Publishing an AI agent to make it live for customers (Legacy)

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<p id="docs-hc-snippet" style="display: none;">After youcreateorupdatean AI agent, you need to publish the AI agent before it or any changes to its settings are made live for customers.</p>
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<div class="note attention" id="topic_hfh_5ym_3bc__note_jvg_mrd_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">After you <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408824263578" target="_blank">create</a> or <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/6447052708762" target="_blank">update</a> an AI agent, you need to publish the AI agent before it or
any changes to its settings are made live for customers.</p>
<p class="p">You must be an admin in Support and Knowledge to publish an AI agent. </p>
<div class="p">
<div class="div">
<div class="p">This article contains the following topics:<ul class="ul" id="topic_hfh_5ym_3bc__ul_ekd_r1n_3bc">
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_uvm_tlm_dgc">About publishing AI agents</a></li>
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_ads_n1n_3bc">Publishing a new AI agent for the first time</a></li>
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_xfh_f1t_dgc">Republishing an existing AI agent</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
<p class="p">Related articles:</p>
<ul class="ul" id="topic_hfh_5ym_3bc__ul_hpw_rrd_f2c">
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/6447052708762" target="_blank">Viewing and configuring settings for AI agents</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title2" class="topic nested1" id="topic_uvm_tlm_dgc">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title2">About publishing AI agents</h2>
<div class="body">
<p class="p" dir="ltr">You can publish an AI agent to any messaging, email, or web form channel where
you want to add it. An AI agent can be published to multiple channels, including multiple
channel types, at the same time. For example, a single AI agent can be published to two
messaging channels and an email channel.</p>
<p class="p" dir="ltr">However, multiple AI agents cannot be published to a single channel.</p>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title3" class="topic nested2" id="topic_yjn_xlm_dgc">
<h3 class="title topictitle3" id="ariaid-title3">About publishing to a messaging channel</h3>
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<p class="p">When you publish an AI agent to a messaging channel, any other response—either the <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4500737327258" target="_blank">default messaging response</a> or another AI agent—is removed from
that channel and replaced with the newly published AI agent. The AI agent remains the
channel’s default responder until you remove it from that channel.</p>
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</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title4" class="topic nested2" id="topic_ekd_ylm_dgc">
<h3 class="title topictitle3" id="ariaid-title4">About publishing to an email or web form channel</h3>
<div class="body">
<p class="p" dir="ltr">When you first <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/9543022336794#topic_bmj_nbt_dgc" target="_blank">select an email or web form channel</a> in your AI
agent, the system automatically creates one trigger and two automations, which are all set
to Inactive. </p>
<ul class="ul" id="topic_ekd_ylm_dgc__ul_ann_33y_vgc">
<li class="li" dir="ltr">
<strong class="ph b">The trigger</strong> is how the AI agent sends the initial generative response
to a customer’s ticket. </li>
<li class="li" dir="ltr">
<strong class="ph b">The automations</strong> are how the AI agent follows up on its initial
response to verify that it solved the customer’s question (known as a bump automation)
and subsequently set the ticket status to Solved (known as a solve automation). </li>
</ul>
<p class="p" dir="ltr">For details about their default configuration, see <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/9483857396378" target="_blank">Reference: Default ticket trigger and automations created for AI agents
on the email channel</a>.</p>
<p class="p" dir="ltr">When the system creates the trigger, it also scans your system to determine
whether any existing triggers might conflict with the new one. Conflicts might cause
multiple emails to be sent to a customer in response to their submitted ticket. If any
conflicting triggers are found, you receive a warning with a link to the conflicting
triggers so you can deactivate them before finalizing the AI agent publication.</p>
<p class="p">When you publish the AI agent, the trigger and automations are set to Active and begin
acting on tickets created from that point on.</p>
<p class="p" dir="ltr">If you remove an AI agent from an email or web form channel or delete the AI
agent entirely, the ticket trigger that was created when you first published the AI agent
is deactivated. However, you must manually <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408883801626#topic_wsq_xjv_ub" target="_blank">deactive the automations</a> so that they don't
continue to act on tickets.</p>
<p class="p" dir="ltr">If you republish the AI agent, the trigger and automations are reactivated.
When this happens, the trigger is restored to its default configuration. If you previously
customized the default trigger, your customizations are overwritten and must be made
again.</p>
<p class="p" dir="ltr">If you do not want the trigger or automations to run under any circumstances,
you must delete them.</p>
<p class="p">It's not possible to link additional custom triggers or automations directly to the AI
agent. You can edit the default trigger and automations, but adding new linked ones is not
supported. Additionally, if you disable the default trigger, the AI agent is automatically
unpublished and returned to draft status, so the default trigger must remain active if you
want the AI agent to remain available to customers.</p>
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<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title5" class="topic nested1" id="topic_ads_n1n_3bc">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title5">Publishing a new AI agent for the first time</h2>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">The first time you publish an AI agent, you select the channels it’s associated with.
Publishing a new AI agent makes it available to customers on those channels. </p>
<p class="p"><strong class="ph b">To publish a new AI agent for the first time</strong></p>
<div class="p">
<ol class="ol" id="topic_ads_n1n_3bc__ol_rtz_hmm_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_ads_n1n_3bc__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 AI agent you want to publish. </li>
<li class="li">Click <strong class="ph b">Publish AI agent</strong>.<p class="p"> A new dialog opens.</p>
</li>
<li class="li">Select the channels the AI agent should be available on.<p class="p"><img class="image" id="topic_ads_n1n_3bc__image_tzc_qmm_dgc" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/aiae_publish_ai_agent.png" width="500"></p>
</li>
<li class="li">If necessary, address any warnings that appear, such as conflicting triggers for email
or web form channels.<p class="p"><img class="image" id="topic_ads_n1n_3bc__image_pns_rmm_dgc" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/aiae_publish_ai_agent_conflicting.png" width="500"></p>
</li>
<li class="li">Click <strong class="ph b">Publish</strong>.</li>
</ol>
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<p class="p">The AI agent and all of its current settings are made live for customers.</p>
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<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title6" class="topic nested1" id="topic_xfh_f1t_dgc">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title6">Republishing an existing AI agent</h2>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">Republishing an existing AI agent makes it available to customers on the <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/9543022336794" target="_blank">channels you specified</a> with its <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/6447052708762" target="_blank">current settings</a> applied.</p>
<div class="p">
<div class="note" id="topic_xfh_f1t_dgc__note_nbk_mt4_23c">
<span class="notetitle">Note:</span> Republishing an AI agent restores the associated trigger to its
<a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/9483857396378" target="_blank">default configuration</a>. If you previously customized the default
trigger, your customizations are overwritten and must be made again.</div>
</div>
<p class="p"><strong class="ph b">To republish an existing AI agent</strong></p>
<div class="p">
<ol class="ol" id="topic_xfh_f1t_dgc__ol_eds_g1t_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_xfh_f1t_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 AI agent you want to republish. </li>
<li class="li">Click <strong class="ph b">Publish AI agent</strong>.<p class="p">If you’re republishing an AI agent that you’ve:
</p>
<ul class="ul" id="topic_xfh_f1t_dgc__ul_off_m3t_dgc">
<li class="li">Removed from all channels, a confirmation dialogue appears. Review the information
and click <strong class="ph b">Confirm changes</strong>.<p class="p"><img class="image" id="topic_xfh_f1t_dgc__image_y5r_n3t_dgc" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/aiae_unpublish_ai_agent_confirm.png" width="350"></p>
</li>
<li class="li">Added back to one or more channels after having previously removed it from all
channels, a channel selector dialogue appears. Review the channels and click
<strong class="ph b">Publish</strong>.<p class="p"><img class="image" id="topic_xfh_f1t_dgc__image_mhd_p3t_dgc" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/aiae_publish_ai_agent.png" width="350"></p>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ol>
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<p class="p">The AI agent and all of its current settings are made live for customers. Or, if you’ve
removed the AI agent from all channels, it no longer appears to customers.</p>
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