Step 1 — Gather context
If references/learnings.md exists, read it first for accumulated platform knowledge.
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What are you trying to do?
- A) Enroll/revoke a student from an external purchase or app (Zapier Add/Revoke User to Course or Theme)
- B) Route events out — Completed Course, New Lead, New Order — into a CRM/ESP/Slack (Zapier trigger)
- C) Configure a module — courses/content blocks, drip, Course Hubs (Themes), Payment Pages, digital downloads, course affiliates
- D) Decide on media — Teachery doesn't host video/files; pick an embed host (YouTube/Vimeo/Bunny/Drive)
- E) Pick a plan — Monthly ($49) vs Annual ($470) vs Lifetime ($550); all flat-rate, unlimited, 0% fees
- F) Fix a problem — embed/video issues, no quizzes/multi-instructor, basic email, no API
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Where does data need to flow? Into Teachery (grant access) → Zapier Add User to Course/Theme action. Out of Teachery (sync an order, route a completion/lead) → Zapier trigger.
Skip-ahead rule: if the user's prompt already provides enough context, skip to Step 2.
Step 2 — Route or answer directly
| If the question is about... | Route to... |
|---|---|
| Course/membership strategy, retention, completion, or platform comparison | /sales-membership {question} |
| Email sequence/broadcast strategy (Teachery's email is minimal — use a connected ESP) | /sales-email-marketing {question} |
| Email deliverability / inbox placement | /sales-deliverability {question} |
| Checkout / order-bump / upsell optimization across tools | /sales-checkout {question} |
| Designing an affiliate program (commission structure, recruiting) across tools | /sales-affiliate-program {question} |
| Landing-page / funnel strategy across tools | /sales-funnel {question} |
When routing, give the exact command, e.g. "This is a retention question — run: /sales-membership how do I reduce course churn".
Step 3 — Teachery platform reference
Read references/platform-guide.md for the full reference — the module map (what's Zapier-accessible vs UI-only), the flat-rate pricing model (all features on every tier, unlimited everything, 0% fees), the no-media-hosting model (embed from external hosts), the order/enrollment data shapes, and quick-start recipes (enroll from a cart; route leads/orders to an ESP; revoke on cancellation).
Read references/teachery-api-reference.md for the integration surface — there's no public REST API; it documents the API-key-for-Zapier setup (Account → Integrations), the full 3-trigger / 4-action Zapier inventory (Course vs Theme enroll/revoke), the Make/Pabbly equivalents, and the Webhooks-by-Zapier bridge for systems the native connector can't reach.
Answer using only the relevant section. Don't dump the full reference.
Step 4 — Actionable guidance
Focus on the user's specific situation:
- There's no REST API — think in Zapier. Push students in with Add User to Course (or Add User to Theme for a membership hub); pull events out with New Order, New Lead, Completed Course. For systems Zapier can't reach, chain Webhooks by Zapier. Make/Pabbly are cheaper alternatives.
- Identity is email. Enroll actions create/locate the student by email — match and dedupe on it everywhere.
- "Theme" means Course Hub. Enroll/revoke comes in a per-Course and a per-Theme (membership) flavor; pick the one matching how you packaged the offer.
- Plan for media hosting separately. Teachery stores the embed, not the file — budget for Vimeo/Bunny (privacy + clean player) or use YouTube unlisted (free). A broken/region-blocked source breaks the lesson.
- Connect an ESP for real email. Built-in email is only welcome/completion/lesson-unlock; route New Order / New Lead into Kit/Mailchimp/ActiveCampaign for actual nurture.
- The API key links the account once. It's in Account → Integrations — paste it into Zapier carefully (no trailing spaces). It is not a REST credential.
If you discover a gotcha, workaround, or tip not covered in references/learnings.md, append it there.
Gotchas
Best-effort from research (2026-06) — review these, especially plan-gated features and pricing, which change frequently.
- No public REST API. The only programmatic surface is Zapier/Make/Pabbly (+ Webhooks by Zapier). Don't promise API endpoints — plan around triggers/actions.
- No native video/file hosting — embed only. You host video/audio/PDF elsewhere (YouTube/Vimeo/Drive) and embed; that's a separate recurring cost and the top user complaint.
- No quizzes, no multiple instructors, no live sessions. Teachery is deliberately minimal — if a course needs assessments, co-instructors, or live classes, it's the wrong tool.
- Email is basic (3 types only). Welcome, completion, and lesson-unlock — connect an ESP for real campaigns; don't expect drip marketing from Teachery itself.
- Limited analytics. Customer/sales analytics are basic and there's no list API — export CSV for deeper reporting.
- No native cancellation trigger. Subscription-cancel handling lives in your payment processor; revoke access in Teachery via the Revoke Course/Theme Access action off the processor's event.
- Course Hubs are called "Themes" in Zapier. Don't confuse the Add User to Theme action (membership) with Add User to Course (single course).
- API key paste errors. A trailing space when copying the key from Account → Integrations breaks the Zapier connection — paste cleanly.
Related skills
/sales-membership— Course/membership strategy across tools (Teachery is one of the minimalist creator platforms covered), retention, completion, and platform comparison/sales-email-marketing— Email sequence and broadcast strategy (the ESP you connect to Teachery via Zapier, since built-in email is minimal)/sales-affiliate-program— Designing an affiliate program (commission structure, recruiting) — pairs with Teachery's built-in course-affiliate feature/sales-checkout— Checkout, order-bump, and upsell optimization (external carts that enroll into Teachery)/sales-funnel— Landing-page and funnel strategy across tools (Teachery's Landing & Payment Pages)/sales-do— Not sure which skill to use? The router matches any sales objective to the right skill. Install:npx skills add sales-skills/sales --skill sales-do -a claude-code
Examples
Example 1: Auto-enroll a buyer from my external cart (developer/automation)
User says: "I sell my course on ThriveCart but host it in Teachery. How do I auto-enroll buyers?"
Skill does: Explains Teachery has no REST API, so use Zapier (Recipe 1): trigger on the ThriveCart sale, map the buyer's email + first name + target course into the Add User to Course action (or Add User to Theme for a membership hub). Notes identity is email, the API key (Account → Integrations) links the account once (watch for trailing spaces), and Make/Pabbly are cheaper alternatives.
Result: External purchases enroll students in Teachery automatically.
Example 2: Teachery won't host my course videos
User says: "Where do I upload my lesson videos in Teachery?" Skill does: Clarifies Teachery doesn't host media — you embed from an external host. Recommends Vimeo or Bunny for privacy + a clean player (or YouTube unlisted for free), explains you paste the embed into a video content block, and flags that a broken/region-blocked source URL breaks the lesson. Notes this is a separate cost on top of the subscription. Result: User hosts video externally and embeds it, with realistic cost expectations.
Example 3: Send Teachery orders to my CRM and email tool
User says: "When someone buys my Teachery course, I want them in HubSpot and tagged in Kit."
Skill does: Uses the New Order Zapier trigger (with the optional Course/Theme filter) fanned out to a HubSpot create-contact action and a Kit add-subscriber action (Recipe 2). Notes Teachery's built-in email is only welcome/completion/lesson-unlock, so the real sequence belongs in Kit — routes: "run: /sales-email-marketing my new-student onboarding sequence."
Result: Every order flows into the CRM and ESP with no manual entry.
Troubleshooting
My auto-enroll Zap isn't adding students
Symptom: Buyers aren't getting course access via Zapier.
Cause: The API-key connection broke (trailing space when pasted), the wrong action was used (Course vs Theme), or the email field is empty/mismatched.
Solution: Reconnect Teachery in Zapier with a clean copy of the key from Account → Integrations. Confirm you're using Add User to Course for a single course or Add User to Theme for a membership hub, and that the buyer's exact email + first name are mapped. Check Zap History for the failing step.
My course videos won't play / disappeared
Symptom: Lessons show broken or blank video. Cause: Teachery doesn't host video — it embeds an external source. The source was deleted, set private, or region-blocked, or the embed code was pasted wrong. Solution: Re-check the external host (YouTube/Vimeo/Drive) — confirm the video is public/unlisted and embedding is allowed, then re-paste the embed into the video block. For reliability and privacy, host on Vimeo or Bunny rather than a personal Drive link.
I need quizzes / multiple instructors / real email automation
Symptom: A feature you expected isn't in Teachery.
Cause: Teachery is intentionally minimal — no quizzes, no multiple instructors, no live sessions, and only 3 automated email types.
Solution: For assessments or co-instructors, Teachery is the wrong fit — compare alternatives with /sales-membership. For email, connect an ESP (Kit/Mailchimp/ActiveCampaign) via the New Order / New Lead Zapier triggers and run sequences there (/sales-email-marketing).