Discourse Forum
Integrating Discourse forums as a data source for Kapa enables you to ingest forum posts, topics, and associated metadata from your Discourse community.
This integration lets you provide AI-powered assistance using content from your community discussions and support questions, turning valuable community knowledge into accessible information for all users.
Prerequisites
- A publicly accessible Discourse forum URL
- Administrator access (for private forum access)
Data ingested
When you connect Kapa to Discourse, the following data is ingested:
- Original posts and all replies
- User IDs (anonymized) and roles
- Upvotes, reply counts, and acceptance status
- Creation dates, categories, and tags
- Answers and comments
Setup
Step 1: Prepare your Discourse forum URL
- Identify the URL of your Discourse forum (e.g.,
https://community.example.com) - Ensure the forum is publicly accessible or you have appropriate credentials
Step 2: Configure the Kapa platform
- Go to the Kapa platform
- Open the Sources tab
- Click Add new source
- Enter a name for the integration
- Select Discourse Forum, and then click Continue
- Enter the URL of your Discourse site
- Once your site is validated, configure the content filters
- Click Save to create the source and begin the initial data ingestion
Configuration options
The following configuration options are available for the Discourse Forum integration:
| Option | Description | Default | Required |
|---|---|---|---|
| Discourse URL | URL of your Discourse forum | None | Yes |
| Post age | Choose how far back to ingest posts | All posts | No |
| Include only posts marked as solved | Only import posts marked as solutions | Disabled | No |
| Include posts without replies | Import posts that haven't received responses | Enabled | No |
| Categories | Select specific categories to include | All categories | No |
| Tags | Select specific tags to include | All tags | No |
| Include post usernames | Limit ingestion to posts from specific users | All users | No |
| Include post primary group names | Limit ingestion to posts from specific user groups | All groups | No |
| Exclude posts by keywords | Exclude posts containing specific keywords | None | No |
| Exclude page elements by class | Exclude pages containing HTML elements with specific CSS classes | None | No |
Best practices
- Filter by solved posts: To focus on content with verified solutions, enable the "Include only posts marked as solved" option
- Target specific categories: Technical support or FAQ categories often contain the most valuable information
- Consider recency: Older posts may contain outdated information; use the "Post age" filter appropriately
- Include staff responses: Posts from staff or community managers often contain official, accurate information
- Review and refine: After initial ingestion, review the content quality and adjust filters accordingly
Troubleshooting
- Site validation errors: Ensure your Discourse URL is correct and publicly accessible
- No content appearing: Check that your forum has content matching your filter criteria