is also the shortest gap on the Free plan.
When to use it
your team wants every new question or idea listed in its project board or chat, and a few minutes of delay are fine.
Watch out
it sees new topics only, not later edits; pair it with Watch Topic Events if changes matter.
Discourse15Watch User Events

Watch User Events

Instant trigger

In Make“Triggers when a user logged in, logged out, confirmed their email, is created, approved or updated.”

The member lifecycle can drive onboarding: the trigger fires when a user is created, approved or updated, confirms their email, logs in or logs out.

How it fires
instant: Discourse calls Make through a webhook as soon as the event happens.
When to use it
once a new member confirms their email, you want them added to your CRM and sent a welcome sequence from your email tool.
Watch out
logins and logouts arrive too, and on an active forum they can far outnumber sign-ups, each run spending operations; handle only the events you need.
Modules

What can Make do in Discourse?

Discourse gives you 11 modules. For each one: what it does for you, when to reach for it, and what to watch out for.

Discourse1

Create a Post, Topic or Private Message

Action

In Make“Creates a new post, topic or private message.”

One module covers the three ways of writing in Discourse: open a new topic, reply with a post, or send a private message, filled with data from earlier modules.

When to use it
a form answer, a release note or a support request from another app should show up in the forum without anyone copying it by hand.
Watch out
check which of the three you picked before the first Run once, since a note meant as a private message would be public as a topic.
Discourse2

Delete a Post

Action

In Make“Deletes an existing post.”

Removes one existing post, which lets a scenario clean up after a decision made elsewhere, such as a moderator ruling recorded in a tracking sheet.

When to use it
spam spotted in your moderation tool should disappear from the forum as soon as it is confirmed there.
Watch out
treat every deletion as final, so run the scenario once on a test post before you point it at real content.
Discourse3

Delete a Topic

Action

In Make“Deletes an existing topic.”

Takes a whole topic out of the forum from inside a scenario rather than from the admin screens.

When to use it
temporary topics opened for an event or a test should vanish once their related record in another app is closed.
Watch out
this reaches much further than Delete a Post, so map the topic carefully and test with Run once on a throwaway topic first.
Discourse4

Get a Post

Action

In Make“Gets a single post.”

Fetches one post you already know, so the next modules work with the post itself when an earlier step only tells you which one it is.

When to use it
a solved event or a like points to a post, and you need the post itself to copy it into a knowledge base or a report.
Watch out
it reads a single post; to go through many, start with List Posts instead.
Discourse5

Get a Topic

Action

In Make“Gets a single topic.”

Pulls the details of one topic into your scenario, which is handy when an earlier step only tells you which topic is concerned.

When to use it
an accepted answer came in through Watch Solved Events and you want the topic's title and context before you file it anywhere.
Watch out
it returns one topic per run; to scan many topics at once, reach for List Topics.
Discourse6

Make an API Call

Action

In Make“Performs an arbitrary authorized API call.”

Covers what the listed modules leave out: it calls any endpoint of the Discourse API with the connection you already set up, so there is no second login.

When to use it
you need to act on categories, groups, tags or users, which the ready-made actions do not handle.
Watch out
you write the request yourself from the Discourse API documentation, so keep that documentation open and test the call with Run once before relying on it.
Discourse7

Update a Post

Action

In Make“Updates an existing post.”

Edits an existing post from a scenario, so a text kept in another tool and its copy in the forum stay the same.

When to use it
a status post about an outage should change on its own when the incident moves forward in your monitoring tool.
Watch out
an edit is itself a post event, so Watch Post Events can pick it up; keep the two in separate scenarios to avoid a loop.
Discourse8

Update a Topic

Action

In Make“Updates an existing topic.”

Changes an existing topic from a scenario, which keeps a long-lived thread in line with the facts outside the forum.

When to use it
a roadmap topic should be updated when the matching item changes status in your project tool.
Watch out
a change is itself a topic event that Watch Topic Events can pick up, so keep that trigger in a different scenario to avoid a loop.
Discourse9

List Posts

Search

In Make“Gets a list of the latest posts across topics.”

Brings back the latest posts from across all topics, each one as a separate bundle, so a single run can feed a digest or a report.

When to use it
a community manager wants a snapshot of recent activity sent to a sheet or an email when a report is requested.
Watch out
a search can return zero, one or many bundles, and each following module runs once per bundle, spending operations each time.
Discourse10

List Private Messages

Search

In Make“Gets a list of private messages.”

Retrieves a list of private messages in one go, which is the way to catch up on a backlog that a watcher never saw.

When to use it
you are moving support from forum messages to a help desk and want the existing conversations copied across in one pass.
Watch out
the content is private, so check who can open the tool that receives it; every returned message becomes a bundle that costs operations downstream.
Discourse11

List Topics

Search

In Make“Gets a list of topics.”

Returns a list of topics, each as its own bundle, which suits audits and bulk jobs more than reactions to single events.

When to use it
before a forum cleanup, you want every topic listed in a spreadsheet so the team can decide what to keep.
Watch out
the modules after it run once per topic returned, so test with Run once and read the bundle count before a full run.
Need help

Need help automating Discourse with Make?

A person reads every message.

FAQ

Questions about Discourse and Make

01Is the Discourse Make integration free?
Yes. Discourse is a standard app, so it works on the Make Free plan. That plan has limits: 2 active scenarios, at least 15 minutes between two scheduled runs, 5 minutes per execution, files up to 5 MB and 512 MB of data transfer. Paid plans lower the scheduling gap to 1 minute, remove the cap on active scenarios and allow 40 minutes per execution. Make counts usage in operations, one for each module run on each bundle. Your Discourse subscription is a separate matter, handled on the Discourse side.
02What do you need to connect Discourse to Make?
An active Discourse account and an API key. You create the key in the Discourse admin panel, under Advanced then API keys, where you choose a description, a user level and a scope before saving and copying it. In Make, add a Discourse module, click Create a connection, optionally name it, and paste the key. For the lightning badge modules, click Create a webhook first, then Create a connection. The connection is saved once and every Discourse module reuses it.
03Do Discourse triggers in Make react in real time?
Most of them do. Twelve of the 15 triggers are instant: Discourse calls Make through a webhook the moment the event happens, whether a badge, a like, a solved answer or a user change. The other three, Watch Posts, Watch Private Messages and Watch Topics, are scheduled. Make checks Discourse on the scenario's schedule, every 15 minutes by default, and never more often than every 15 minutes on the Free plan or every minute on paid plans.
04What if a Discourse module you need is missing?
Use Make an API Call, the catch-all module of this app. It reaches any endpoint of the Discourse API with the connection you already have, which fills the gaps left by the 8 actions and 3 searches: there is no ready-made action for categories, groups, tags, badges or users. You build the request yourself from the Discourse API documentation. Note that Make labels its Discourse documentation as AI-generated, so check important details with Discourse directly.
05Make or n8n for Discourse?
It depends on the tool your team already uses. Discourse is available in both, and in Make you get 26 ready-made modules, including 12 instant triggers and a Make an API Call module for everything else. If your other automations already live in Make, keeping Discourse there means one place to maintain. If your team works in n8n, the Discourse n8n integration page on this site covers that side, and the n8n vs Make comparison sets the criteria out in detail.
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