Why can't I see the full bot conversation at the start of a messaging ticket?

Question

When a new messaging ticket arrives, I don't see the full bot conversation the user went through. Why is the chatbot interaction history missing or truncated?

Answer

Missing bot history usually occurs for one of two reasons: the 72-hour inactivity limit or third-party bot handoff timing.

72-Hour inactivity limit

For standard Zendesk AI Agent interactions, conversation history is preserved as long as the user remains active:

Active within 72 hours: If a user remains active in the Web Widget and sends messages within 72 hours, the full conversation history appears in the ticket when transferred to an agent.

Inactive over 72 hours: After 72 hours without activity, the system clears the previous interaction. If the user returns later and requests an agent, a new ticket is created containing only the new session—earlier bot interactions prior to the 72-hour mark are omitted.

Third-Party bots & API Integrations

If you use a custom or third-party bot connected via Sunshine Conversations API:

The ticket history is populated based on the payload provided during the passControl event.

If the initial messages occurred before the integration session started or were handled entirely within the third-party bot platform without being synced to Zendesk, those early messages will not render in the agent's ticket.

Why does Sunshine API show history that the ticket lacks? Sunshine Conversations API stores all raw channel logs, but the Zendesk ticket transcript only displays messages explicitly linked to the active ticket session at the time of transfer.

Tip: If you are seeing partial transcripts on tickets created well within the 72-hour window, verify your bot's passControl webhook payload to ensure prior message objects are being passed to Zendesk upon transfer.