I changed the checkbox tag from my field and now my workflow is broken

Question

I added or updated the tag associated with the checkbox field in Admin Center when there are tickets with that checkbox field selected.

Zendesk clears the checkbox if any of the following is true:

The next update happens through an automation that modifies the ticket's tags or a tag-based field

The next update comes by email, and a trigger subsequently runs and modifies the ticket's tags or a tag-based field

The next update comes from Add Tags, Set Tags, or Remove Tags

Is there a workaround for this behavior?

Prerequisites

You want to add or update the tag for a checkbox field

Your account has tickets with that checkbox field checked

Answer

If you add or update the tag value associated with a checkbox field, Zendesk doesn't update any tickets where the field is checked, which may disrupt existing workflows in your account.

In this context, “the next update” refers to the next time a ticket is modified by any process or event that updates ticket data, such as automations, triggers, email updates, or manual changes.

A “tag-based field” is any ticket field that stores or applies a specific tag value to a ticket when that field is selected or modified.

If you remove the tag for a checkbox field, it doesn't disrupt existing workflows, but you should still follow the steps below.

As a workaround, run a correction backfill with automations before adding, updating, or removing the tag of a checkbox field.

Add an automation to backfill checked tickets if you update an existing tag

If you want to change the existing tag of a checkbox field, then before you modify the default tag, add an automation that deletes the previous tag and adds the new tag to all relevant tickets.

To create the automation:

Add an automation

Enter a title for the automation. For example, Backfill checked tickets with updated tag.

Under Meet all of the following conditions, add:

Ticket: Status category | Less than | Closed

Ticket: Your custom checkbox field | Checked

Ticket: Tags | Contains at least one of the following | old_tag

Ticket: Tags | Contains none of the following | new_tag

Under Perform these actions, add:

Ticket: Remove tags | old_tag

Ticket: Add tags | new_tag

Click Create automation

Once the automation fires in all necessary tickets, update the tag of the checkbox field.

Add an automation to backfill checked tickets if you remove a tag

If you want to remove a tag value from a checkbox field, then before you delete the default tag, run an automation to delete the current tag from all relevant tickets.

To create the automation:

Add an automation

Enter a title for the automation. For example, Backfill checked tickets by removing tag.

Under Meet all of the following conditions, add:

Ticket: Status category | Less than | Closed

Ticket: Your custom checkbox field | Checked

Ticket: Tags | Contains at least one of the following | tag_to_delete

Under Perform these actions, add:

Ticket: Remove tags | tag_to_delete

Click Create automation

Once the automation fires in all necessary tickets, remove the tag of the checkbox field.

Update the tag in the checkbox field

Once all the automations fire in all necessary tickets, update the tag of the checkbox field.

Note: You can see when an automation fired in a ticket in the ticket events. For more information, see Viewing all events of a ticket.

To change the tag in the checkbox field:

Open the checkbox field you want to update

Under Field option, add or update the tag in the Tag (optional) field

Click Save