Setting Groups
Setting Groups are named configuration profiles. Each group holds a set of settings — attendance display, notifications, email configuration, and integrations — and can be assigned to specific classes and forms. This lets different parts of your school run with different configurations.
For example, you might have one group for your main school (using the default ClassBuddy email sender) and another for a specific programme that uses its own Gmail account for notifications.
Managing setting groups requires the groupSettings:write permission. Editing individual settings within a group requires setting:update. See Roles & Permissions for details.
Go to Settings > Setting Groups to manage your groups.
The Default Group
One group is designated as the default. Any class or form not explicitly assigned to another group inherits the default group's settings. Every school should have exactly one default group.
The default group is marked with (default) in the list.
Create a Group
Tap the + button to create a new group.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Group Name | A descriptive name for this group |
| Is Default | Toggle on to make this the school's default group |
Tap Create to save.
Edit or Delete a Group
Tap the menu (three dots) on any group card to Edit or Delete it.
Deleting a group removes all its settings. Any classes or forms assigned to it will fall back to the default group.
Assign Classes and Forms to a Group
Open a group and go to the Members tab to see which classes and forms are assigned to it.
Tap the + button to add members. Select the member type (Class or Form), then choose one or more from the list.
To remove a member, tap the delete icon next to it.
Settings
Open a group and go to the Info tab to view and edit its settings. Settings are organised into categories.
Tap the edit icon next to any setting to change its value.
Attendance
Attendance Page Attributes
Select which custom student attributes appear on the attendance page alongside each student's name. Useful for showing relevant context at a glance — for example, a student's level or stream.
Notifications
Include Contacts in Student notifications?
When enabled, a student's saved contacts (parents and guardians) also receive notification emails in addition to the student. Both this setting and the individual contact's Subscribe to notifications toggle must be on. See Contacts for details.
Email Configuration (SMTP)
When filled in, outgoing emails for this group (attendance notifications, form submissions, messages, etc.) are sent from your own email account instead of the default ClassBuddy sender. Leave blank to use the ClassBuddy default.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Host | SMTP server hostname |
| Port | SMTP port (typically 587 for TLS) |
| TLS | Toggle on for encrypted connections |
| Username | Your email address |
| Password | Your email password or app password |
Configuring Gmail as your email sender
Google requires an App Password for third-party apps — your regular Google password will not work.
Step 1 — Generate an App Password
- Go to your Google Account settings and open the Security tab.
- Enable Two-Step Verification if you haven't already.
- Search for App passwords and open it. You may be asked to sign in again.
- Choose Mail as the app and Other (Custom name) as the device. Enter a label like "ClassBuddy".
- Click Generate. Copy the 16-character password immediately.
Step 2 — Enter the details in ClassBuddy
Click the edit icon next to Email Configuration and enter:
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| TLS | true |
| Host | smtp.gmail.com |
| Port | 587 |
| Username | Your full Gmail address (e.g. you@gmail.com) |
| Password | The 16-character App Password from Step 1 |
Integrations
ClassBuddy Invoicing
- Configure the settings for ClassBuddy invoicing. Fill in the following fields:
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Currency | ex - ZAR for South Africa |
| item_type | choose EXTERNAL_CHARGE |
| email_invoice | choose true if you would like to send an email once invoice is created |
| invoice_status | choose DRAFT or COMMITTED |
| combine_invoice | If there are 2 or more students under one email, choose to combine the invoice or not |
After the integration has been configured for your group, tap Activate to initialise it, then Sync Contacts to synchronise billing contacts.
Once activated, school admins can create invoices, record payments, and send account statements for students. See Invoicing for the full guide.
Xero Integration
Connect a setting group to your Xero organisation so ClassBuddy can sync contacts and create invoices directly in Xero. Setup has three parts: create an app in the Xero developer portal, enter its credentials in ClassBuddy, then verify the webhook connection.
Before you start, have your School ID handy. You can find it in ClassBuddy under Settings > School Page. See School Info.
Step 1 — Create a Xero app
- Sign in to the Xero Developer portal.
- Go to My Apps and click New app.
- Fill in the form:
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| App name | ClassBuddy |
| Integration type | Web app |
| Will you use Xero data to train, fine-tune, adapt, or enhance an AI model? | No |
| Company or application URL | https://classbuddy.io |
| OAuth 2.0 redirect URI | https://web.classbuddy.io/xero-callback |
- Accept the terms and conditions and create the app.
Step 2 — Copy the Client ID and secret
- Open the app you just created and click Configuration.
- Scroll to the Connection section and copy the Client id.
- Click Generate a secret and copy the secret.
Xero shows the client secret only once. Store it somewhere safe before leaving the page. If you lose it, generate a new one.
Step 3 — Configure the webhook
- In your Xero app, open Webhooks.
- Set Delivery URL to
https://api.classbuddy.io/webhooks/xero/{SCHOOL_ID}, replacing{SCHOOL_ID}with your School ID. - Copy the Webhooks key that Xero generates.
Do not click Intent to receive yet. You will do that in Step 5, after ClassBuddy has the webhooks key.
Step 4 — Enter the details in ClassBuddy
- In the ClassBuddy web app, go to Settings > Setting Groups and open the group you want to connect.
- Scroll to Xero Integration config and tap the edit icon.
- Fill in the following fields:
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Client ID | The Client id from Step 2 |
| Client Secret | The secret from Step 2 |
| Invoice Status | Status given to invoices that ClassBuddy creates in Xero |
| Line Amount Type | How tax applies to line amounts (for example tax exclusive, tax inclusive, or no tax) |
| Account Code | Xero account code for invoice line items. Use 200 (Sales) unless your chart of accounts uses a different code. |
| Email Invoice | Set to true to have Xero email invoices to parents or students automatically |
| Combine Contact Invoice | Set to true to create one invoice per parent when they have more than one child enrolled |
| Currency | The currency of your Xero organisation |
| Webhooks Key | The Webhooks key from Step 3 |
| Auto Invoice | Set to true to have ClassBuddy generate invoices automatically |
| Invoice Reference | The reference shown on generated invoices |
| Active | Turn on to enable the configuration |
- Save the configuration.
- Tap Activate to connect to Xero, then tap Sync Contacts to sync your billing contacts with Xero.
Step 5 — Verify the webhook
Go back to your app in the Xero Developer portal, open Webhooks, and click Intent to receive. Xero sends a test request to ClassBuddy, and the status should show as successful.
If the check fails, confirm that the Delivery URL contains the correct School ID and that the Webhooks Key in ClassBuddy matches the one shown in Xero.