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Topic Settings

Complete guide to configuring and managing topic settings.

Prerequisites

You must be the topic owner to access topic settings.

Accessing Topic Settings

  1. From Dashboard
  2. Navigate to app.notifer.io
  3. Find your topic in "My Topics" tab

  4. Click the gear icon (⚙️) next to topic name

  5. From Topic Page

  6. Open topic: app.notifer.io/topic/your-topic
  7. Click "Topic Settings" button (top right)

Settings Overview

Topic settings are organized into tabs:

  • General - Basic information and privacy
  • Access Tokens - Authentication for integrations (private topics only)
  • Subscribers - View and manage subscribers
  • Notifications - Webhook and email forwarding
  • Advanced - Retention, limits, danger zone

General Settings

Basic Information

Display Name - Friendly name shown in UI - Can be changed anytime - Doesn't affect topic URL

Description - What this topic is used for - Shown in topic list and discover page - Supports markdown formatting

Icon/Emoji (optional) - Visual identifier for topic - Shows in topic list

Privacy Settings

Topic Privacy - Public - Anyone can publish/subscribe - Private - Authentication required

Changing Privacy

Changing from public to private will immediately require authentication for all publishers and subscribers.

Visibility - Show in Discover - Topic appears in public discovery (public topics only) - Hide from Discover - Topic is public but not discoverable

Access Tokens (Private Topics)

Access tokens provide scoped authentication for integrations.

Creating Access Tokens

  1. Go to Access Tokens tab
  2. Click "Create Token"
  3. Enter token details:
  4. Name - Identifier (e.g., "CI Pipeline", "Monitoring Script")
  5. Permissions - Select what token can do:
    • ✅ Publish - Send messages to topic
    • ✅ Subscribe - Receive messages from topic
    • ✅ Both - Full access
  6. Click "Create"
  7. Copy the token (shown only once!)

Save Your Token

The token is displayed only once. Save it immediately in a secure location.

Using Access Tokens

In HTTP requests: 

curl -d "Message from CI" \
  -H "X-Topic-Token: tk_FjZTOcx14k4_Kg6RtUCikAPYc2KNjXIMkWQUvDSREFc" \
  https://app.notifer.io/your-topic

In scripts: 

# Store in environment variable
export NOTIFER_TOKEN="tk_..."

# Use in automation
curl -d "Build completed" \
  -H "X-Topic-Token: $NOTIFER_TOKEN" \
  https://app.notifer.io/deployments

See Topic Access Tokens Guide for detailed usage examples.

Managing Tokens

View Token Usage: - Last used - When token was last used - Total requests - Number of API calls - Created - When token was created

Revoke Token: 1. Find token in list 2. Click "Revoke" or "Delete" 3. Confirm action

Revocation is Immediate

Once revoked, the token stops working immediately. All integrations using this token will fail.

Token Best Practices

Do: - Create separate tokens for each integration - Use descriptive names ("GitHub Actions", "Monitoring Script") - Grant minimal permissions (publish-only if that's all you need) - Revoke unused tokens regularly

Don't: - Share the same token across multiple services - Grant both publish and subscribe if only one is needed - Commit tokens to version control - Share tokens in plain text (email, Slack)

Subscribers

View and manage who's subscribed to your topic.

Subscriber List

Shows all active subscribers with: - Device - Platform (Web, iOS, Android) - Subscribed - When they subscribed - Notification Settings - Their priority/tag filters - Last Active - Last time they received a message

Subscriber Actions

Remove Subscriber: 1. Find subscriber in list 2. Click "Remove" 3. Confirm action

Private Topics Only

Subscriber management is only available for private topics. Public topics don't track subscribers.

Notifications

Forward messages to external services.

Webhook Integration

Send HTTP POST requests when messages arrive:

  1. Go to Notifications tab
  2. Enable "Webhook"
  3. Enter Webhook URL: https://your-service.com/webhook
  4. Select Events:
  5. ✅ New message
  6. ✅ Priority 4+ only
  7. ✅ Specific tags
  8. Click "Save"

Webhook Payload: 

{
  "topic": "your-topic",
  "message": "Message text",
  "title": "Optional title",
  "priority": 3,
  "tags": ["tag1", "tag2"],
  "timestamp": "2025-11-10T12:00:00Z"
}

Email Forwarding

Forward messages to email addresses:

  1. Enable "Email Notifications"
  2. Enter email addresses (comma-separated)
  3. Configure filters:
  4. All messages - Forward everything
  5. Priority threshold - Only priority 4+ messages
  6. Specific tags - Only messages with certain tags
  7. Click "Save"

Email format: - Subject: [Notifer] {title or first line} - Body: Message content - From: notifications@notifer.io

Advanced Settings

Message Retention

Control how long messages are stored:

Plan Default Retention Maximum
Free 7 days 7 days
Pro 30 days 90 days
Business 90 days 365 days

Change retention: 1. Go to Advanced tab 2. Select retention period 3. Click "Save"

Reducing Retention

Reducing retention period will delete older messages immediately.

Rate Limits

View and configure rate limits:

Plan Messages/Hour Burst
Free 60 120
Pro 600 1200
Business 6000 12000

Override limits (Business plan only): - Custom rate limits for specific topics - Contact support for higher limits

Message Size Limits

Plan Max Message Size
Free 4 KB
Pro 16 KB
Business 64 KB

Danger Zone

Destructive actions that cannot be undone.

Delete Topic

Permanent Action

This action cannot be undone. All messages, subscribers, and settings will be permanently deleted.

To delete a topic: 1. Scroll to Danger Zone at bottom of Advanced tab 2. Click "Delete Topic" 3. Type topic name to confirm 4. Click "Delete Forever"

What gets deleted: - ❌ All messages - ❌ All access tokens - ❌ All subscribers - ❌ All settings and configuration - ❌ Topic name becomes available for others

Examples

CI/CD Integration Setup

# 1. Create private topic
Topic: "ci-deployments" (Private)

# 2. Create access token
Name: "GitHub Actions"
Permissions: Publish only

# 3. Add token to GitHub Secrets
NOTIFER_TOPIC_TOKEN=tk_...

# 4. Use in workflow
curl -d "Deploy completed" \
  -H "X-Topic-Token: ${{ secrets.NOTIFER_TOPIC_TOKEN }}" \
  https://app.notifer.io/ci-deployments

Monitoring Alerts with Webhook

# 1. Create private topic
Topic: "server-alerts" (Private)

# 2. Configure webhook
URL: https://your-incident-mgmt.com/webhook
Events: Priority 4+ only

# 3. Send alerts
curl -d "CPU usage critical" \
  -H "X-Priority: 5" \
  -H "X-Topic-Token: tk_..." \
  https://app.notifer.io/server-alerts

Team Notifications with Email

# 1. Create private topic
Topic: "team-updates" (Private)

# 2. Enable email forwarding
Emails: team@company.com, manager@company.com
Filter: All messages

# 3. Publish updates
curl -d "Sprint planning tomorrow at 10 AM" \
  -H "X-Topic-Token: tk_..." \
  https://app.notifer.io/team-updates

Troubleshooting

Can't Access Topic Settings

Problem: Settings button not visible or grayed out

Solution: - Only topic owners can access settings - Verify you're logged in as the correct user - Check you're viewing your own topic in "My Topics"

Access Token Not Working

Problem: 401 Unauthorized when using token

Solution: - Verify token hasn't been revoked (check Access Tokens tab) - Ensure using correct header: X-Topic-Token (not X-API-Key) - Check token has required permission (publish or subscribe) - Verify no typos in token (copy-paste recommended)

Webhook Not Receiving Messages

Problem: Webhook URL not getting called

Solution: - Verify webhook URL is accessible from internet - Check webhook event filters (priority, tags) - Test webhook URL independently (curl, Postman) - View webhook logs in settings for error details

Email Forwarding Not Working

Problem: Emails not arriving

Solution: - Check spam/junk folder - Verify email address is correct - Check email filters (priority threshold, tags) - Ensure topic has received messages matching filters - Check email quota (Free plan: 10 emails/day)

Next Steps