Creating Topics

Learn how to create and configure topics for your notifications.

What are Topics?

Topics are channels for organizing notifications. Think of them like email folders or Slack channels - each topic groups related messages together.

Creating Your First Topic

Via Web Dashboard

1. Navigate to Dashboard

   • Go to app.notifer.io
   • Click "+ New Topic" button in sidebar

2. Enter Topic Details

   • Topic Name - Unique identifier (e.g., server-alerts, deployments)
     • Must be alphanumeric with hyphens/underscores
     • Cannot be changed after creation
   • Description (optional) - What this topic is for

3. Choose Privacy Level

   • Public - Any authenticated user (JWT/API Key) can publish. Anyone can subscribe without authentication. You can optionally list the topic in the public catalog where other users can discover it.
   • Private - Only you control access. Optionally make it discoverable for read-only public subscriptions.

4. Discoverability Options

   • Public topics: Check "List in public catalog" to appear in Discover
   • Private topics: Check "Discoverable in public catalog" to allow read-only subscriptions

5. Click "Create Topic"

Topic Naming Best Practices

Good Names:

• server-alerts - Clear, descriptive
• ci-deployments - Organized by system
• customer-signups - Event-based
• high-priority-incidents - Includes context

Avoid:

• topic1, test123 - Not descriptive
• my topic name - Spaces not allowed
• aBc-XyZ - Inconsistent capitalization

Public vs Private Topics

Feature	Public Topics	Private Topics
Who can publish	Any authenticated user (JWT/API Key)	Only owner + token holders (topic token/JWT/API Key)
Who can subscribe	Anyone	Owner, token holders, or discoverable subscribers (read-only)
Access control	Auth required to publish (spam prevention)	Full control via tokens
Discoverable	Yes (optional)	Optional (enables read-only public access)
Best for	Open communities, testing	Production, sensitive data
Plan requirement	FREE	ESSENTIALS+

Learn more about private topics

For detailed information on private topic features, discoverable topics, access control, token management, and best practices, see Private Topics.

When in Doubt, Choose Private

For production systems or sensitive data, private topics are the only secure option. See Private Topics Best Practices for recommendations.

Topic Settings

After creating a topic, configure it in Topic Settings:

• Notification Settings - Default priority, message retention
• Access Tokens (private topics) - Create tokens for integrations
• Subscribers - View and manage subscribers

Managing Topics

View Your Topics

My Topics Tab:

• Shows all topics you own
• Displays message count, subscriber count
• Quick actions: Settings, Delete

Subscriptions Section:

• Shows topics you're subscribed to
• Your notification settings per topic

Delete a Topic

Permanent Action

Deleting a topic cannot be undone. All messages and settings will be lost.

1. Open topic settings (gear icon)
2. Scroll to bottom → Danger Zone
3. Click "Delete Topic"
4. Confirm by typing topic name

Group and Reorder Topics

In the web app you can sort your topics into your own groups, such as Production, Homelab or Clients. The same groups appear in the sidebar (Subscriptions) and on the My Topics page.

Create a group:

• Click New group on the My Topics page, or the folder icon next to Subscriptions in the sidebar
• Type a name and press Enter

Move topics:

• Drag a topic in the sidebar, or a topic card on My Topics, into another group or to a new position
• Or open the topic's ⋮ menu and choose Move to group, Move up or Move down
• On a touch screen, press and hold a topic for a moment, then drag it

Manage a group with its ⋮ menu:

• Sort topics: My order (the order you set) or Recent activity (newest message first, pinned topics on top). Reordering a group by hand switches it to My order.
• Rename
• Delete group: its topics move to Ungrouped. No topic is deleted.

Click a group's name to collapse or expand it. The sidebar and My Topics remember this separately, so you can keep a group collapsed in the sidebar and open on My Topics.

Topics you have not placed in a group are listed under Ungrouped. Pinned topics stay in their group and are marked with a pin; with Recent activity sorting they come first.

tip

Your groups are saved to your account, so they look the same on every computer you sign in on.

Topic Organization Tips

Naming Conventions

Use consistent patterns across topics:

By Environment:

prod-alerts
staging-alerts
dev-alerts

By System:

backend-errors
frontend-errors
database-alerts

By Priority:

critical-incidents
high-priority
low-priority

By Team:

team-engineering
team-sales
team-support

Creating Topic Hierarchies

While Notifer doesn't have folder structures, use naming to create logical groups:

# Server monitoring
server-cpu-alerts
server-disk-alerts
server-network-alerts

# Application events
app-user-signups
app-purchases
app-errors

Examples

Personal Use

# Morning reminders
Topic: daily-reminders (Private)
curl -d "Time for standup meeting" \
  -H "X-API-Key: noti_..." \
  https://app.notifer.io/daily-reminders

Team Collaboration

# Deployment notifications
Topic: deployments (Private)
curl -d "Production deployment started" \
  -H "X-Topic-Token: tk_..." \
  -H "X-Priority: 2" \
  https://app.notifer.io/deployments

Open Source Project

# Release announcements
Topic: project-releases (Public)
curl -d "v2.0 released! 🎉" \
  -H "X-API-Key: noti_..." \
  -H "X-Tags: release,major" \
  https://app.notifer.io/project-releases

Troubleshooting

Topic Name Already Taken

Problem: "Topic name already exists" error

Solution:

• Topic names are globally unique
• Try adding prefix/suffix: myapp-alerts instead of alerts
• Check if you already own this topic in "My Topics"

Can't Publish to Topic

Problem: 401 Unauthorized or 403 Forbidden

Solution:

• Public topic: Authentication required (JWT or API Key)
• Private topic: Verify you're using correct authentication:
  • Topic access token: -H "X-Topic-Token: tk_..."
  • API key: -H "X-API-Key: noti_..."
  • JWT: -H "Authorization: Bearer ..."

Topic Not Showing in Discover

Problem: Topic not visible in "Discover Topics"

Solution:

• Ensure "Discoverable" option is enabled in topic settings
• For public topics: Check "List in public catalog"
• For private topics: Check "Discoverable in public catalog" (enables read-only access)
• New topics may take a few minutes to appear
• Topics with no description may not be shown (required for discoverable private topics)

Next Steps

• Topic Settings - Configure topic settings and access tokens
• Publishing Messages - Start sending notifications
• Topic Access Tokens - Secure integrations