Creating an AI agent to automatically resolve customer issues (Legacy)


AI agentsinteract with customers on messaging, email, API, and web form channels to resolve issues without human intervention. You can create an AI agent that responds to your customers in a conversational manner using information sourced from your existing help center.


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Verified AI summary ◀▼
Create AI agents to handle customer inquiries on messaging, email, API, and web form channels without human intervention. Use your existing help center content to provide automated responses. Customize the agent's tone and brand, and test before publishing. You can also clone or delete agents as needed. Ensure proper permissions for restricted content access based on customer authentication.






This article describes functionality that was previously
made available as part of AI agents - Essential. As of May 11, 2026, AI agents -
Essential is considered legacy functionality. On December 31, 2026, this
functionality will no longer be available. For more information, see this announcement. For current functionality, see Creating an AI agent to automatically resolve
customer issues.

AI agents interact with customers on
messaging, email, API, and web form channels to resolve issues without human
intervention. You can create an AI agent that responds to your customers in a
conversational manner using information sourced from your existing help center.
You must be an admin in both Support and Knowledge to create an AI agent.
This article contains the following topics:


About AI agents for messaging, email, API, and web form
Creating an AI agent
Cloning an AI agent
Deleting an AI agent


Related articles:

Viewing and configuring settings for AI
agents
Publishing an AI agent to make it live for
customers



About AI agents for messaging, email, API, and web form

If you have an active help center, AI agents deliver automated, AI-generated answers
in response to customer requests, with information from your own trusted help center
content.
If you’re using restricted help center content, AI agent responses respect the
article view permissions, which means:

If the customer is authenticated, the AI agent can use relevant restricted
articles to generate its response.
If the customer is unauthenticated, the AI agent can use only public articles to
generate its response.

For more information, see Using restricted help center content in AI agent
responses.
The customer experience of an AI agent depends on the channel:

Understanding the customer experience for AI agents on the messaging channel
Understanding the customer experience for AI agents on the email and API channels
Understanding the customer experience for AI agents on the web form channel



Understanding the customer experience for AI agents on the messaging channel

On messaging, the customer engages with the AI agent through the embedded Web Widget in your help
center or website. The AI agent first greets the customer with the message
defined in its greeting message.

When the customer sends a message, the AI agent responds in one of the following
ways:

If the customer asks a question that can be answered with content from your
help center or other connected knowledge source,
the AI agent responds with a generative AI answer based on the relevant
content. Links to the source articles are included below the response.
If the customer asks a question that the AI agent can’t answer, the AI agent
responds with the answer defined in its fallback response.
If the customer sends a small-talk message (“Hi, how are you?”), the AI
agent replies with a generative AI small-talk message for a natural,
conversational feel.

When the AI agent sends a response based on help center content, it also sends a
request for feedback (“Was this helpful? Yes/No”). The customer can click the
feedback buttons to indicate whether the AI agent solved their issue. You can
customize how the AI agent responds to the customer’s feedback in the AI agent’s
response to customer feedback message
(for example, allowing the customer to escalate to a human agent if they still
need help).



Understanding the customer experience for AI agents on the email and API channels

On email and API channels, the customer engages with the AI agent by emailing one
of your support email addresses. The AI agent
sends a reply email containing a generative AI response based on relevant help
center content, including direct links to the articles.

The AI agent’s response also includes feedback buttons that the customer can
click to indicate whether the AI agent solved their issue. If the customer
clicks Yes, solve my request, a browser opens and asks customers to
confirm that their request was solved.

If the customer clicks Solve request, the ticket is solved, and an
internal note is added to the ticket.

If the customer clicks No, I still need help, a browser opens and asks
them to confirm they still need help.

If they click Request support, an internal note is added to the ticket,
and the ticket is escalated to a human agent.




Understanding the customer experience for AI agents on the web form channel


Note: AI agents on the web form channel work only on help
centers with the Copenhagen theme version 4.24.0 or above.
On the web form channel, the customer engages with the AI agent by submitting one
of your configured ticket forms.

Within the same browser tab, a dialog appears as the AI agent processes the
customer’s question.

After a moment, the AI agent responds with a generative AI answer based on
relevant help center content. The customer can click View sources to see
which articles were used to generate the answer.

The AI agent’s response also includes feedback buttons that the customer can
click to indicate whether the AI agent solved their issue. If the customer
clicks This helped, solve my request, the ticket is solved, and an
internal note is added to the ticket.
If the customer clicks I still need help, or if the AI agent can’t answer
the customer’s question, the ticket is escalated to a human agent.





Creating an AI agent

Creating an AI agent means you’re adding the ability to use the AI agent as a
responder for that channel. Until you add an AI agent to a specific channel and publish it,
the default response remains active for that channel.
These instructions assume you've already created a messaging, email, API, or web form channel.
To create an AI agent


In Admin Center, click
AI in the sidebar, then select AI agents > AI agents.
Click Create AI agent. The Create an AI agent page
opens.


In Name, enter a name for the AI agent. This name appears at the
top of the Web Widget in messaging conversations and as the sender in
emails. Choose a name that makes it clear customers are not talking to a
human.

Select a Tone of voice:

Professional: (Default) A polite and direct tone.

Informal: A casual and friendly tone.

Enthusiastic: An upbeat and friendly tone.


In the Brand drop-down, select a brand to apply to the AI
agent.
If the help center for
the brand you selected is not active, you’ll see an error message with a
link to the help center that needs to be activated before you can
proceed.

Click Next. A test version of your AI agent appears.


Test your AI agent to be sure it performs the way you expect. For help,
see Testing an AI agent before publishing
it for customers.

Choose your next step:
Click Advanced settings to configure additional settings that
affect the AI agent’s behavior. See Viewing and configuring settings
for AI agents.
Click Go to publish to publish the AI agent. The AI agent
won’t be available to customers until it’s published. See Publishing an AI agent to make it
live for customers.







Cloning an AI agent


You can clone an existing AI agent, then use it as the starting point for
building a new one.
To clone an AI agent

In Admin Center, click
AI in the sidebar, then select AI agents > AI agents.
Find the AI agent you want to clone.
Click the AI agent's options menu ( ) and select Clone. The AI agent is
copied and added to the end of your AI agent list. It has the same
name as the original AI agent, appended with "(copy)".

Choose your next step:
Configure additional settings that affect the AI agent’s
behavior. See Viewing and configuring
settings for AI agents.
Publish the AI agent. The AI agent won’t be available to
customers until it’s published. See Publishing an AI agent to
make it live for customers.







Deleting an AI agent

If you’re no longer using an AI agent and don’t plan on using it in the future, you
can delete it. When you delete an AI agent, any connected channels revert to their
default response settings.
Important: Deleting an
AI agent cannot be undone.

To delete an AI agent


In Admin Center, click
AI in the sidebar, then select AI agents > AI agents.
Find the AI agent you want to delete.
Click the AI agent’s options menu ( ) and select Delete.
In the confirmation dialog, review the information and click
Delete.
The AI agent is removed
from the list.





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