GitHub Discussions

Using GitHub Discussions as a source allows Kapa to pull Discussions from your GitHub repository. This allows Kapa to surface valuable information from conversations, extract insights, and provide answers based on community-driven troubleshooting tips and technical discussions.

Prerequisites

• A GitHub repository with Discussions enabled
• For private repositories, a personal access token with appropriate permissions

Data ingested

When you connect Kapa to GitHub Discussions, the following data is ingested:

• Discussion URLs
• Discussion titles and content
• Answers and comments
• User information (anonymized)
• Creation and last updated dates

Permissions required

The following permissions are required when using a personal access token for private repositories:

Permission	Purpose	Security considerations
Discussions: read-only	Enables access to discussion threads and replies	Kapa cannot create or modify discussions

We recommend using a fine-grained access token limited to only the repositories you want to connect to Kapa.

Setup

Step 1: Connect your repository

1. Go to the Sources tab on the Kapa platform and click on Add new source
2. Enter a name for the source, select GitHub Discussions, and click Continue
3. Specify the GitHub repository to use by filling in the Owner and Name fields
4. If it's a private repository, enter a personal access token for authentication
5. Upon successful connection, a purple text box appears, providing you with the repository description

Step 2: Configure your GitHub Discussions

Once you've set up your repository, configure the parameters to select which Discussions to include:

1. Select Discussion State (open, closed, or both)
2. Set Discussion Age to limit how far back to pull discussions
3. Choose Discussion Labels to filter by specific tags
4. Click Save to begin the ingestion process

Configuration options

The following configuration options are available for the GitHub Discussions integration:

Option	Description	Default	Required
Owner	GitHub username or organization that owns the repository	None	Yes
Name	Name of the GitHub repository	None	Yes
Personal access token	Token for authenticating to GitHub (for private repositories)	None	For private repositories
Discussion State	Filter discussions by state (open, closed, or both)	Both	No
Discussion Age	Only include discussions created within this time period	All time	No
Discussion Labels	Only include discussions with these labels	All labels	No

Best practices

• Filter for solved discussions: Consider adding a filter to only include Discussions that have been resolved to ensure a solution is available
• Limit to more recent discussions: The most valuable Discussions are usually those that have been opened/closed in the last 6-12 months
• Focus on specific categories: Some Discussion categories (like Q&A or troubleshooting) tend to provide more valuable support content than others
• Combine with other GitHub sources: For comprehensive coverage, consider connecting GitHub Issues and Files as well

Troubleshooting

• Authentication failures: Verify your personal access token has the required permissions and hasn't expired
• No discussions appearing: Check that your repository has Discussions enabled and contains content matching your filter criteria