Testing an AI agent before publishing it for customers (Legacy)

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<p id="docs-hc-snippet" style="display: none;">At any point in an AI agent’s lifecycle, you can test its behavior to make sure it performs the way you expect it to. This helps you iron out any issues with its configuration before you make the AI agent live for your customers for the first time, or before rolling out any changes to its settings.</p>
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<div class="note attention" id="ai_agents_testing__note_anc_myj_f2c">
<span class="attentiontitle"></span> <span class="ph">This article describes functionality that moved into
legacy status on July 31, 2025. On December 10, 2026, this functionality will no
longer be available. For more information, see <a href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/10487730059034" target="_blank">this announcement</a>.</span>
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<p class="p">At any point in an AI agent’s lifecycle, you can test its behavior to make sure it
performs the way you expect it to. This helps you iron out any issues with its
configuration before you make the AI agent live for your customers for the first time,
or before rolling out any changes to its settings. </p>
<p class="p">You must be an admin to test an AI agent. </p>
<p class="p">This article contains the following topics:</p>
<ul class="ul" id="ai_agents_testing__ul_ihc_r3m_dgc">
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_abn_l3m_dgc">About testing AI agents</a></li>
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_pjc_m3m_dgc">Testing a messaging AI agent</a></li>
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_gp1_n3m_dgc">Testing an email or web form AI agent</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title2" class="topic nested1" id="topic_abn_l3m_dgc">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title2">About testing AI agents</h2>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">You can use the Test AI agent button in Admin Center to test your AI agent. When you
do, you have a chance to examine its behavior from initiating a conversation to
closing a ticket, including: </p>
<ul class="ul" id="topic_abn_l3m_dgc__ul_kp4_53m_dgc">
<li class="li">How its <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/8774095741466" target="_blank">standard responses</a> work, including
greeting, feedback, fallback, and escalation messages </li>
<li class="li">How well its AI-generated responses address potential customer questions </li>
<li class="li">How other settings affect the conversation, such as the <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/8753435048474" target="_blank">persona</a>, <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/9203004883994" target="_blank">instructions</a>, or <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408842754202" target="_blank">language support</a>
</li>
<li class="li">How and when triggers run, including <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408842866074" target="_blank">out of office</a> and <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408886173338" target="_blank">CSAT</a> messaging triggers </li>
</ul>
<p class="p">When testing your AI agent, real tickets are created, so you might want to let your
agents know that you’re testing before you begin. However, test conversations
created using the Test AI agent button don't count toward your account's <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/5352026794010" target="_blank">automated resolutions</a> and don't appear in related
Explore reports or dashboards. </p>
<p class="p">Additionally, when you use the Test AI agent button, the system evaluates all <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/9203004883994" target="_blank">instructions</a> with a status of Active and To be
activated.</p>
<div class="p">
<div class="note" id="topic_abn_l3m_dgc__note_fc2_3vq_jhc">
<span class="notetitle">Note:</span> Testing an AI agent using the Test AI agent button, or
testing an AI agent in a <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/6150628316058" target="_blank">sandbox environment</a>, does not count
against the default allocation of <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/5352026794010" target="_blank">automated resolutions</a> for your
account.</div>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title3" class="topic nested2" id="topic_tnl_1jm_dgc">
<h3 class="title topictitle3" id="ariaid-title3">Limitations of testing AI agents</h3>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">You can't use the Test AI agent button to test the following: </p>
<ul class="ul" id="topic_tnl_1jm_dgc__ul_es2_2jm_dgc">
<li class="li">
<a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/8087943201306" target="_blank">Restricted help center content</a>
(where sign-in is required to see content) </li>
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/5381304334234" target="_blank">Proactive messages</a></li>
<li class="li">(AI agent legacy functionality) <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4422584657434" target="_blank">Answers</a> that contain errors or
that reference restricted help center content</li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title4" class="topic nested2" id="topic_pjj_bjm_dgc">
<h3 class="title topictitle3" id="ariaid-title4">Options for testing your AI agent</h3>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">Some account plans have options for testing an AI agent without exposing it to
customers by creating a test brand or using a sandbox. </p>
<ul class="ul" id="topic_pjj_bjm_dgc__ul_mq4_fjm_dgc">
<li class="li">
<strong class="ph b">Test brand</strong>: On certain plans, you can create multiple brands. If
you’re on a supported plan, you can create a brand with a help center
specifically for testing purposes. See <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408829476378" target="_blank">Setting up multiple brands</a>. </li>
<li class="li">
<strong class="ph b">Sandbox</strong>: On Enterprise plans, you can create a <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/6150628316058" target="_blank">sandbox environment</a> for testing.
Messaging configurations and AI agents are not automatically copied into the
sandbox environment and must be manually recreated. See <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408844075930" target="_blank">Testing messaging in your sandbox</a>
and <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408824263578" target="_blank">Creating an AI agent to automatically
resolve customer issues</a>. </li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title5" class="topic nested1" id="topic_pjc_m3m_dgc">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title5">Testing a messaging AI agent</h2>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">You can use the Test AI agent button to test the behavior of an AI agent on a
messaging channel. </p>
<p class="p"><strong class="ph b">To test a messaging or web form AI agent</strong></p>
<ol class="ol" id="topic_pjc_m3m_dgc__ol_mt3_4jm_dgc">
<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_pjc_m3m_dgc__d9e1351" 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">Click the name of the AI agent you want to test. </li>
<li class="li">Click <strong class="ph b">Test AI agent</strong>.<p class="p">The testing sidebar opens with the Messaging tab
selected.</p>
</li>
<li class="li">Have a conversation with the AI agent by entering messages or selecting
options.<p class="p"><img class="image" id="topic_pjc_m3m_dgc__image_urq_fkm_dgc" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/aiae_test_ai_agent_messaging.png" width="400"></p>
</li>
<li class="li">To change the AI agent’s language, use the language drop-down.<p class="p"><img class="image" id="topic_pjc_m3m_dgc__image_npz_gkm_dgc" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/aiae_test_ai_agent_change_language.png" width="400"></p>
<div class="p">
<div class="note" id="topic_pjc_m3m_dgc__note_gjw_zcf_whc">
<span class="notetitle">Note:</span> The language drop-down doesn't affect
AI-generated answers, which are sent in the same language you use to ask
the question. For more information, see <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408842754202#topic_x2q_3ff_3fc" target="_blank">Understanding language support in AI
agents</a>.</div>
</div>
</li>
<li class="li">To reset and start a new conversation, click the Reload icon (<img class="image" id="topic_pjc_m3m_dgc__image_xgn_wjm_dgc" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/aiae_refresh_icon.png">). </li>
</ol>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title6" class="topic nested1" id="topic_gp1_n3m_dgc">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title6">Testing an email or web form AI agent</h2>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">You can use the Test AI agent button to test the behavior of an AI agent on an email
or web form channel. </p>
<p class="p"><strong class="ph b">To test an email or web form AI agent</strong></p>
<div class="p">
<ol class="ol" id="topic_gp1_n3m_dgc__ol_f55_hkm_dgc">
<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_gp1_n3m_dgc__d9e1351" 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">Click the name of the AI agent you want to test. </li>
<li class="li">Click <strong class="ph b">Test AI agent</strong>.<p class="p">The testing sidebar opens.</p>
</li>
<li class="li">Select <strong class="ph b">Email</strong> tab. </li>
<li class="li">Enter a <strong class="ph b">Subject line</strong> and <strong class="ph b">Email text</strong>, then click
<strong class="ph b">Send</strong>.<p class="p"><img class="image" id="topic_gp1_n3m_dgc__image_i5w_mkm_dgc" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/aiae_test_ai_agent_email.png" width="400"></p>
After a moment, the AI
agent’s response is returned.<p class="p"><img class="image" id="topic_gp1_n3m_dgc__image_hbb_4km_dgc" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/aiae_test_ai_agent_email_response.png" width="400"></p>
</li>
<li class="li">To change the AI agent’s language, use the language drop-down.<p class="p"><img class="image" id="topic_gp1_n3m_dgc__image_wkw_4km_dgc" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/aiae_test_ai_agent_change_language.png" width="400"></p>
</li>
<li class="li">To reset and start a new conversation, click <strong class="ph b">Test again</strong>.</li>
</ol>
</div>
</div>
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