Instant Zapier & Discord Integration

Launch edition: this release note describes a feature in UpdateTinus's early-access preview; details may change before general availability.

A note on third parties: this integration is in beta and depends on services operated by other companies, whose APIs, limits and terms can change. UpdateTinus is not affiliated with, endorsed by or partnered with those companies, and all product names and trademarks belong to their respective owners.

Some of the happiest moments in product work happen right after a merge. The tests are green, the feature is in, and the people who asked for it deserve to hear about it. In v2.4.2 of the UpdateTinus preview we are opening a beta integration that connects that moment to two places where many teams and communities already gather: Zapier workflows and Discord servers.

What the integration does

When a pull request merges into a branch you choose, UpdateTinus can create a release note draft, optionally publish it, and then send a formatted announcement onward. For Discord, that means a message posted to a channel you select through a Discord webhook. For Zapier, it means a trigger event your own Zap can listen for, so you can route the update to whatever tools you already connect there.

The flow looks like this:

1. Code merges in your repository.
2. UpdateTinus receives the merge event and matches it to a workspace.
3. A draft is created from the pull request title, description and labels.
4. Depending on your settings, the draft waits for review or publishes straight away.
5. The published note is sent to Discord and made available as a Zapier trigger.

Why "instant" still includes a review step

Automation is wonderful until it announces something half-finished to your entire community. That is why the default setting is draft first. The merge creates a draft and pings the workspace, and a human presses publish. If your team is comfortable with fully automatic announcements, perhaps for a small internal channel, you can switch a workspace to auto-publish for specific labels only, such as release-note or user-facing.

We think the right amount of automation is the amount that removes busywork without removing judgment.

Setting up Discord

In Discord, create a webhook for the channel where announcements should appear, then paste its URL into the integration settings in your UpdateTinus workspace. You can customize:

• Message style: a compact single line, or a richer embed with title, summary and link.
• Mentions: optionally mention a role for major releases, never for minor ones by default.
• Filters: only send notes that carry certain tags, such as "New Feature" or "Launched".

Treat the webhook URL like a password. Anyone who has it can post to that channel, so store it only in the integration settings and rotate it in Discord if you think it has leaked.

Setting up Zapier

The Zapier side works through a trigger that fires when a release note is published. Each event includes the note's title, excerpt, tags, version label and public link. From there, your Zap can do whatever you design it to do: add a row to a spreadsheet, post to another chat tool, or send an internal email digest. Because the actions happen inside your own Zapier account, their availability and behavior depend on Zapier and the apps you connect there, not on UpdateTinus.

Ideas to try

• Log every published note to a shared spreadsheet for a monthly review.
• Post a short version to a team chat and a longer version to an internal wiki.
• Create a follow-up task for support whenever a note is tagged "Improvements".

Writing for chat channels

A message in a busy Discord channel competes with memes, questions and conversation. The integration uses the release note excerpt as the main line, so it is worth writing excerpts that stand on their own. One clear sentence about what changed and who benefits is usually enough, followed by a link for anyone who wants the full story and the gallery.

Emoji reactions in Discord are separate from the reactions inside UpdateTinus's beacon widget. We are exploring ways to show both side by side, but for now they remain independent.

Known limitations in the beta

Because this integration relies on services we do not control, a few things are worth knowing:

• Delivery depends on the availability and rate limits of Discord and Zapier. If one of them is slow or unavailable, announcements may be delayed.
• Failed deliveries are retried a limited number of times and then shown in the workspace activity log for you to resend.
• Formatting options are intentionally limited while we learn which styles teams actually use.
• Merge events currently come from a single connected repository host per workspace; broader support is under consideration.

Privacy and permissions

UpdateTinus only sends the content of published (or explicitly approved) notes to the destinations you configure. Draft notes, internal comments and private roadmap items are never forwarded unless you mark them for sharing. You can disconnect either integration at any time from the workspace settings, which immediately stops further deliveries.

Help us shape it

This is a beta, and we mean that sincerely. Settings, names and behaviors may change before general availability based on what we hear from early-access teams. If something feels confusing or you wish it worked differently, please add it to the feedback board. Small, specific stories, such as "we wanted to announce only on Fridays," are especially helpful.

Thank you for helping us make the moment after a merge a little more joyful.