Setting an AI agent as the default responder for a messaging channel (AI agents - Advanced only)

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<p id="docs-hc-snippet" style="display: none;">After youcreate an AI agentfor messaging, you can configure which messaging channels it should be the default responder for.</p>
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<td>AI agents - Advanced</td>
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<div class="note attention" id="default_responder__note_qjn_wvp_2jc">
<span class="attentiontitle"></span> This article applies only to customers who
bought AI agents - Advanced before March 10, 2026. Otherwise, see <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/10563002554394#topic_gws_1gc_2jc" target="_blank">Managing an AI agent's channels</a>.</div>
<p class="p">After you <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/8357749415066" target="_blank">create an AI agent</a> for messaging, you can
configure which messaging channels it should be the default responder for. </p>
<p class="p">This article contains the following topics:</p>
<ul class="ul" id="default_responder__ul_e4r_rns_rgc">
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_g14_4ns_rgc">About a messaging channel’s default responder</a></li>
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_rl3_pns_rgc">Setting an AI agent as the default responder for individual channels</a></li>
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_an2_qns_rgc">Setting an AI agent as the default responder for all channels</a></li>
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_k4b_q4j_jhc">Configuring which AI agent responds on specific messaging channels</a></li>
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_bc5_rhb_g3c">Prevent an AI agent from responding on any messaging channel</a></li>
</ul>
<p class="p">Related article:</p>
<ul class="ul" id="default_responder__ul_lvm_tgb_g3c">
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/10050437105946" target="_blank">Managing AI agents connected to messaging
channels</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title2" class="topic nested1" id="topic_g14_4ns_rgc">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title2">About a messaging channel’s default responder</h2>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">First, it’s important to understand that setting an AI agent as the default responder
technically sets all AI agents in the messaging group, as a whole, as the default
responder. If you have more than one AI agent, you need to <a class="xref" href="#topic_k4b_q4j_jhc">use routing rules</a> to define which
specific AI agent should respond on each messaging channel. </p>
<p class="p">When you assign the default responder role to an AI agent, it becomes the first
responder in a customer conversation. This means when a customer contacts support
through one of your messaging channels, the AI agent manages the interaction. It
replaces any previously connected AI agent or default response configuration, which
is reverted to Draft mode. </p>
<p class="p">Any time a new channel is added to your instance, the <a class="xref" href="#topic_an2_qns_rgc">AI agent with the default label</a> is automatically assigned
as the default responder for that channel. If you assign the default label to
another AI agent, that AI agent becomes the responder for any channels using the
default responder. </p>
<p class="p">When using an AI agent as a default responder in conversations, consider the
following: </p>
<ul class="ul" id="topic_g14_4ns_rgc__ul_c2b_xns_rgc">
<li class="li">Only one AI agent can be assigned the default responder role in each instance. </li>
<li class="li">The AI agent with the default responder label can't be deleted until the label
is assigned to another responder. </li>
<li class="li">If you don't want to use an AI agent as the default responder, you can assign
the default responder label to an essential AI agent or a <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/5064149334426" target="_blank">third-party bot</a>. </li>
<li class="li">If you don't have any AI agents connected to your instance, an essential AI
agent is the default responder. </li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title3" class="topic nested1" id="topic_rl3_pns_rgc">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title3">Setting an AI agent as the default responder for individual channels</h2>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">In Admin Center, you can set an AI agent as the default responder for one or more
messaging channels. </p>
<div class="p">
<div class="note" id="topic_rl3_pns_rgc__note_owl_wwz_khc">
<span class="notetitle">Note:</span> The <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/5514406080538#topic_fwd_ylm_y1c" target="_blank">Conversation control setting</a> must be
set to <strong class="ph b">Release control</strong> for per-channel responders to work.</div>
</div>
<p class="p"><strong class="ph b">To set an AI agent as the default responder for individual channels</strong></p>
<div class="p">
<ol class="ol" id="topic_rl3_pns_rgc__ol_zmk_c4s_rgc">
<li class="li"><span class="ph">In <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4581766374554#topic_hfg_dyz_1hb" target="_blank">Admin Center</a>, click <img class="image" id="topic_rl3_pns_rgc__d8e1351" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/icon_ai.png">
<strong class="ph b">AI</strong> in the sidebar, then select <strong class="ph b">AI agents &gt; AI agents</strong>.</span></li>
<li class="li">In the <strong class="ph b">Advanced</strong> section, click <strong class="ph b">AI agents - Advanced</strong>.<p class="p"><img class="image" id="topic_rl3_pns_rgc__image_bxn_qps_rgc" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/aiaa_default_responder_individual.png" width="500"></p>
</li>
<li class="li">In the <strong class="ph b">Channels</strong> section, select the channels you want the AI agent to
be the default responder on.<p class="p"><img class="image" id="topic_rl3_pns_rgc__image_gy1_sps_rgc" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/aiaa_default_responder_individual_select.png" width="500"></p>
</li>
<li class="li">Click <strong class="ph b">Save</strong>. </li>
</ol>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title4" class="topic nested1" id="topic_an2_qns_rgc">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title4">Setting an AI agent as the default responder for all channels</h2>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">You can also set an AI agent as the default responder for all messaging channels. </p>
<p class="p"><strong class="ph b">To set an AI agent as the default responder for all channels</strong></p>
<div class="p">
<ol class="ol" id="topic_an2_qns_rgc__ol_dyx_hps_rgc">
<li class="li">
<span class="ph">In <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4581766374554#topic_hfg_dyz_1hb" target="_blank">Admin Center</a>, click <img class="image" id="topic_an2_qns_rgc__d8e1351" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/icon_ai.png">
<strong class="ph b">AI</strong> in the sidebar, then select <strong class="ph b">AI agents &gt; AI agents</strong>.</span>
</li>
<li class="li">In the <strong class="ph b">Advanced</strong> section, click the options menu (<img class="image" id="topic_an2_qns_rgc__image_sc3_kps_rgc" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/options-menu-icon-small.png">) to the right of <strong class="ph b">AI agents - Advanced</strong>. </li>
<li class="li">Select <strong class="ph b">Set as default for all channels</strong>.<p class="p"><img class="image" id="topic_an2_qns_rgc__image_ahd_4ps_rgc" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/aiaa_default_responder_all.png" width="300"></p>
AI agents - Advanced is
marked as default, and your AI agents become the default responders for all
configured messaging channels according to the <a class="xref" href="#topic_k4b_q4j_jhc">routing rules you
configure</a>.<p class="p"><img class="image" id="topic_an2_qns_rgc__image_oks_mps_rgc" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/aiaa_default_responder_default.png" width="500"></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title5" class="topic nested1" id="topic_k4b_q4j_jhc">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title5">Configuring which AI agent responds on specific messaging channels</h2>
<div class="body">
<div class="note important" id="topic_k4b_q4j_jhc__note_j2q_nrj_2jc">
<span class="importanttitle">Important:</span> If you <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/10488757995034" target="_blank">created your AI agent from the dashboard</a>,
you should not manually modify its routing rules. Instead, follow the instructions
in <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/10563002554394#topic_gws_1gc_2jc" target="_blank">Managing an AI agent's channels</a>. If you
don't see a "Manage channels" option for your AI agent, you may safely update its
routing rules.</div>
<p class="p">By default, the first messaging AI agent created in your account is the fallback,
meaning this AI agent in particular is the default responder for any channel where
the AI agents messaging group is set as the default responder. </p>
<p class="p">When you have more than one messaging AI agent, you can use routing rules to
configure which specific AI agent should respond on each messaging channel. A
routing rule is a set of one or more conditions based on the source of the
conversation, user metadata, or conversation metadata. </p>
<p class="p"><strong class="ph b">To configure routing rules for messaging AI agents</strong></p>
<div class="p">
<ol class="ol" id="topic_k4b_q4j_jhc__ol_vzv_rpj_jhc">
<li class="li"><span class="ph">In the AI agents workspace, <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/8357756913178#topic_t25_qvj_tdc" target="_blank">select the AI agent</a> you want to work
with.</span></li>
<li class="li"><span class="ph">Click <img class="image" id="topic_k4b_q4j_jhc__d9e404" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/ai_agents_settings_icon.png">
<strong class="ph b">Settings</strong> in the sidebar, then select <strong class="ph b">CRM integration</strong>.</span></li>
<li class="li">Select the <strong class="ph b">Routing rules</strong> tab.<p class="p"><img class="image" id="topic_k4b_q4j_jhc__image_pk2_zqj_jhc" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/aiaa_routing_rules_page.png" width="600"></p>
</li>
<li class="li">Click <strong class="ph b">Add rule</strong>. <p class="p">The Create routing rule panel opens.</p>
<p class="p"><img class="image" id="topic_k4b_q4j_jhc__image_jnh_1rj_jhc" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/aiaa_routing_rule_panel.png" width="400"></p>
</li>
<li class="li">In <strong class="ph b">Name</strong>, enter a descriptive name for the routing rule. </li>
<li class="li">(Optional) Change the dropdown in <strong class="ph b">Match ALL conditions below</strong> to
<strong class="ph b">ANY</strong>, depending on the logic of your rule. </li>
<li class="li">Define your first condition: <ul class="ul" id="topic_k4b_q4j_jhc__ol_vxg_3qj_jhc">
<li class="li">In <strong class="ph b">Source</strong>, select one of the following options: <ul class="ul" id="topic_k4b_q4j_jhc__ul_axl_kqj_jhc">
<li class="li">
<strong class="ph b">Source</strong> (of the conversation)</li>
<li class="li"><strong class="ph b">User metadata</strong></li>
<li class="li"><strong class="ph b">Conversation metadata</strong></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li class="li">Under <strong class="ph b">Parameter</strong>, use the parameter name, operator, and value
fields to define a parameter based on the source you selected above:
<ul class="ul" id="topic_k4b_q4j_jhc__ul_ttb_qqj_jhc">
<li class="li">If you selected Source above, the available parameters are
<strong class="ph b">Type</strong> and <strong class="ph b">Integration ID</strong>.<div class="note tip" id="topic_k4b_q4j_jhc__note_why_qqj_jhc">
<span class="tiptitle">Tip:</span> To find the integration
IDs of any Sunshine Conversations integrations, use the
<a class="xref" href="https://docs.smooch.io/rest/v1/#list-integrations" target="_blank">List
Integrations</a> endpoint of the Sunshine
Conversations API. </div>
<div class="note" id="topic_k4b_q4j_jhc__note_nf4_vcr_vjc">
<span class="notetitle">Note:</span> If
you have a custom AI agent implementation, the
integration ID can't be passed when the Type parameter
is set to API.</div>
</li>
<li class="li">If you selected User metadata or Conversation metadata
above, define a parameter based on the condition you want to
create. For help, see <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/9522180655386" target="_blank">Using parameters in AI
agents</a>. </li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li class="li">(Optional) Click the plus (+) icon to insert another condition, and repeat
the step above. </li>
<li class="li">In <strong class="ph b">Assign to</strong>, select the specific AI agent that should be the default
responder to the conversation when the conditions listed above are true. </li>
<li class="li">(Optional) If you don't want the rule to be active yet, toggle <strong class="ph b">Rule is
active</strong> to off.<p class="p">When you're ready to make the rule active, return
to this screen and toggle this setting on.</p>
</li>
<li class="li">Click <strong class="ph b">Create</strong>.</li>
</ol>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title6" class="topic nested1" id="topic_bc5_rhb_g3c">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title6">Prevent an AI agent from responding on any messaging channel</h2>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">You can prevent an AI agent from responding to customers on any messaging channel.
You do this by deactivating or deleting any routing rules assigned to it. This
allows you to configure and test the AI agent without making it live to
customers.</p>
<p class="p"><strong class="ph b">To prevent an AI agent from responding on any messaging channel</strong></p>
<div class="p">
<ol class="ol" id="topic_bc5_rhb_g3c__ol_qws_zhb_g3c">
<li class="li"><span class="ph">In the AI agents workspace, <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/8357756913178#topic_t25_qvj_tdc" target="_blank">select the AI agent</a> you want to work
with.</span></li>
<li class="li"><span class="ph">Click <img class="image" id="topic_bc5_rhb_g3c__d9e404" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/ai_agents_settings_icon.png">
<strong class="ph b">Settings</strong> in the sidebar, then select <strong class="ph b">CRM integration</strong>.</span></li>
<li class="li">Select the <strong class="ph b">Routing rules</strong> tab.</li>
<li class="li">In the <strong class="ph b">Assigned to agent</strong> column, select a rule that's assigned to the
AI agent you don't want responding to customers.<p class="p">The rule's configuration
appears.</p>
</li>
<li class="li">Click the <strong class="ph b">Rule is active</strong> toggle to deactivate the
rule.<p class="p">Alternatively, if you no longer need the rule at all, click
<strong class="ph b">Delete</strong> and <strong class="ph b">Delete</strong> again to delete the rule
entirely.</p>
</li>
<li class="li">Click <strong class="ph b">Save</strong>.</li>
<li class="li">Repeat the steps above for any other rules assigned to the AI agent.</li>
</ol>
</div>
</div>
</div>
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